Architecture apps
Architecture apps are the mobile and desktop programs that an architect or a surveyor runs on a phone, a tablet or a laptop to measure a space, sketch a design and record the data of a building, and they are the field tools of the discipline of architecture, the part of the work that happens outside the studio. The 3 jobs they cover are the measuring of a space, the sketching of an idea, and the survey of a site, and each one leans on a different sensor of the device, the camera, the touch screen and the position fix. This page names the apps in each of those jobs and says what each one does on site.
The measuring apps
The measuring apps in architecture are the programs that turn the distance sensor of a phone into a tape measure, and they replace the folded steel tape for the quick check of a room or a wall. The laser measure apps, of which there are several well known ones, send a laser beam to a surface and read the distance in inches and in millimetres, so a room is measured in seconds and the figure is stored with the photo of the wall. A total station, the instrument on a tripod that a surveyor uses for a full site, is a larger version of the same idea, and the app on the tablet reads the angles and the distances it takes. The measuring app is the first tool on a site visit, because the dimension is the number the rest of the design is built on, and the discipline of architecture starts from the measurement of the space it will fill.
The sketching apps
The sketching apps in architecture are the programs that turn a tablet into a drawing board, and they are where an idea is captured in the field before it is developed in the studio. A stylus and a pressure sensitive screen give the line of a hand drawing, and the app stores the strokes in layers, so a floor plan is drawn on the top layer and the notes are written below it. The apps in this group range from a free sketch pad to a professional drawing program that exports to the 2D file, and the choice is the same as for the desktop, the tool is matched to the stage. The sketching app is the second tool on a site visit, because the idea of what the building could be is drawn where the space is seen, and the sketch is the seed of the design that the 3D model will carry.
The site survey apps
The site survey apps in architecture are the programs that record the ground of a site, and they are the tools that connect the building to the land it stands on. A survey app reads the position fix of the device and drops a point on a map, so the boundary, the trees and the existing buildings are recorded as a set of points with a height. The apps that pair with a handheld GPS or a small total station take the same points more precisely, and the data is imported into the 3D model as the base layer on which the building is drawn. The site survey app is the third tool on a site visit, because the discipline of architecture is the design of the building on the site, and the survey is what fixes the building to the ground and the orientation of the site to the sun.
Choosing an app for the field job
Choosing an app for the field job in architecture is a matter of matching each field app to the tool it replaces and the data it must produce, and the 3 jobs ask for 3 different things. The measuring app must be precise and fast, so the laser measure app is the choice for the room. The sketching app must be free to draw, so the stylus app is the choice for the idea. The survey app must be accurate in position, so the GPS paired app is the choice for the site. A single visit to a site uses all 3 in order, the survey first to fix the ground, the measure second to size the space, and the sketch third to draw the idea, and the data of the 3 is what the model of the building is built from. The Building materials and technology section of this site is where that data becomes the building, and the apps are the field half of the discipline of architecture.