Construction was historically the most high-tech industry in the world—until it wasn’t.

In this episode of Buildings 2.0, I sat down with Matteo Orsi.

He shared how a kid from Italy surrounded by centuries-old buildings found himself leading one of the UK’s most progressive BIM teams.

But Matteo’s story spans wider than technology. It's about reconnecting to the original spirit of architecture—where innovation and building were synonymous.

1. Architectural practices have spent 20 years treating BIM like IT support.

“If Roman architects had BIM, they would have used it.”

Matteo sees building information management (BIM) not as a niche or technical department—but as the natural evolution of what architects have always done: use the best available tools to design and build smarter. For years, BIM was siloed, marginalized, and misunderstood—often referred to as the "BIM team" instead of the next evolution of how architect's reframe design excellence.

Construction has historically been at the leading edge of innovation—from Brunelleschi’s dome in Florence to modern skyscrapers. From Matteo's view, BIM is simply the modern continuation of much longer standing tradition.

Matteo's working to bring this spirit back—merging modern BIM workflows with age-old requirements from the stakeholders around the table.

• ✅ Owners want faster decisions, with better information.

• ✅ Designers want to validate design decisions earlier.

• ✅ Builders want fewer surprises on site.

Takeaway:

BIM isn’t a supporting function, but central to how buildings are designed and built today—a natural continuation of architecture's original spirit of innovation, and pushing the boundaries.

2. We've built buildings with assumptions. Now we're building with intelligence.

“The more you tackle the challenges upstream, the fewer surprises you get downstream.”

BIM lets building owners de-risk design—before the first brick is laid. For decades, projects started with incomplete surveys, guesswork, and siloed knowledge. We crossed our fingers and paid for it later—in change orders, rework, and missed schedules. Now, thanks to high-precision surveys, early adoption of scan-to-BIM on projects, better and standards, owners and project teams can see the building before it’s built.

• ✅ Early scan-to-BIM models drastically reduce uncertainty.

• ✅ Verified existing conditions data informs budgets and risks up front.

• ✅ ISO standards create a common digital language across teams.

Takeaway:

The smartest building owners today invest in project intelligence early—because ignorance is far more expensive.

3. We separated craft from technology. It's time to reunite them.

“A brick is still a brick. You need to know how it goes together.” — Matteo Orsi

Real architecture lives where design craft and data meet. The best young professionals today, as Matteo says, "marry digital mastery with material wisdom." Too often, we treat technology as an add-on. As if drafting in 3D makes you a better builder. Or, as if 3D models can compensate for not knowing how a wall gets built. BIM augments, but doesn't replace, knowledge in assembly. Matteo advises:

• ✅ Understand your tools—but also deeply understand the trades.

• ✅ Model with constructability in mind.

• ✅ Push technology to serve real-world construction—not just drawings.

Takeaway:

BIM, alone, isn’t the answer. Knowing how to build—and combining it with data insights to make it better—is the real edge.

Final Word: BIM is a homecoming for the master builder.

Matteo reminds us that the architect was once the builder, the innovator, the systems thinker. Somewhere along the way, we split that role. We separated craft from data. Design from delivery. Insight from execution.

Now, BIM is the tool helping us stitch it all back together.

Not as a novelty. But as a return to what architecture has always been about: building well—with intelligence, precision, and care. It’s not just about models. It’s about decisions made earlier, risk removed before construction, and teams speaking the same language from start to finish.

The firms that win in this next era will be the ones who treat BIM not as a department—but as core to architectural practice. The ones who, like Matteo, see BIM as a continuation of the Master Builder tradition—not a break from it.

Listen to Matteo's full episode on Buildings 2.0

Matteo’s insights are required listening for anyone navigating BIM, data, design technology and their place in the development of buildings.

→ Spotify

→Youtube

If you enjoyed this, you'd also enjoy these previous Buildings 2.0 episodes:

• Turner Construction's Amy Schaap on BIM transforming construction management.

• Okana's Dr. Melanie Robinson on transforming traditional records in to digital frameworks