Freedom to design - ArchiCAD supports your style

The design process is very individual. Your CAD system should support your approach to design, and not the other way around. The choice of more than 100,000 architects worldwide, ArchiCAD gives you the flexibility to design in any form you wish. Whether you're doing a quick conceptual 3D massing study, working out a functional design arrangement in plan, detailing the eaves, or designing a complex roof in 3D view, ArchiCAD's comfortable, efficient interface and full toolset supports your style. Additionally, the customizable dialog boxes and pet palette puts what use most, how you want it. And navigating on the floor plan or in any 3D view, you'll experience ArchiCAD's amazing speed.

When you place elements on the floor plan, or in 3D view, they already contain information about their height, thickness, material and more. ArchiCAD elements are parametric, so their properties can be changed at any time, giving you unsurpassed flexibility and speed in the design phase. Building elements inherently contain 3D information, so visualization of your building model doesn't take extra steps. Mistakes in planning can be seen immediately, and therefore avoided.

ArchiCAD's design tools give you the freedom to create intricate objects in 3D while easing tedious 2D work. Solid operations based on Boolean geometry enable you to easily model custom objects. Create profiled walls or exact slab-roof connections quickly and easily. Intersections between ArchiCAD elements can be modified using an intuitive interface with the result shown instantly in 3D view. Intuitive data entry methods assist in creating new elements the way you want, right from the start.

ArchiCAD operates on a true story concept. Your project can contain any number of stories that have a height and floor plan, and build upon each other, making the alignment of columns, stairs and windows a snap. You can jump freely and move building elements between stories, and optionally display all or selected elements of any story above or below your "home" story, for easy coordination of plans.

For the precise placement of building elements, ArchiCAD's intelligent cursor is always active. It senses your location on the floor plan or in perspective and guides you to the right place. You can constrain the cursor to an angle or distance while drafting or editing. It also locates important points such as ends, intersections and tangentials, and finds divisions on any element to aid, for example, in the precise placement of windows in walls.

ArchiCAD elements react intelligently to their environment: wall intersections automatically clean up, elements can clearly intersect with each other using solid geometry, beams have inter-section priorities, and roofs can trim building elements for more efficient designing. Not only does ArchiCAD automatically assist your modeling, but also alerts you if doors or windows are placed incorrectly in walls. The Gravity feature aids in placing building components on floors, roofs or meshes on the floor plan or in 3D view. This accelerates work, makes the management of the project easier and, most importantly allows you to design instead of draft.

Architectural modeling in ArchiCAD:

• Working in 3D view: Use ArchiCAD's editing commands, or create new elements, in 3D view, wireframe, hidden line or shaded modes. Changes are updated in all views.
• Navigating in 3D: A building can be viewed and rotated from any angle, even from the inside in real time with the mouse scroll button. Orienting your working plane is as simple as a click on any surface with real-time speed for even the most complex spaces.
• Boolean geometry: Create intricate objects easily on the floor plan or in 3D view.
• Customizable attribute groups and dialogs: Support different working methods and experience levels. Attributes and favorites can be defined to ensure every document complies with local or office standards.
• Smart editable hotspots: Edit objects graphically, faster and with visual feedback
• Walls: Polygonal and trapezoid walls can be placed with a click. Any polygonal or rounded door or window shape is possible. Walls can be manipulated after they are placed. Irregular walls can be cut with, or adjusted to roofs, even irregular ones.
• Roofs: The automatic roof design function produces complete roof landscapes. Roofs can trim other elements. Complex truss systems can be designed and edited in 3D. Skylights placed in a roof update when the roof's geometry changes.