A buzzword is a trendy word or phrase, popular in a specific field (often tech or business) and frequently used in the media and conversation, though sometimes excessively or abusively, losing part of its original meaning. It often sounds authoritative, but can be vague or devoid of specific content, such as “artificial intelligence”, “digital transformation”, “BIM” or “IFC”.
BIM: Building Information… Missing
Buzzword is a virus in the language of digital design. Among its symptoms: talking about BIM without a foundation, using Digital Twin as if it meant “more beautiful model,” and using “parametric” to mean “complex,” “curved,” or “digital.”
We’ve stripped the term of all conceptual rigor. We use it to sell projects, impress clients, justify opaque decisions, or create a scene in a presentation. But “parametric” isn’t a style, it’s not an effect, it’s not a brand™. It’s a way of thinking.
Parametric means “this depends on that.”
It means building relationships instead of designing forms, defining rules, constraints, and behaviors. It means designing for change: structures that react, models that adapt, systems that explain themselves. It’s not decoration, it’s logic.
Let’s start giving meaning to names again. Let’s use “parametric” as a design lens, not as a semantic shortcut.
Because words build worlds, and if we want to build better worlds, we need sharper words.
LOD: Level of… Delusion
Level Of Details is a urban myth, like the Yeti. Like projects that end on time and on budget. Like the customer who doesn’t change his mind after the design phase.
For instance, only 0,3% of professionals surveyed admit to having seen a real LOD 500. And 100% of the projects that promised to deliver LOD 500 are still ongoing. Some since 2012.
So forget LOD 100 to 500, here is my two LODs living in a real world:
- LOD “PowerPoint”: that level of detail that only exists in business presentations, never in actual .RVT files
- LOD “Almost”: the level where the model has been “nearing completion” for 3 years
IFC: Industry Foundation… Crush
The IFC battle is more alive than ever and most recently crashed at a higher level on version 5. IFC is not perfect, not even close and it has been developed for 10 years already.
Every software house seems in love with IFC from one side, to please buildingSMART and show the market they are open, even actively funding the development, but on “the dark side of the moon” they are fighting to preserve their monopoly.
One of the primary concerns surrounding IFC is its ability to keep pace with technological advancements. Initially designed for a more static BIM environment, IFC struggles to accommodate the dynamic needs of modern construction projects. As the industry embraces real-time data, digital twins, and cloud-based systems, IFC’s limitations become increasingly apparent.
However, the success of IFC 5 will depend on its adoption by industry stakeholders and its ability to compete with newer, more dynamic technologies.
My final advice
You can’t promote a standard by imposing it. That is your data; so you decide and it is your freedom of choice how you want your data.
But you can be guided, trained, and nurtured about the rules and the bigger picture by the right people.
My 20+ year musical career as a rocker, multi-instrumentalist (guitarist, bassist, drummer) and singer, taught me that to create original music you need to know the rules first. You need to know how to read music, play music, record music. And then, to build something new… BREAK THOSE RULES! You can’t break anything, if you are ignorant.
—–
Stay data-hungry. Stay data-foolish.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Digital Consultant