“Shop Assistant” Architecture

Nowadays, to build a model of a building in 3D software, I don’t need to draw lines, but I need to populate the workspace with different objects or “families“. I pick them up from library of elements - previous projects, databases, or develop new ones. For example, when I need a window, I find the one I need in 3D form, and it is automatically inserted into the wall with given properties, defined offsets, and necessary cuttings.

I think, selecting the "family" in the software instead of drawing it by hand in 2D inadvertently results in poor knowledge of the building and the project in general when it comes to architecture.

It speeds up the process; however, you can hardly remember all the details, including the dimensions of the frame or its type. This is when the process of designing turns into "silence". Many things are done by simply selecting products.

This is how nowadays’ architectural design software works, and this is one of many reasons how the architect becomes “silent”. Can we lose the ability to explain something vividly as we miss the level of detailing made manually. Will the profession slowly turn into a “manufacturing” field when everything is based on pre-assembling? The architect becomes a draftsman with the skill to “quickly” select products and organize sheets for printing.