First, Graphisoft went through an unusually extensive beta program since it wanted to ensure that ArchiCAD 9 was thoroughly tested and tried before its release. For those to whom the concept is still new, please refer to my June 2003 cover story in Cadence, " Should We BIM?" A broad overview of ArchiCAD, for those not familiar with the application, can be seen in my review of ArchiCAD 8.īefore getting into the details of the new release, a couple of things about it are worth noting. Since the concept of BIM has by now become well known, this review will not go into its specifics. This review takes a detailed look at what ArchiCAD 9 has to offer and assesses its strengths and limitations as a building information modeling (BIM) solution, or "virtual building" solution as Graphisoft prefers to call it. It is also the first release of ArchiCAD since several new key executives took over in the management team, and thus reflects a new philosophy and approach. The new version of ArchiCAD, being rolled out by Graphisoft this month, is being billed as a major one.
While that release had several new features that were useful-the Project Navigator palette and other interface elements, a Detail tool for easier creation of detail drawings, Solid Element operations based on Boolean geometry for the creation of custom objects, a new Layout Book for organizing all project documentation into a single file, and others-it was a regular upgrade rather than a major "must-have" one.
Only a little over a year ago I reviewed ArchiCAD 8 in the August 2003 issue of Cadence magazine.
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