Profile

Computational design Circular systems Collective practice

Architect-in-training at ETH Zurich working across urban reuse, computational tooling, and cultural research. I build systems that make dense processes legible, from large-scale spatial strategies to data-driven narratives and image-based archives.

Education

MSc Architecture

ETH Zurich, completion expected Feb 2025.

Technical lens

Scripted design

Python, C#, Rhino Grasshopper, AI workflows.

Practice

Public culture

Workshops, exhibitions, festivals, and research collectives.

Portfolio

RoyalDB highlights

Architecture Computation Media

RoyalDB is my living archive of built work, speculative projects, and computational studies. Below are the core narratives and downloads.

Render folio Selected works Recollection folio Coder folio

Familiar Stranger

Public life

Reading the Kanzlei Areal through crowdsourced imagery and semantic clustering.

View case study

Binz / B2Morrow

Urban reuse

Large-scale retrofit strategy for the Binz business zone, from rules to spatial tactics.

View case study

Sensing Abundance

Data + film

Mapping urban perception through data capture, film, and visual atlases.

View case study

Dream Together

Biennial

Image-generation workshop and archive for Tbilisi Architecture Biennial 2022.

View project

Invisibility

Visual research

Heat maps and visibility studies exploring how urban life hides in plain sight.

View project

Case Study

Familiar Stranger

Kanzlei Areal, Zurich: mapping public life through image archives and semantic similarity.

The Kanzlei Areal is shaped less by fixed architecture and more by overlapping publics. Familiar Stranger builds a large image corpus from online traces, then uses a digital reader to cluster scenes, patterns, and rituals. The resulting atlas informed spatial interventions, facade proposals, and cinematic sequences.

  • Collected and curated an image archive of everyday use and informal economies.
  • Built a semantic similarity workflow to expose recurring scenes and edges.
  • Translated findings into facade studies and a public interior narrative.
  • Produced montage walls, drawings, and spatial prototypes.

Location

Zurich, Switzerland

Methods

Image mining, semantic clustering, facade studies

Outputs

Atlas, renderings, montage wall, short film assets

Kanzlei Areal rendering with public interior focus
Facade study for the Kanzlei Areal
Public life montage from the Familiar Stranger study
Schwarzplan showing Kanzlei Areal context

Case Study

Binz / B2Morrow

Retrofitting the Binz business zone with housing, permeability, and new urban rules.

Binz is a seam between the Friesenberg garden-city and the rare IG III business zone. This project repositions the 130m B2Binz office wall as a future housing and civic interface. Binz Wind sits inside this larger inquiry as a focused study of permeability.

  • Qualities, not numbers, define the city; existing structure is protected.
  • Additional use is primarily cost-rent housing, anchored by an active ground floor.
  • No fences: the edge is porous, with vibe corridors and street ravines.
  • Outdoor rooms stay small-grain and diverse, with clear links to the corridors.

Location

Binz, Zurich

Focus

Retrofit rules, housing strategy, public edge

Outputs

Ruleset, renderings, collages, section studies

B2Buromuur facade study
B2Morrow rendering for Binz retrofit
Binz collage showing atmospheric strategy
Collage exploring Binz edge and permeability

Case Study

Sensing Abundance

Data-driven film and mapping project on urban perception and public space.

Sensing Abundance explores how cities are felt, narrated, and recorded beyond traditional architectural drawings. The project combines field capture, QR-based prompts, and layered visualizations to build an atlas of urban emotion.

  • Mapped urban perception through QR prompts and mobile capture.
  • Produced film sequences, point clouds, and visual atlases.
  • Focused on public green space, movement, and civic intensity.

Focus

Emotion mapping, data visuals, urban film

Outputs

Feature film, stills, interactive prompts

Year

2021

Sensing Abundance title still
Urban map from Sensing Abundance
QR capture still from Sensing Abundance
Public space capture still from Sensing Abundance

Selected Index

Everything worth publishing

A compact index across architecture, digital work, and cultural production.

Architecture + Urban

  • Fractal Privacy (alternative living, 2018)
  • Spacegrid (ideal architecture, 2018)
  • Public Inside (real architecture, 2019)
  • The Platform (London housing ideas, 2019)
  • Parasite / Centre Vague (multiplicity, 2022)
  • Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow (2022)
  • Familiar Stranger (2022)
  • The Stranger You Recognise (2022)
  • Binz / B2Morrow (2024)

Video + Sound

  • 6.A.M teaser series (2019-2023)
  • Dont Get Stuck (2022)
  • Statisch Unbestimmt (2023-)
  • Kajmen Dojo soundtrack (2022)
  • Milieu soundtracks (2022-23)
  • Dream Together soundtracks (2022)

Tools

Portfolio and data tooling

Lightweight systems that support curation, storytelling, and analysis.

