Change Management

156: ‘Why Are We Doing This in the First Place?’, with Shane Burger

A conversation with Shane Burger.

Shane Burger joins the podcast to talk about current and potential future impacts of AI and automation on architectural practice, the shift from perpetual to per-user licensing in AEC project delivery software, license management difficulties, enhancing productivity and improving project delivery while maintaining a human-centric approach, reevaluating business models towards valuing outcomes and performance, rethinking workflows, balancing technological advancements and the essence of human intelligence and empathy, and more.

Episode links:

Shane’s website
Shane on LinkedIn
Shane on X/Twitter
Woods Bagot website
Woods Bagot on LinkedIn
Woods Bagot on Instagram
Shane’s Twitter/X thread about software licensing
TRXL 068: ‘A Wealth of Abandoned Ideas’, with Shane Burger
Australia Introduces Workers’ ‘Right to Disconnect’ (New York Times)
Miro collaboration software
OpenAI’s Sora
Roam Research
Society of Mind (Wikipedia)
Combinatorial Creativity and the Myth of Originality by Maria Popova
Teaching scientific creativity through philosophy of science by Rasmus Jaksland (whitepaper)
Networked Knowledge and Combinatorial Creativity by Maria Popova
TRXL 131: ‘It’s Prompting Us’, with Benjamin Guler

About Shane Burger:

Shane is an internationally recognized leader in the advanced use of technology in design and experience for the built environment. As a Principal at Woods Bagot, he directs a vision centered on technical innovation and leads a global team dedicated to researching, developing and applying new models of design and delivery to projects. He has lectured widely on a range of topics including design computation, BIM, digital fabrication, building performance, VR/AR, Smart Buildings, and digital culture and experience.

Starting in the early 2000’s, he was an early advocate and active developer of design computation methodologies in the AEC industry. During this time, his built work at Grimshaw Architects focused on the design of arts and cultural institutions, and used an array of computational processes to synthesize geometry, analysis, and material fabrication. He also served for 8 years as a director of the design computation and education non-profit Smartgeometry, firmly positioning it at the intersections of art, design, technology, and the modern human experience. At Smartgeometry, he promoted the emergence of a new paradigm for digital designers and craftsman where mathematics and algorithms are as natural as pen and paper.