Architecture software startups are looking to disrupt the design process - insiders say these are the 15 hottest names to watch
- Architecture, unlike it's counterparty industry, construction, has decisively become a digital industry, with almost all design taking place within popular software platforms like AutoCAD.
- With the advent of virtual reality, machine-learning programs that can generate designs algorithmically, and the widespread popularity of cloud-based collaboration tools, tech continues to have drastic effects on architecture.
- We polled a range of architects, designers, and venture capitalists to create a list of the 15 hottest architectural tech startups.
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Architecture straddles the line between art and the practical application of science.
Before computers could handle complicated graphical rendering, much of their work was free-drawn on a drafting table with a pencil.
But with the advent of AutoCAD and other programs, the industry rapidly became a digital industry. While construction, the next step from architecture in the real estate life-cycle, has been slow to apply new tech, architecture has evolved along with it.
As a result, the cutting edge of architecture technology has embraced machine learning and advanced, real-time rendering to make generative design (computer-generated design options) and even full design automation possible.
We spoke to a number of venture capitalists, architects, and analysts who study architecture about some of the most cutting-edge startups in the field. While many of the startups are building generative design tools, others are attempting to streamline project management or file storage for architects.
Read on for a list of the 15 hottest architecture tech startups.