Autodesk Forma Site Design como Herramienta Pedagógica para el Análisis Bioclimático: Un Fraccionamiento Residencial como Caso de Estudio

Resumen

Cloud-native BIM platforms offer embedded environmental analysis capabilities that remain underexplored in architectural education. This exploratory case study documents the use of Autodesk Forma Site Design as a pedagogical tool for early-stage bioclimatic analysis. Nineteen undergraduate architecture students at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey Campus, analyzed a real residential subdivision provided by an industry partner during two five-hour in-person sessions. Four teams simultaneously populated a shared cloud model using Revit mass imports and native Forma tools, and then performed solar-hours, wind, glare-potential, and shadow analyses in their assigned zones. Each team developed a comparative prototype matrix or synthesis and justified the selection of a recommended housing prototype based on environmental criteria derived from its analyses. Individual reflections were also qualitatively coded to identify evidence of perceived learning, data-grounded environmental reasoning, multi-criteria synthesis, and collaboration. The results suggest that students were able to translate environmental simulations into multi-criteria bioclimatic arguments despite limited prior exposure to the platform. The reflections indicated perceived conceptual shifts regarding orientation, passive design, and the use of environmental data in design decision-making. Autodesk Forma Site Design appears to be a viable pedagogical tool for collaborative environmental analysis in undergraduate architectural education, although the findings should be interpreted within the limits of an exploratory case study with a small sample size.