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Introduction
Archicad’s Renovation toolset is essential for managing existing, demolished, and proposed structures. While Graphisoft has done a decent job making standard Priority-Based Connections (PBC) respect the Renovation Status, a fundamental logical flaw remains unresolved regarding Solid Element Operations (SEO). As soon as a user needs to execute a 3D boolean operation, the system completely loses its "temporal awareness." Currently, an Operator element marked as "Demolished" will still physically cut and alter a Target element marked as "New." From a logical standpoint, this is a paradox: a demolished element ceases to exist before the new element is built. Why do Solid Element Operations ignore this chronological reality?
The Core Issue: SEOs Transcend Time
The root of the problem lies in how Archicad processes Solid Element Operations across different Renovation Filters. SEOs create a hard geometric link between the Operator and the Target. Unfortunately, this link entirely bypasses the Renovation Status logic.
While standard wall-to-wall or slab-to-wall priority intersections usually behave logically depending on the active Renovation Filter, more complex architecture almost always requires SEOs (e.g., cutting walls to complex roof shapes, terrain operations, or custom structural subtractions).
To fix this, users are forced to rely on tedious, error-prone workarounds:
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Creating completely separate layers for demolished operators (e.g., "Roofs - Demo") just to hide them or change their intersection groups.
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Duplicating elements so that one set has SEOs applied for the existing state, and a separate "clean" set is used for the proposed state.
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Manually breaking SEO links, which ruins the parametric nature of the model if the existing state needs to be adjusted later.
All of these workarounds clutter the model, break template standardization, and contradict the principles of automated BIM.
The Double Standard: Renovation vs. Design Options
What makes this frustration even more acute is that Graphisoft has already proven they know how to isolate geometries effectively. With the introduction of the Design Options feature, Archicad successfully manages complex element interactions. Elements in non-active design options do not cross-cut or interfere with each other. The software understands that Option A and Option B are mutually exclusive realities.
Why is the same architectural logic not applied to the Renovation tool and Solid Element Operations? Existing/Demolished states and Proposed states are just as mutually exclusive in time as Design Options are in space.
Conclusion & Proposed Solution
Solid Element Operations should not be absolute and permanent; they must become Renovation-aware. Graphisoft needs to implement Temporal Isolation for SEOs.
When a view is set to show the "Proposed" status, any SEO link driven by an Operator marked as "Demolished" should be automatically suspended or ignored by the 3D engine. Architects should not have to spend hours cleaning up boolean subtractions between elements that will never actually coexist in the real world.
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