Mission unaccomplished: Form and behavior but no function

Tools for modeling function may be an important step in achieving computer-aided design software that can genuinely improve the quality of design. Although researchers have included function in product models for many years, current commercial Building Information Models are focused upon representations of form that can drive models of behavior but lack models of function. If a model of function is added to a BIM, then the building model will be much more capable of representing the cognitive process of design and of supporting design reasoning. The paradigm of a form model, a function model, and a behavior model may suggest ways to reorganize architectural and engineering practice. Design teams could also be organized into roles of form modelers, function modelers, and behavior modelers. Although this would be a radical and novel definition of roles in a team, it parallels principles that have arisen naturally in contemporary practice.