4 Tech Tools to Visualize Your Urban Design

TestFit s a rule-, unit-, parcel-based 3D modeling tool that generates many functional variations of building models suited to each site's constraints. The models can be refined with actual constrained unit plans or adaptive unit plans to provide flexible variations (such as wall thickness, floor-to-floor heights, typical stair and elevator requirements, parking garages, and surface parking) and additional refinements. Topography is still a challenge, and no generative tool is yet able to provide the fine-grained detail required for true site analysis, but TestFit allows for testing site options more quickly and accurately than alternatives.

Beyond the 3D modeling and site plan generation, the tool gives users an idea of a project's general cost range. Users do, however, need to understand site limitations that come from zoning and building codes while accurately inputting that information into the many sub-menus of the program.

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