Smart contracts for decentralised building information modelling.

Dounas, Theodoros; Jabi, Wassim; Lombardi, Davide

Abstract

The paper presents a model for decentralizing building information modelling, through implementing its infrastructure using the decentralized web. We discuss the shortcomings of BIM in terms of its infrastructure, with a focus on tracing identities of design authorship in this collective design tool. In parallel we examine the issues with BIM in the cloud and propose a decentralized infrastructure based on the Ethereum blockchain and the Interplanetary filesystem (IPFS). A series of computing nodes, that act as nodes on the Ethereum Blockchain, host disk storage with which they participate in a larger storage pool on the Interplanetary Filesystem. This storage is made available through an API is used by architects and designers creating and editing a building information model that resides on the IPFS decentralised storage. Through this infrastructure central servers are eliminated, and BIM libraries and models can be shared with others in an immutable and transparent manner. As such Architecture practices are able to exploit their intellectual property in novel ways, by making it public on the internet. The infrastructure also allows the decentralised creation of a resilient global pool of data that allows the participation of computation agents in the creation and simulation of BIM models.

Citation

DOUNAS, T., JABI, W. and LOMBARDI, D. 2020. Smart contracts for decentralised building information modelling. In Köering, D. and Werner, L.C. (eds.) Proceedings of 38th Education and research in computer aided architectural design in Europe (eCAADe) conference 2020 (eCAADe 2020): anthropologic: architecture and fabrication in the cognitive age, 16-17 September 2020, [virtual conference]. Berlin: eCAADe, volume 2, pages 565-574. Hosted on CumInCAD [online]. Available from: http://papers.cumincad.org/cgi-bin/works/paper/ecaade2020_190

• Conference Name: 38th Education and research in computer aided architectural design in Europe (eCAADe) conference 2020 (eCAADe 2020): anthropologic: architecture and fabrication in the cognitive age
• Conference Location: [virtual conference]
• Start Date: Sep 16, 2020
• End Date: Sep 17, 2020
• Acceptance Date: May 25, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Sep 17, 2020
• Publication Date: Sep 17, 2020
• Deposit Date: Sep 17, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 18, 2020
• Publisher: Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe)
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 565-574
• Series ISSN: 2684-1843
• Book Title: Proceedings of 38th Education and research in computer aided architectural design in Europe (eCAADe) conference 2020: anthropologic: architecture and fabrication in the cognitive age
• ISBN: 9789491207211
• Keywords: Blockchain; Decentralisation; Immutability; Resilience; Building information modelling
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/968307
• Publisher URL: http://papers.cumincad.org/cgi-bin/works/paper/ecaade2020_190