In this course I will show you how ArchiCAD is used in architectural design. To make the most of its capabilities, I will use special templates and create a new work environment. All this will allow me to stay focused on the design process itself and eliminate all distractions. Since I will use these settings in all lessons, I suggest that you use the practice files that contain all the necessary information to follow the course.

In this lesson, I’ll show you what these settings are and how you can import a new desktop environment with a custom desktop. To this end, it is necessary to select the item Work Environment from the Options menu and click on the option of the same name. As soon as a new frame appears on the screen, look for the item Command Layout Schemes on its left side and then click on the Import button. The file you need is among the practice examples, so I advise you to search for the appropriate folder using the Browse function and click the Choose button to complete this step. Regardless of the fact that the selected folder appears on the screen, it is necessary to select it again and click on the Import button. Only after that, the data you need will be included in the program itself, so you will be able to select them and complete the entire procedure by selecting the Apply Scheme function. Having successfully completed this task, I can click the OK button and close the frame.

You are sure to notice that the working environment has not changed at all, and for that to happen, it is necessary to activate the toolbar that I just inserted. To achieve this, I need to select the Toolbars item from the Window menu and then look for the option that indicates a new working environment (A-ED MOVE EDIT TOOLS). After that, new icons will appear at the top of the screen, and their gray color indicates that they are not currently available to me. In order to change that, it is necessary to select one of the existing objects and only after that use one of these functions.

The ArchiCAD template is primarily defined by the contents found in the navigator, element attributes and display replacement options. We will now look at each of these items. ArchiCAD’s navigator is located on the right side of the screen, and its structure consists of a project map, a view map, a layout book and a group of plans (Publisher Sets). I am currently in the project folder, which includes all types of 2D and 3D views and layouts that are available to me. Of course, they can be created and adjusted later.

The view folder contains all the saved views, and for me it is almost completely empty if we ignore this folder. Since we will deal with designing in this course, we will place everything we do in a folder called CONCEPT DESIGN.

The layout book is the place where we will store plans and then add new views to them. As you can see, there is currently one folder and one layout in it. You can also see that it contains the so-called The masters are presented in dark gray, while the layouts are usually white. They serve to determine the shape and size of the appearance itself.

At the very end are the so-called groups of plans that we want to export (Publisher Sets). If I go to a higher level by choosing this icon, you will see that there is currently only one item in this category (CONCEPT) and it contains a layout that originates from the layout book.

Element attributes can be accessed via the Options menu, the Element Attributes item. They represent the settings that define the visual characteristics of the 2D and 3D tools we use in ArchiCAD. Many of them have been further adapted and simplified, and in this course we will use layers, lines, pencils and colors, fills, surfaces, building materials, composites and profiles that are within the so-called Profile Manager. You can access all these elements through the Attribute Manager option, and to keep things simple and to avoid confusion, I have radically reduced its content. This means that there is only one layer, a custom set of pens, a reduced set of lines and fills, and an extensive selection of surfaces that define the color or appearance of the 3D model. Construction materials are reduced to design costs, but they can be expanded later in additional documentation, composites and profiles.

Finally, in the Document menu, there is an option that allows you to display the complete model (Model View), graphic overrides and renovation filters (Renovation). These three categories allow you to change the settings of your elements and thus adapt them to the different stages in the design and documentation that you need. Using a specially adapted template and a new working environment will help you increase your efficiency and encourage creativity by making ArchiCAD’s interface easy to use.