Thoughts on creating imagery to communicate architecture and design.
25 years of evolution in image creation WITH Dionysios Tsagkaropoulos: From the birth of radiosity to A. I.
In the vibrant universe of 3D architectural representation, Dionysios Tsagkaropoulos emerges as a pioneer and visionary innovator. Born in Athens, he has nurtured his passion for architecture and digital technology since youth, earning the title of one of the foremost experts in the field. Back in 1999, he brought his vision to life by founding Delta Tracing, a company that made history in the realm of 3D rendering and photorealistic images for architecture. Until April 2023, he also served as Image Lead and CGI Manager at the renowned architectural studio Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Paris. Dionysios’ mastery, coupled with his technical expertise and relentless pursuit of excellence, stands out for his ability to create atmospheres that imbue images with a contemporary sensitivity, aptly conveying the architectural concept itself. His creations breathe life into spaces and landscapes designed by architects, interpreting the concept of dwelling through a judicious fusion of photographic eye and architectural sensibility. Currently, Dionysios is the founder of Evolvia Imaging, a leader in providing exceptional 3D renderings and photorealistic images for architecture and industrial design, where he continues to advance his mission of innovation and excellence.
In these interview, we are thrilled to pose some questions to Dionysios, a figure who has closely witnessed moments of significant innovation and change in digital media. We want to explore with him how he perceives and tackles this transformation, and whether he considers artificial intelligence as an influential tool in his work.
How have you seen the landscape of digital media and architectural visualization evolve throughout your career?
Having officially started my professional career in 1999, I consider myself truly fortunate to have experienced as a true pioneer all the changes and technological advancements in the industry.
I’ve seen and tried them all: the old scanline, the birth of radiosity, photon distribution, brute force, final gather, biased and then unbiased rendering, GPU rendering, hybrid engines, moving on to real-time rendering, and now, of course, images generated by artificial intelligence. Let’s say I’ve seen and tried all the technologies I could in my professional life, always striving to be one of the first to use every bit of trickery offered by software houses, squeezing every algorithm to improve the final result, conducting research, offering something alternative, but above all, always driven by curiosity and love for technology and 3D art in general.
In recent years, rendering engines, both traditional and real-time, have certainly made giant strides in quality and photorealism, which paradoxically have been suddenly overshadowed by the generation of images/videos by artificial intelligence.
Now it almost seems like a war between titans, on one hand, the human mind with all its nuances, its weaknesses, its curiosity, its discovery, its dreaming driven by authenticity and everyone’s worldview, against the generation of images by artificial intelligence.
What have been the most significant moments of change and innovation you have observed in the industry?
Personally, I’ve had the great fortune to intensely experience what I consider one of the most significant innovations, which was the introduction of GPU rendering by Nvidia and Autodesk back in 2009. The engine at the time was called Nvidia iray, and I was part of the development when everything was still being built and prepared in great secrecy away from the world’s eyes. Pushing the limits of precision and beauty of unbiased images through GPU computation was, in my opinion, one of the most important innovations in our industry. At the time, fueled by enthusiasm and passion for this technology, I built a workstation with 8 GPUs connected simultaneously, a machine unique in the world that even Nvidia themselves didn’t believe I could get it to work.
Now, technology has obviously evolved, and we’re in the phase of hybrid engines and real-time rendering. Undoubtedly, the generation of images by artificial intelligence is another huge change, but let’s be honest, the authenticity of images created entirely by humans is still undoubtedly the way to create true art where customization based on our pure creativity and imagination makes us truly unique.
"...let’s be honest, the authenticity of images created entirely by humans is still undoubtedly the way to create true art where customization based on our pure creativity and imagination makes us truly unique."
What opportunities or challenges do you think artificial intelligence may present in the future of your profession and the industry in general?
We must be strong, strong not to fall into the trap of laziness, in the absence of research, nullifying human authenticity. Artificial intelligence should serve as a reference, as support, helping us to draw inspiration to accelerate our artistic thinking, but without losing the ability to imagine, experiment, make mistakes, and come out of it on our own strength. Here comes ethics into play, knowing how to use these powerful yet equally dangerous tools for our artistic survival in a moderate, correct manner, and not to replace us artistically, gaining time but dulling our minds and imagination. While using artificial intelligence can accelerate some processes to optimize time, we cannot let it replace us. I believe that human creativity, so unique and cherished in our history, cannot be replaced by the ease of creation and immediacy offered by artificial intelligence today.
Do you believe that the new capabilities in image creation through artificial intelligence could influence the perception of architectural reality itself, renewing a sort of creative consciousness?
As I mentioned earlier, image creation through artificial intelligence should function as support and inspiration, and this also applies to architectural reality. Even in this field, the authenticity produced by our minds has no comparison nor the value of our own human ingenuity. Surely, we will see bolder solutions in the future, which is something lacking lately in the architectural market, but I believe that ultimately, we will always have the final say. Artificial intelligence will make proposals, and we will need to be capable of filtering, selecting, evaluating, and most importantly, developing with our final touch. I sincerely hope that such technology will solve important issues in shorter times, still leaving ample space for designers to experiment with their creativity and judgment based on the needs and context of each project, perhaps limiting evaluation errors and increasingly respecting the surrounding environment and urban fabric.
“Artificial intelligence should serve as a reference, as support, helping us to draw inspiration to accelerate our artistic thinking, but without losing the ability to imagine, make mistakes, and come out of it on our own strength.”
