Portfolio Izaak Pilch 2023

Izaak Pilch

/Computational Design Portfolio

I’ve heard about rhino and grasshopper during my first year at university and instantly fell in love with it. From then on, I kept moving forward, unsure the direction and end goal, knowing that there aren’t much things in this world, which I enjoy as much as Computational Design. This enthusiasm was not shared by my tutors and peers. I quickly became dead pixel at university, always different, always the last person submitting projects, so I quit. Beside this passion, there is bitter rage for the way AEC industry works, how technologically retarded, scattered and privelaged it is. According to McKinsey report, productivity in other industries has increased by 1500 percent, meanwhile in AEC - almost didn’t. Users input doesn’t exist in architecture. We talk about AI, but we do not even have proper datasets it could be trained on. We talk about sustainability, while we account for 35% of global waste, 50% of energy consumption and around 40% of CO2 emissions. I won’t accept this status quo, because I believe computational design is a bridge, which can change it. A bridge between IT industry, modern ideas, inclusivity and AEC industry, which is currently its opposite.

Jun 2022 - Current

Oct 2021 - Mar 2022

Jun 2021 - Sep 2021

Sep 2020- Jun 2021

Architectural Assistant (EDGE Architects) Inline Skating Instructor (naRolki rollerblading school) Rhino Modeler Summer Job (3D ESTATE) Freelance Archviz Jobs

Jun 2020

Oct 2018 - Jun 2020

University Dropout (II Year, IV Term) Crakow University of technology (Architecture Degree)

Rhino Grasshopper

Chaos Vantage

V-Ray for Rhino

Adobe Suite

Revit Rhino.Inside.Revit

Python

Languages: Polish: Native

English: C1

Sep 2016 - Jun 2018

A.Asnyk II High School in Bielsko-Biała

Speckle

Javascript + HTML + CSS

Vue 3

Node JS

789 110 659

Sep 2015- Jun 2016

M.Kopernik Ist High School in Żywiec

GraphQL

izaak1999@gmail.com

HQ for IT department of State Forests

Associated with: EDGE Architects

Project Type: Architecturla Competition

Responsibilities:

• 3D Modelling

• Visualizations

• Computational Design

• Concept

Project made as part of my work at EDGE Architects. The goal was to create cost effective passive building for new Headquarters of IT department of State Forests. It’s most distinctive part, roof is a blend between flat and gabled roof, which allude to neighbouring buildings. Black borders around windows control amount of daylight getting into building. We used cheap wooden frame technology with thick insulation and certified glazing to achieve passive standard. According to wind analysis, during summer natural ventilation can be used instead of heat pump systems - hall was designed to take advantage of chimney effect if investor would agree to install skylights. PV panels on car ports generate additional energy. Moreover it was first project where we used Rhino.Inside.Revit . I’ve prepared simple Building Energy Model, which was used to analyse amount of daylight getting into building based on thickness and size of black framing around windows. Those two parameters were controlled by rectangular curve and thichness value. Based on this input, proper energy model was created and geometry exported to revit as directshapes. The algorithm also placed prepared earlier revit families with proper width and height got from the rectangular curve. It allowed to streamline workflow between rhino and revit, so we could design energy effective facades in rhino while revit team was preparing interior spaces according to programme and regulations

Daylight Autonomy

<Value range 0 - 100%>

<Analysed Period: Whole Year, 9:00 - 17:00>

According to analysis, building provides its occupants comfortabe environment using only natural daylight throughout whole year from 9AM to 5PM.

Useful Daylight Autonomy

<Value range 100 - 2000 lux>

<Analysed Period: Whole Year, 9:00 - 17:00>

According to analysis, during working hours daylight values lie in range between 100 lux and 2000 lux, what allows its occupant for comfortable usage and optimize energy consumption of building

Useful Daylight Autonomy MAX

<Value range: >2000>

<Analysed Period: Whole Year, 9:00 - 17:00>

According to analysis, during working hours, daylight values never exceed 2000 lux

Useful Daylight Autonomy MIN

<Value range: <100>

<Analysed Period: Whole Year, 9:00 - 17:00>

According to analysis, during working hours, daylight values are never smaller than 100 lux

Passive Cidery

Associated with: Krakow University Of Technology

Project Type: University Semestral Project (Year 2 Term III)

