Behind every element and subassembly of elements that an architect inserts into a drawing or model of a project there is, implicitly, a supply chain resulting in the delivery and placement of these parts on the construction site. Traditional architectural drawings and CAD models abstract away from that supply chain, but BIM (Building Information Modelling) databases make it explicit, designable, and manageable. This in turn is opening up new ways to think about designing and producing buildings and - as we are beginning to see - new formal and functional possibilities. A+U takes a comprehensive look at the use and applications of BIM in architectural practice - aspects of design, fabrication, simulation, and the short term influence of BIM on architecture are discussed and accompanied by plans, models and photographs. Contributors include: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Stanford Institute of Design, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, Neoscope, Ingenhoven Architects and RTKL Associates.