Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future: BIM, imaging and time on construction sights

Digital visualisation is central capability of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and proponents of BIM claim that BIM will change everything. For example, the International Alliance for Interoperability initiative now known as BuildingSMART defines BIM as, “a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a building.” In current BIM research BIM is linked to Lean Construction, Augmented Reality (AR), project and trade scheduling, safety management, progress measurement on sites, design visualisation and even architectural education. As the BIM industry has arisen, numerous and in some ways glamorous, case study images are published and promoted as examples of successful BIM implementation. Representations of BIM as evident in diagrams, flow charts, conceptual drawings, user screenshots and representations of computer drawn BIM 3D and 4D models abound in BIM research. For these reasons these digital images and simulations emerging from BIM research literature deserve being examined — as representations of BIM theory or practice — to see what they suggest about the current methodological developments in BIM research. In order to understand the modes of BIM representation employed in BIM research an analysis is developed which counters current BIM research with broader research methodologies in Construction Management and the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s concepts of the cinema. In addition a comparative analysis of these representations in the research literature is made with images gained from a real construction site. This approach reveals how concepts of time are inscribed into BIM research and how these differ from reality. It will be concluded that the use of non-linear and topological concepts of time on construction sites is relevant to future BIM research. This is particularly the case when virtual BIM models are seen as simple linear and sequential constructions over time.