Games like Minecraft and advances in BIM technology have given people the joy of creating and managing new worlds at their fingertips, and have revolutionized the way we manage the lifetime of a building by bringing together the past, present, and future of the building industry into one program.
The game Minecraft became popular because it allowed users to do whatever they wanted in a world where everything was made of cubes. The game’s uniqueness and endless possibilities have made it more than just an entertainment, but also an educational tool. For example, many schools use Minecraft for projects that help students develop their creativity and problem-solving skills. The game also allows you to meet other users and participate in The Hunger Games, as well as wars and sieges. But the game’s best-seller is something else. It’s the “creative” feature, where you can create buildings and cities. The joy of creating your own world is what has made Minecraft such an enduring and beloved game. Games and programs like “Minecraft” have made it easy for people to create new worlds, and in those worlds, people have become gods at creating amusement parks, houses, cities and historical buildings, and even countries. As such, games have expanded beyond the category of mere entertainment to become tools for maximizing human creativity and imagination. Among all these programs and games, there is one that is the most similar to the real thing: BIM.
If a group of people were given the task of drawing a house, what would they do? A child would draw with crayons in a sketchbook, while some students would design a house in a game like Minecraft. Builders of the past would draw several cross-sections of the house, while today’s builders would model the house in 3D using programs like computer-aided design (CAD). Here, CAD is used as a revolutionary tool in architecture and engineering, making complex design tasks easier. At first glance, it seems that the homes they create in 3D will be no different from those created by recent builders. However, a closer look reveals that their house also includes how the materials are managed, how much it costs, how it should be maintained after completion, and how it should be destroyed. In other words, it is not only the “present” of building a building, but also the “past” and “future” in one program. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a program that manages the entire life of a building at once.
If you ask if there has been anything like BIM to manage construction at once, the answer is probably no. However, this is something that can be answered by the ‘Master Builder’, a person who coordinated the construction and construction of a building back to the Renaissance. After the Renaissance, as each profession became specialized, there was no one profession that encompassed all of them, and drawings were the bridge between them. However, drawings were often accompanied by distortions, and the damage not only increased time but also wasted 35% of construction investment. In 2024, construction investment in South Korea is expected to be around $185.8 billion, a 2.4% decrease from 2023. In 2023, construction investment was $190 billion, an increase of 2.2% year-on-year.
The main reason why BIM is overwhelmingly more useful than drawings is because of 3D modeling: with drawings, only a small number of people can understand what the finished building will look like. However, with BIM’s 3D modeling technology, people can intuitively see what the finished building will look like on a computer. This puts builders and consumers on equal footing when choosing a building. In particular, this technology provides the opportunity to predict and prevent possible errors in the construction process in advance, thus minimizing economic losses.
As such, BIM has significant advantages over current technologies and has already been partially adopted in many parts of the world. However, the introduction of BIM in Korea is expected to be difficult due to institutional and technical issues, as it is only adopted by private companies according to their own needs. In Japan, on the other hand, the government and private companies are jointly preparing to introduce ‘BIM’ technology, and are minimizing problems and suggesting improvement directions through various pilot projects. Japan’s case provides us with many implications and shows that a systematic and integrated approach is needed in Korea.
Many technologies, including BIM, have been introduced and are being used without realizing it, affecting our lives. In construction-related majors, computer-aided drafting and ‘CAD’ education are becoming a major requirement, and ‘3D modeling’ is not a new technology in the field. Even the Seoul National University Kwanjeong Library has gone through the process of working with ‘BIM’ related technology, so ‘BIM’ technology is a technology that we will have to live with in the near future. Furthermore, the development of ‘BIM’ technology is expected to bring innovation not only in the field of architecture, but also in various fields such as urban planning and infrastructure management. It will play an important role in making the environment we live in more efficient and sustainable.
