Why Architecture Software?

In the modern digital world, architecture software has become very important as it makes it easier for architects to create good overviews of buildings, try new design ideas, save and print their designs. Thus, professional architecture software increases the output of architects and improves their productivity because it makes the processes of design and information management very fast and efficient.

Although there are many digital design packages, architects need dedicated software not only to allow them to design their visions easily but also to edit, delete and add whenever they want. Architects are also allowed to include engineering information in order to ensure that their structures are feasible in real word context.

There are many software products with a wide range of features in their toolkits. Choosing one depends on how grounded you are in designs and your needs. There are software for new designers and students. These software offer more flexibility and lower prices. There are also software which are more effective in creating comprehensive design packages.

What Makes a Good Architecture Software

Though it is difficult to arrive at the factors that make a good architecture software, the following factors should be considered.

• The software is user-friendly.
• The solution is flexible and users adapt it quite easily.
• The software is scalable and is able to support any type of growth (i.e., more users). 
• The software works the way the end user works.
• The software has high performance and runs fast.
• It’s easy to modify or add functionalities.
• You can easily run tests on the software.
• Maintainability is made easy.
• The software is strong and reliable.

Choosing Suitable Architectural Software

Below are some of the software that enable architects create designs that they crave. Please note that this is not a recommendation.

AutoCAD

AutoCAD is Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software that architects, engineers, and construction professionals rely on to create precise 2D and 3D drawings. Its features include:

• Draft, annotate, and design 2D geometry and 3D models with solids, surfaces, and mesh objects
• Automate tasks such as comparing drawings, adding blocks, creating schedules, and more
• Customize with add-on apps and APIs

AutoCAD has included industry-specific features and intelligent objects for architecture, mechanical engineering, electrical design, and more.

• Automate floor plans, sections, and elevations
• Draw piping, ducting, and circuiting quickly with parts libraries
• Auto-generate annotations, layers, schedules, lists, and tables
• Use a rules-driven workflow to accurately enforce industry standards

3DS Studio Max

3ds Max offers a rich and flexible toolset to create premium designs with full artistic control. With this software, you can:

• create massive worlds in games;
• visualize high-quality architectural renderings;
• model finely detailed interiors and objects; and
• bring characters and features to life with animation and VFX.

Rhino 6

Rhino can create, edit, analyze, document, render, animate, and translate NURBS* curves, surfaces, and solids, point clouds, and polygon meshes. There are no limits on complexity, degree, or size beyond those of your hardware.

Its Special features include:

• Uninhibited free-form 3D modelling tools like those found only in products costing 20 to 50 times more. Model any shape you can imagine.
• Accuracy needed to design, prototype, engineer, analyze, and manufacture anything from an airplane to jewellery.
• Compatibility with all your other design, drafting, CAM, engineering, analysis, rendering, animation, and illustration software.
• Read and repair meshes and extremely challenging IGES files.
• Accessible. So easy to learn and use that you can focus on design and visualization without being distracted by the software.
• Fast, even on an ordinary laptop computer. No special hardware is needed.
• Development platform for hundreds of specialty 3D products.

Chief Architect

Chief Architect software is the professional tool of choice for architects, home builders, remodelers, and interior designers. Smart building technology makes it easy to create construction drawings, floor plans, elevations, 3D renderings, and 360 panoramic renderings. Chief Architect’s software is purposebuilt for residential design with building tools that can automatically generate roofs, foundations, framing, and dimensions. As you draw walls, windows, and doors, the program simultaneously creates a 3D model. These 3D models can be shared with homeowners, structural engineers or subcontractors using its 3D Viewer app.

Revit

Autodesk Revit is Building Information Modeling (BIM) software for Microsoft Windows, which allows the user to design with parametric modeling and drafting elements.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a new Computer Aided Design (CAD) paradigm that allows for intelligent, 3D and parametric object-based design. In this way, Revit provides full bi-directional associativity. A change anywhere is a change everywhere, instantly, with no user interaction to manually update any view.

A BIM model contains the building’s full life cycle, from concept to construction to decommissioning. This is made possible by Revit’s underlying relational database architecture which its creators call the parametric change engine.

ArchiCAD

ArchiCAD enables architects to model faster and create accurate construction details and quantity estimations for reinforced concrete, complex steel, timber, and composite beams and columns. Complex columns, curved and hunched beams can now be modelled and documented to meet graphic and representation standards. Beams and columns can be displayed using various projected and symbolic views and cover fills.