Rendering: The Convenient Lie

By Marcin Karczewski

Every major project will undergo a severe critique before it can progress to the stage of construction. Visualisations are an inseparable part of architecture. One can see the results of digital rendering everyday when looking at new investments which underlines the significance of a first impression. Consequently, we begin to doubt how accurate it is and find ourselves asking whether the image we see is just an unrealistic projection of the future. So where can we draw the line between a realistic vision and an artistic misdirection?

In 2015, I went to the Expo in Milan with my family. From the numerous fascinating projects I saw, there was one which grabbed my attention. It was the UK’s pavilion designed by Wolfgang Buttress.

Before seeing the pavilion with my own eyes, I was only familiar with visualisations and pictures before its grand opening. My experience was not as I had expected due to the adverse weather conditions – it was pouring with rain. The moment I saw the pavilion, I was overwhelmed by an uncomfortable feeling of disappointment. The pictures that served to help me imagine how the project was supposed to look like were skewed – there were few people, lots of free space and a beautiful sunset in the background with stunning god rays penetrating through the structure. Instead, what I saw was far from that. It was more like waiting all soaked-up in the line only to see one room while looking at a grey structure thrown at the grey background in a claustrophobic narrow path in the garden full of other soaked-up tourists. Furthermore, a couple of broken glass panels prevented anybody from entering the dome which was supposed to be the most important part of the exhibition.

The assets of the visuals can become the biggest weakness in reality. The size of the dome was much smaller in reality and due to how crowded it was it seemed like I was simply tricked into a long wait with a very predictable ending. Since this project was claimed to be one of the best in the entire Expo, my expectations were simply too high and uncontrolled factors affected my first impression.

At times, visualisations can be more controversial than we expect. Looking back at when the first project to renovate the Rotunda (a small branch of Poland’s largest bank in the most central point of Warsaw) was announced, my first reaction was of disbelief – I could not recognise my own city. There were numerous changes made to hide a much less utopian reality.

Firstly, there were completely new buildings added on the left which never existed and are still in plans till this date.

Next, the most important landmark of Warsaw’s skyline; the Palace of Culture and Science was no longer visible. The intention may have been to bring attention to more modern architecture than the one from a 230 metre high tower.

Thirdly, all the small and ugly details such as the uneven surface of a pathway, roads in poor condition, omnipresent cigarette butts and tram lines were erased. Even details of greater significance (bus stop and tram stop) were taken for granted.

Last but definitely not least, there are no advertisements at all. This is a huge issue since the biggest plague of the city centre is the covering of entire façades of buildings surrounding and rotunda as well. You cannot imagine how much attention was brought in the media - everybody was talking about it. Lack of advertisements has been brought the most of the people’s attention. This soon resulted in a new law for the area of ads to be smaller. Bartłomiej Gowin’s and Krzysztof Siuta’s project unexpectedly became a drive for change in the centre of Poland’s capital by showing what the surrounding buildings actually look like. Architects did not lie by showing the neighbourhood without commercials, they exposed what the city has to offer when shown in a proper way.

But I believe that visualisation is not what the building will look like – it’s how it can look like, just the odds of the perfect timing that seems unrealistic.

All in all, rendering is just a selling tool. No matter what, people will be pleased with something that looks attractive, and even buy it, like in case of apartments.