Chapter 9

Advanced Modeling and Massing

Nothing is more frustrating than getting into a design program by building the project in Revit only to find out the building is too big and somehow the program still doesn't fit. You think that you've done everything right—walls, floors, rooms, schedules—but somewhere, something is wrong. And you have no idea where to begin to change your design.

Massing is great for avoiding this kind of scenario. By creating the “big” design idea at a macro level, as a mass, you're able to quickly and easily quantify and analyze the results. This allows you to confidently work from general to specific as your design progresses, without starting with actual building elements (which would be too specific too soon anyway).

In addition, massing allows you to create forms and containers to control more granular components. Complex walls, curtain walls, curtain panels, and other elements would be incredibly difficult to make (much less update) without some underlying form to establish and drive their design. Massing is essential for this kind of design and design iteration.

Even though your overall design might not be represented by a complex massing form, it's very likely that somewhere in a more conventional design, massing is essential to the success of your project.

In this chapter, you'll learn to:

• Create and schedule massing studies
• Know when to use solid and surface masses
• Use mathematical formulas for massing