History

Cigraph is a holding company that comprises four different companies, each of which provides a distinct service to its customers.

PHILOSOPHY
Architectural drawing is a human process that involves multiple tasks and abilities, from the most creative to the most repetitive.
Our products have always been developed with the full knowledge of this fact.
Based on the experience and confidence we have gained over more than twenty years of business and hundreds of thousands of projects, we have committed ourselves to provide architects and designers with the best possible solutions.
Whether for large-scale or private building projects, we offer an unrivalled design platform that provides a complete set of tools and functionality.
It is time to explore this powerful, customized solution that can fulfill the most complex architectural needs throughout the entire design phase.

PARTNERSHIP

Graphisoft
Cigraph’s relationship with the Hungarian company Graphisoft started back in 1984 and developed into a winning synergy that has grown stronger over the years and without ever being interrupted.  
The partnership led to the development and later the distribution on a worldwide level of what is considered the top architectural design system in existence today: ArchiCAD.
The partnership has never been limited to the sale of computer tools, but, still today, unites the two companies through their participation in the most prestigious international research projects in the Information Technology field.

Abvent
Cigraph’s partnership with Abvent, one of the world’s leaders in Virtual Reality technology for architecture, was established in September of 2002.
This strategic alliance has allowed Cigraph to expand its product range to include Artlantis, a program that combines the most advanced and efficient functions for the realistic simulation of materials and lighting needed for any 3D project.
 

HISTORY OF CIGRAPH
Cigraph Group has been operating for over twenty years in the IT arena and was one of the first Italian producers of architectural CAD software for design studios of all sizes and types.

Founded in 1984, Cigraph develops and distributes products for Macintosh and Windows-based computers.
Since its foundation, Cigraph has specialized in computer-aided design, with a focus on the building industry; its products are therefore designed mainly for Engineers, Architects, Surveyors and Designers.

Also in 1984, Cigraph began its ongoing partnership with the Hungarian company Graphisoft, with the development of Radar/Ch - ArchiCAD’s predecessor - which quickly became the most widely used and complete CAD package for architectural design.

Cigraph's ability to develop and offer software packages that are easy to use and understand led to the fast and consistent distribution of its tools, in Italy as well as in the rest of Europe and America.

In June of 2001, Cigraph’s structure was completely reorganized, resulting in the formation of three new companies: Cigraph Trading S.r.l., Cigraph Service S.r.l. and Cigraph Factory S.r.l..
Each of these new companies was created to cover a specific function that was previously handled directly by Cigraph, with the objective of streamlining processes to make them more efficient.

In 2002, the company signed an agreement with Abvent, the french company developing Artlantis one of the world’s leading developers of photorealism software and multimedia tools for architecture and design, a step that made Cigraph one of Italy’s leaders in rendering solutions for architectural CAD.

In 2003, Cigraph – along with other major companies, the industry’s main trade associations and the most qualified university departments – began promoting the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) interoperability standards, which were developed by the IAI (International Alliance for Interoperability), a federation comprising the 600 leading companiesand software houses serving the AEC/FM industry.

Cigraph coordinates and controls the three companies, each of which is independently organized.
Manages marketing and promotion activities.


Cigraph Trading promotes, distributes and sells our products.


Cigraph Factory develops software, primarily plug-ins for ArchiCAD.


Cigraph Service provides an “interface” for Cigraph products users and attends to all their needs.