BIM FOR ARCHITECTURE: PUBLIC BUILDING
Wayne L. Morse U.S.
Courthouse
Morphosis Architects
This project aspires to create a courthouse
that bridges the chasm widely agreed to have
developed over the past two centuries
between citizens and the government.
Morphosis Architects has sought to infuse the
building with imagery that will beckon all citizens to reclaim their proprietary relationship to our system of justice.
Instead of stacking the spaces up and around
the courtrooms, this courthouse raises the
courtrooms and slips support services into a
two-story plinth. While the base is monolithic, the courtrooms are expressive, formally
articulated, and legible to the public and
city beyond.
Since the 3D model conveys so much useful
information for the construction of the building, it is now the primary source of information for the most complex areas in our projects, for both the design and construction
teams. A TriForma model was developed to
record the relationships between complex
geometries, and GenerativeComponents
helped formalize the geometric constraints
and demonstrate how they operated.
Using Structural, Morphosis was able to
model the structural frame quickly and accurately, reducing the margin for error in relatively tight architectural envelopes. In addition, it allowed the A/E team to locate the
steel in 3D by exact offsets from the curving
finish surfaces, then export those members
via steel detailing neutral format (SDNF) to
the steel detailer. ;
