In an article at Architect, Loud Paper‘s Mimi Zeiger explores the growing entanglement of GIS and BIM applications, and the potential impact of this relationship for architecture:

Loosely defined as the integration of geographic analysis and tools into the design process, the term “geodesign”… as Dangermond [the president of ESRI, makers of ArcGIS] sees it, is shorthand for the complex interrelationship of spatial data and architecture. It is the interface between land use, census blocks, traffic patterns, air quality tables, and any other data set, on the one hand, and the process of building—site planning, conceptual design, programming, and construction drawings—on the other…

Ray and Charles Eames’ 1977 short film for IBM visualizes both macro and micro systems; beginning with a couple on a picnic blanket, the film zooms exponentially outward from a distance of 1 meter to 100 million light years. This is GIS: It offers a grand, global scope. The film then reverses itself and plunges deep into cellular and atomic structures. Here, the parallel is to BIM; programs such as Revit contain the innermost workings of buildings—steel structure down to door handles and screws. “BIM/GIS integration promises the replacement of abstract zoning standards with building … performance that can be tested and modeled for not only the building site, but … the city on the whole,” explains de Monchaux [a professor at the University of California, Berkeley].