Portfolio Builder

  • Python + Jupyter workflow for assembling tailored portfolios.
  • Row-based collage logic for sequencing images with consistent rhythm.
  • Folder-based database that stays simple and flexible.

img2printpdf

  • Generates space-optimized PDFs from image sets.
  • Justified row packing with configurable margins and gaps.
  • Supports A4/Letter/custom sizes and DPI-accurate output.

Semantic similarity

  • Image clustering for public life archives.
  • Applied in Familiar Stranger and It's a Match workshops.
  • Fast iteration via lightweight datasets and scripts.

Apps + prototypes

Experience

Architecture, systems, and reuse

Practice spanning collaborative studios, reuse logistics, and cultural institutions.

Member, Panta Rhei Collaborative

Zurich · 2020-Present

Collective

Architecture and media work focused on civic narratives and emerging technologies.

  • Dream Together (Tbilisi Architecture Biennial 2022): open-source image generation to surface voices.
  • Led a specialist to build a public website that collects and archives contributions.
  • It's a Match (Toronto Media Architecture Biennial 2023): data-structure workshop on semantic similarity.

Internship and Assistant, Bauburo in situ

Zurich · Aug 2019-Jun 2020

Reuse

Process development and logistics for construction with reused components.

  • Information management and digitization during the zirkular GmbH spin-off phase.
  • Built internal knowledge sharing via a wiki to scale specialist know-how.
  • Planned and delivered construction projects using reclaimed building parts.

Architecture Biennale Venice, German Pavilion 2038

Venice · 2020-2021

Exhibition

Built narrative futures by extending real interviewees into 2038.

  • Wrote speculative biographies based on interviews.
  • Digitally aged interview subjects for the film work.

Pre-study Internship, Werkgruppe AGW

Bern · Aug 2016-Mar 2017

Studio

Self-directed learning in drawing and modeling software.

Education

ETH Zurich and beyond

Deep dives into scripted design, generative AI, and data-driven workflows.

Master of Science in Architecture

ETH Zurich · Ongoing (expected Feb 2025)

MSc

Relevant focus areas across computational design and AI-driven workflows.

  • Coding Architecture I: C#, Python, AI in design workflows.
  • Advanced Computational Design: scripting and custom CAD tooling (Python, Rhino Grasshopper).
  • Generative AI research: building and training a custom CGAN.
  • LLM programming constraints, databases, and large dataset handling (Bash, Python).

Bachelor of Science in Architecture

ETH Zurich · Completed Mar 2021

BSc

Architectural foundations with a focus on systems thinking and material culture.

Matura (WR)

Gymnasium Neufeld · Completed Jun 2015

Skills

What I bring

Architecture, computation, and collective facilitation.

Computational design

  • Python, C#, Rhino Grasshopper
  • Generative AI and CGAN workflows
  • Custom CAD tooling and scripting

Data and systems

  • Databases, structured data, pipelines
  • Large dataset handling (Bash, Python)
  • Information architecture and process design

Architecture practice

  • Circular construction and material reuse
  • Exhibition production and storytelling
  • Research through prototypes and workshops

Collaboration

  • Facilitation in non-hierarchical teams
  • Documentation and knowledge sharing
  • Public programs and cultural events

Community

Collective work

Organizing cultural formats with care for infrastructure and participation.

Verein Vereint

Zurich · 2019-2022

Festival
  • Sonder Festival 2021: non-profit event (3 days, 500 visitors).
  • Responsible for infrastructure and material sourcing.
  • Led a build team of 5 members and 10 volunteers.
  • Horror Automobilis 2022: workshop and city walk (30 participants).

6.A.M Kollektiv

Zurich · 2018-2022

Culture
  • Produced 10+ open-air and 5 indoor cultural events.
  • Managed PR, flyers, text, and social media.

Languages

Spoken

Comfortable in multilingual contexts.

German (native) English (very good) French (intermediate)

Contact

Let's collaborate

Open to work at the intersection of architecture, computation, and civic culture.

Download PDF jan.ba.jb@gmail.com LinkedIn GitHub