As The New York Times points out in this morning's article about the role architectural renderings play in the real estate game, "the real purpose of these drawings is not to predict the future. Their real goal is to control it." And it's true, because renderings are the face of an impending development and debatably the most influential factor in creating public hype about a project, gorgeous computer-generating imaging has become the standard. Still, a few architects are going above and beyond, making renderings so realistic-looking, it takes a long look to decide they're not photographs—and even then the assertion is iffy. Recently, architecture blog Dezeen chatted with a few of the architects who make photo-like renderings a priority, including Henry Goss, the designer of Straithe End house, above. What makes this rendering (and the nine other staggeringly realistic images below) that much better? "The addition of real world imperfections," Goss says. "Scratches in metal, splinters and chips in timber boards, even fingerprints."
· Dezeen Archive: Hyper-Realistic Renderings [Dezeen]
· Idealized or Caricature, Architectural Renderings Are Weapons in Real Estate [NYT]