Beyond the BIM utopia: Approaches to the development and implementation of building information modeling

•Promotional promises of building information modeling are critically analyzed.•Four elements of building information modeling utopia are discussed.•An alternative, activity-theoretical and evolutionary view is outlined.•It draws from cultural psychology, innovation-, science-, and technology studies.•BIM implementation requires local experimentation and continuous learning.

Building information modeling (BIM) refers to a combination or a set of technologies and organizational solutions that are expected to increase interorganizational and disciplinary collaboration in the construction industry and to improve the productivity and quality of the design, construction, and maintenance of buildings. In this paper we analyze first the rhetorical–promotional dimension of the BIM implementation sometimes characterized as a “BIM utopia.” Second, we analyze the views of the enhancement of BIM implementation. Although BIM visions and promises are needed for BIM implementation, they need to be complemented with a more realistic view of conditions of the implementation. For this we outline an activity–theoretical and evolutionary view by drawing conceptual tools from science and technology studies and other relevant social scientific literature. According to this view, in addition to standards and guidelines underlined by normative approaches, local experimentation and continuous learning play a central role in the implementation of BIM.