by Thomas S. Weir, Jamie D. Richardson & David J. Harrington

An important thing to understand about Revit Structure, and its approach to structural modeling, is that it is object-oriented rather than line-based as in traditional 2D drafting.

Instead of drawing a series of lines on a flat sheet to represent a column, you go to a virtual library, load a column element, and then place it in your virtual working space. That column displays in every view. In addition to modeling elements, other element types are available to help you document your design.

Three types of elements are used to model and document a project in Revit Structure: model elements, datum elements, and view-specific elements. These elements are organized to allow you to easily control their on-screen and printed appearance and display. Let's take a look at these elements and how they function.

Model Elements

Beams, columns, walls, and other real-world building objects are represented in Revit Structure by model elements. These are the primary elements used to create the model and are typically placed as they would be constructed. This approach allows accurate quantities and views to be derived from the model.

Model elements can be altered in any view in your project in which they appear. Once they are changed, every related view is automatically updated by the underlying database. This is called bidirectional associativity, and it is one of the most important aspects of Revit Structure.   >>>

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE In the default graphical user interface of Revit Structure 2010, a ribbon of tool options hovers above the main model window. Image: Courtesy John Wiley & Sons Extra Large Image It is possible to view multiple windows in an array, showing many different drawing views of a single project. Image: Courtesy John Wiley & Sons Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.