My University project, which is located in Liszki, a countryside near Crakow, Poland. The objective was to create cidery with production part, guests part and house for three generational family. I’ve decided to put all those parts into one building. From down, first part is guest area, second is cidery manufacture and third is guests house. The building is designed in passive standard with three layered glass curtain wall with stunning look on Wisła River and castle laying on opposite riverside. Overhang protects building from overheating at summer and helps with heating it during winter. According to analysis, the countryside lacks central place where people could gather for events and spend time together. This is why guests part is small restaurant with media room - a place where teenagers from near high school and enthusiasts can develop their technical skills and create projects together. The advantage of cidery production gear is that it can be also used to produce apple juice, which is useful when part of clients are underage. Cider is considered more exclusive than beer, which is useful in creating quiet place from everyone. Guests part has direct access to small orchard. From the inside users can see through window production part with silos. The producent house is placed on opposite end to guest part, together with height difference and curtain wall allowing its ocupants for peaceful usage. Level 0 is occupied by grandparents, everything above is for second and third generation of family. Level -1 consists of sort of patio with operable curtain wall and greenery where family can gather

Berkeley.Reuse

Associated with: The Warming Competition

Project Type: Architecturla Open Competition

Responsibilities:

• 3D Modelling

• Visualizations

• Computational Design

• Concept

• Research

Team:

• Izaak Pilch

• Aleksandra Bator

• Zuzanna Winiarska

Growing popularity of electrical devices increases need for metal mining. Electrical cars are prime example of this. According to economic forecasts, those cars will make 40% of total vehicle sales. With respect to significant role of EV’s in reduction of greenhouse gases, we need to remember about metals like copper, aluminium or lithium, which are needed for their production. From 1994 to 2019 world copper production doubled and aluminium - tripled. Mining has enormous environmental impact with open pit mines (which are common way of metal extraction) at front. Exponentialy growing human population needs more and more terrain at the same time open pit mines ruin places with high landscape values, poisoning groundwater, collapsing local ecosystems and communities. In contemporary architectural discourse more and more attention is given to revitalization of existing architecture what becomes foundation of our project. Though, we believe in regenerative ideology - that is, we can not only restore what lost, but also give it additional value.

Our project consist of two stages - cleaning the water and redevelopment of one of the most toxic places on earth - closed open pit mine Berkeley in Butte city, Montana state.

First stage is possible because of devices, which we designed based on the latest biotechnology created by BRIMM group workin at University of British Columbia - the solution for clearance of Acid Mine Drainage. Open pit mining uses significant amount of water, at the same time extracting heavy metals on surface, which poison water and ground. Water with heavy metals comming from extraction of ores is called Acid Mine Drainage. Because of ground erosion, open pit mines fill up with rainwater, what can be catastrophical for local ecosystems. In case of Berkeley pit there is also risk of soaking toxic drainage into groundwaters, poisoning whole area. Currently Acid Mine Drainage is being pumped out from Berkeley Pit by government. Our technology beside cleaning water, restore metals stored in it, what increase economical feasibility of our solution. Design is universal for every place on earth, automated and based on latest research in biotechnology. It consists of 3 devices:

- Underwater Station,

- Underwater Drone,

- Land Station

Stage 1 Clearance

Underwater Station is clearance system. Placement at bottom of water body is dictated by highest concentration of metals at this area. The idea assumes deployment of network of devices in two diameters - 3 and 6 m. Because of this they do not become dangerous for humans and animals, at the same time, allowing for adjusting amount of devices to the level of toxicity, areas of highest metal concentration and budget. Toxic water gets inside of it through side vaults. It working mechanism is based on usage of microbiological fuel cell (MFC) to extraction of metals from poisoned water and Microbiologically induced calcite precipitation (MICP) to neutralization of water PH. A cleared water is pushed through turbine and process repeated. This system needs electricity, hydrogen and nourishment for microbes and gathering of cathodes with metals on it. The solution is jellyfish-like drone, which resupply station, provide energy, exchenge cathode and transports gathered metals to land station. After discharging proper amount of energy, drone swim in the direction of land station, where it resupply itself, store metals, from where they can be easily taken for commericial use. Land Station is powered by hydrogen containers, which can be easily resupplied and exchanged.

1. Energy Storage and research facility

2. Sport area

3. Entrance from mine side

4. Cleared water

5. Pile foundations on rocks

6. Recreational area

7. Entrance from city side

8. Photovoltaic farm

Butte is a city known for its mining past, because of rich amount of metal ores at this area. Columbia Gardens have also been here. It was amusement park and garden opened in 1899 year and become center of local community. Unfortunately growing mining resulted in closure of park in 1973. Intensive mining resulted in creation of known today Berkeley Pit. Our goal was to restore what lost, reinterpretation what important and taking advantage of possibilities, which modern technology gives us.

