One of the first assignments in the class was to design your own floor plan. How has the project developed since then? In what way do you think that initial floor plan will play a role in your final design?
The first sketch was a bit confusing as I didn’t know how rooms were connected and how they all “interacted” with each other. Right after developing an initial sketch, we started working on our site plan, drawing and analyzing the environment in our site and drawing the space for our house and our house size.
This whole Autocad site plan project lasted approximately 2-3 months as we all had to learn basic commands so that the project could be completed properly. After this all students were required to make a metahuman. We could either do a completely new human creation or a person who resembles us. Following the short unit, the class revisited the floor plan sketch based on our house. This sketch included the square feet of the property, the rooms we’d like to add and information about the meta-human “customer” including his/her name and interests.
Currently, all students are making/finalizing their floor plans they created on “Revvit”, creating a floor plan with windows, doors, a garage, and a second floor. This whole process from Autocad to the Revvit program evolved from a simple floor plan sketch.
The initial floor plan sketch is important, as it can evolve into a more complex piece in the end. The floor plan sketch, over time, is elaborated and becomes the best it can be in the end.
What are some challenges you faced while working in AutoCAD and researching your site? What steps did you take to overcome those challenges?
A main challenge stopping me from progressing sometimes is the commands. As we had many to learn, and on top of that, we had to master most of them for maximum efficiency for our project. Many of these commands were hidden in the complex AutoCad menu.
Two things I did to eventually overcome the commands is use the videos and instructions Mr. Rodriguez provided. The other step was to ask classmates what was the command to do this? Or ask how to use the command correctly.
Eventually, I got used to the commands, as it basically became muscle memory.
Now that you’re finished creating your site plan in AutoCAD, what do you look forward to as a next step in the unit?
After completing the site plan, I look forward to learning more about AutoCad and other designing programs. Earlier, I mentioned that after the siteplan project, the students designed a meta human through the Epic Games Unreal Engine.
This part is very important as it simulates something crucial in the architecture business: the customer.
How do you feel MetaHuman will help you with your house design process?
In the previous question, I mentioned that the Metahuman simulates a customer, who is ordering a house or whatever type of living space a person is ordering.
My Metahuman’s name Is Simon Livingston who has a house built in Vester Nebel, Denmark. He has a hobby for swimming and is currently 27. I believe that this topic is important to those who want to pursue a career in architecture, as the job requires you to meet and know the customer. To see what they want in their living space and what they prioritize in their home. Nice views, a high elevated living space, modern looking, there are many possibilities of what a customer may want out of a home. So it’s important to have a good relationship with a customer as you may have a better understanding of what they find important as you spend more and more time working with them.
What crucial skills are you hoping to take away from this project? How will those skills help you in the coming years?
Some of the skills I want to take away from this project are using AutoCAD and the ability, working alone/ finding out things by myself, collaborating with others, presentation skills and the ability to speak to customers so I can find out what they need. I feel like the last three are very important in general as they are pretty important work skills that most employers look at.
AutoCad and Revvit are especially important if you’re going to pursue an architectural career. As they prepare you further if you take architectural courses in college as students from WHSAD already know the basics of AutoCad and Revvit.