GRAPHISOFT has introduced ARCHICAD 22, the latest installment in its line of ARCHICAD BIM software. Here are some of the highlights from the new edition.
GRAPHISOFT has introduced ARCHICAD 22, the latest installment in its line of ARCHICAD building information management (BIM) software. Here are some of the highlights from the new edition.
Better Facades

One of the biggest changes in the new edition is the redesign of the Curtain Wall tool, which is now more of a real design tool rather than just a modeling tool.
The new Curtain Wall tool has an interactive preview, where you can set up your desired facade design with frames and watch it appear on the wall. If you want to use a repeating pattern, you can create your pattern in the preview tool, and then select how many times you want it to repeat on each wall. If you want to use the same facade patterns between projects, you can put the design in your Favorites folder, where it will be easily accessible. If you want a more complex facade design, you can use the frame tool to sketch or trace a pattern, then use it just as you would a regular frame.
You can also have 3D shapes and structures as part of your facade, and build with standard “smart frames” that automatically change their borders when you cut or connect panels.
The Curtain Wall tool is now also designed so that it can be used along the entire design platform, meaning that you aren’t stuck with an inflexible wall design later on in the design process.
The Rhino-Grasshopper Connection

The Curtain Wall tool also works in tandem with Rhino’s Grasshopper tool, a visual programming environment that allows you to create generative algorithms. In practice, this means you can create patterns that work in the background of your facade pattern, such as making the pattern tiles smaller on one part of the facade than on another or creating organic shapes within your patterns. It also allows you to import photos or images as a pattern, rather than drawing the pattern freehand directly in the curtain wall tool.
Parametric Building Components

Previous editions of the software had parametric standard elements and non-parametric custom profiles (in case, for example, you wanted a nonstandard column shape). In ARCHICAD 22, the tools are combined, meaning that you can make intelligent profiles for elements, controlling their shapes and sizes and their cross-section via BIM parameters. This enables you to model different components (e.g., one column or beam that has to be slightly longer) with the same profile. The autotext label that this generates will automatically change depending on which components it is dragged to.
Expressions

The new Expression Defined Properties capability allows users to get more organized and retrieve more information from the model without too much manual work. The new capability lets you use any information available in the project (e.g., number of rooms, floor area, wall height) in custom expressions to answer questions like “How many boxes of tiling do we need for the floor?”
The product of these expressions can also be used in other expressions. If, for example, you wanted to know how much those tiles would cost, you could plug your first expression into a second expression (in much the same way you can use equations in Excel).
Updates to BIMx

BIMx’s Hyper-model is a convenient way for integrated 2D and 3D building project navigation. But, until the most recent version of ARCHICAD, it could only be viewed on a mobile device. This version has a web viewer that allows you to navigate and explore the building from a browser. Not only does this provide access to the entire Hyper-model, but an autoplay mode is also included that flows automatically through saved favorite views of the building. Finally, these BIMx walk-through videos can be embedded into a website, enabling architects to create online portfolios that include 3D project images.