Bjørnar Nørstebø

The role of visualization in the digital future

The ongoing changes in terms of digitalisation, industrialisation, internationalisation and customisation require a new perspective on communication in the building industry regarding timing, format and adaption of the knowledge needed. Preproduction and manufacturing of completed elements and building modules enforce the need for holistic and diverse information early in the project to encounter the further consequences of the chosen building design. This development demands an open access system of flexible information throughout the lifetime of the project.

There is a huge amount of knowledge needed when planning, building, maintaining and demolition of a construction. This knowledge has been produced, disseminated and understood throughout the building industry in multiple ways, on various locations, occasions, different level through the whole history of architecture and building construction. Today this information consists of the governmental environmental information disseminated through acts and regulations, experiences and knowledge collected in the standards and guidelines provided by organisations, and detailed information from manufacturers of products and solutions. When working in a project, which again creates its ecosystem of knowledge and communicative system, the planners and builders must fulfil the requirements of the building acts, and inform and detail the design with support from standards, guidance and descriptions. The dissemination of information is developed and adapted to the specific need and environment as the project progress through the industry chain. Applications for buildings permission from the authorities are expressed and detailed different as the drawing of tiles for the tilers’ work in the bathroom. The sequential structure of production also allows postponing detailing for later production.