Many Landscape Architects wonder why there is so much interest in CADD systems: Your firm is successful, and the axiom ?EUR??,,????'??if it ain?EUR??,,????'???t broke, don?EUR??,,????'???t fix it?EUR??,,????'?? seems to apply. So why computer-aided design (CADD)?

A CADD system is a combination of several items invaluable to a designer. It is an electric eraser, only faster. It is an electric pencil. It is an electric template of any shape, size or complexity. It is accuracy never before available. It is quality of drawing that exceeds hand drafting but does not limit artistic flair. It is overhead reduction and staff stabilization. It is speed. And it is freedom from that graphite pencil that has handcuffed the production of the designer for so long.

Understanding CADD

Also of significance is speed. The human mind works faster than the hand can move a pencil. CADD closes the gap, bringing the speed of creation closer to the speed of the mental process, allowing greater creative freedom. We can pursue a line of thought to its conclusions rapidly, and have the capability of examining many more alternatives. CADD?EUR??,,????'???s impact on the creative process is profound and must be experienced to be fully appreciated.

CADD?EUR??,,????'???s Impact

While CADD?EUR??,,????'???s use as a design tool is little understood, its use as a production tool is widely acknowledged. A properly configured system can increase productivity two to four hundred percent! The impact on any firm will be significant, creating opportunities for growth, greater profits or simply more time to enjoy life. This increase in productivity is accompanied by graphic accuracy impossible to achieve by hand drafting. It is consistent quality, project after project. Do not be misled by believing all CADD drawings look ?EUR??,,????'??hard?EUR??,,????'?? or ?EUR??,,????'??engineering like.?EUR??,,????'?? CADD drawings, like hand drawings, can look like whatever you wish.

Another often overlooked aspect of CADD is its usefulness as a marketing tool. A quality system produces excellent screen graphics. Sit your client down and discuss his project in front of a color monitor, exploring alternatives as you discuss the design with him/her. Add trees, remove shrubs, widen the steps or change the walk configuration as the discussion proceeds. CADD also improves your firm?EUR??,,????'???s ability to complete projects on schedule. Government agencies recognize this and give points for CADD capabilities.

A CADD system will not only do cost estimates in significantly less time, but with perfect accuracy. When three people do a take-off of the same project, you invariably get three different quantities. With CADD you get accurate take-offs every time, regardless of the scale of the final drawings, complexity of the project and the endless changes. The same is true for dimensioning. In the CADD system?EUR??,,????'???s memory, the design exists in the real world dimensions. Mistakes in dimensions cannot occur, no matter how many times the client changes the site. CADD is inexpensive liability insurance.

The reasons to invest in CADD are many; enhanced creativity and increased productivity are significant, as is the stabilization of staff CADD brings. In addition to these are the opportunities to expand the profession of landscape architecture, beyond its present boundaries.

A significant change in our profession is just beginning. The opportunity to be in the forefront of that change is at hand.

Tom Dellaquilla is a registered Landscape Architect with 19 years experience in landscape and irrigation system design. He has owned his own business, been the landscape manager of a large development company and is currently employed by Consolidated Reprographics, CADD Division.