Our ribbon entwining open pit is a 1600 meters in diameter urban project consisting of recreational spaces, caffees, bouldevars, restaurants, public parks and basins with different depths. On west side we located the Center of Research on environmental contamination with educational part availiable for public use. Here is also facility in charge of storing energy (modern electric plant). After clearance of water in Berkeley and nearby water body, where sludge was stored, we would place there floating photovoltaic farm. The greatest issue with renewable energy is currently lack of technology allowing for storing of it. In our project, energy surplus is transfered to energy storage facility, where using cleared water and fuel cells electrical energy is changed into hydrogend stored in metal containers, hidden in nearby abandoned mineshafts, from where it can be again exchanged into electrical energy when needed.

Drone

Land Station

1. Membrane

2. Structure

3. Container with hydrogen, acetate, li-ion batteries and fuel cells

4. Foundations

5. Underwater hub for drone docking

Underwater Station

1. Cover

2. Graphite Conductor

3. MFC System

4. MICP System

5. Turbine

6. In/Out Vaults

7. Bottom Cover Drone

1. Membrane

2. Structure

3. Ballast tanks with water and compressed air

4. Structural part

5. Li-ion batteries, cathode, acetane, hydrogen and gypsum

6. In/out connectors

7. 3D Printed cover

BIM Inventory of industrial building

Associated with: EDGE Architects

Project Type: Architectural Inventory

Responsibilities:

• 3D Modelling (Rhino)

• 3D Modelling (Revit)

• IFC Export

• Computational Design

The task of our team was to prepare industrial building inventory in BIM methodology based on point cloud. Envelope, structure, floors, railings, stairs etc. were modeled in LOD 300. The real problem was another part of the project - modelling of industrial equipment inside of it together with piping in LOD 200 level. Because of scale of the project we decided to try hybrid approach - LOD 300 parts were modelled in revit and interior equpment with piping was modelled in rhino (we used veesus software for displaying point clouds in rhino) and then injected into revit model using rhino inside. The project was enormous and took us 3 months to finish. Because of rhino. inside.revit we were able to submit fully capable BIM model on time with only few corrections. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to share this model because of NDA, but I am able to show fragments of it and the whole Rhino.Inside workflow.

Rhino Blocks Revit Families

We use exported revit model and point cloud as reference for modeling mechanical equipment in team of two people

VRhino.Inside.Revit

The model is being exported using rhino.inside to rhino as mesh for reference

Rhino.Inside.Revit +

V

... and then we send polished models to Speckle to ease multi user workflow in rhino. Then we recieve rhino blocks and make from them native revit families using rhino.inside

Revit Team creates bim model of structure, envelope and floors in LOD 300 standard

Exported Revit model is saved in rhino file, which can be attached as worksession reference. Layers are created based on revit categories. Moreover, every single element has attached GUID number to its name value, what streamlines workflow between rhino and revit team (i.e if we find invalid element in rhino, we can send its name value (GUID number) to revit user, and it will select corresponding element in revit

Speckle is being used as cloud server, which allows for receiving latest models from multiple users. We model in rhino from point cloud using veesus software, but its position differs from placement of point cloud in revit. This is why I created simple python script, which gets translation vector from revit and saves it as text file. In solution below I hard typed vector values because we were assured, that point cloud position in revit won’t change anymore.

Vector addition

Speckle stream (portfolio)

Retrieving data from speckle objects

Speckle stream (Production, multi user)

Speckle stream (portfolio)

Speckle stream (Production, multi user)

Retrieving data from speckle objects

Revit Families Creation

Revit Families placement

Vector addition

Revit Families Creation

Families placement

... and here is where magic happens - rhino blocks become fully editable revit families placed in proper positions with names based on block names.

For the last six months, I’ve used every hour of my spare time for learning web dev and started making my Progressive Web App based on Vue 3 framework. The app will allow for downloading data from polish government datasets necessary for early stage design ( digital elevation model, property boundaries, existing 3d buildings, roads etc.), convert them to speckle schema and import them to revit and rhino as native geometry types with single click. Because speckle is object based rather than file format based, I have high hopes for processing this data with AI in future and connect it to LLM. For now, you can select area and download lidar data. Next step is creating python script with laspy library, which will create surface/mesh from the lidar data in rhino and topography in revit.