0

THE ART OF RENDERING Honors Thesis Report

University of Florida School of Design, Construction, and Planning

Kevin Gonzalez Mojica B.Sci. in Sustainability & the Built Environment Candidate

B. Des. in Architecture

1 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

ABSTRACT

A growing trend in the facilitation of architectural concepts has brought with it a

growing stigma in its misconceptions towards the realities of a project’s completion. The

“Art of Rendering” illustrates and discusses the fundamental notions of an architectural

rendering, otherwise known as an axonometric with materials, colors, and an

environment applied to the project’s building(s). These features bring a project to a

closer representation of its potential visualization once completed. However, there is a

misconception when abstraction meets realism and results in mixed forms of media

depicted as surrealism or stylized rendering. Several drawings from a student’s

undergraduate architectural projects will be utilized as examples of the discussion topic

and its implications to architectural representations.

There is a formidable transition into surrealism in architectural representations,

especially in the academia level, therefore the assessment of its applications to actual

architectural projects should be discussed to support its efficacy. As the industry begins

to welcome graduating students, these visualization skills and techniques overcome the

preceding methods of media due to the seduction of abstraction and the forthcoming of

advancing technologies. This paper will address both negative and positive implications

of the use in renderings in modern design, through several case studies and literature

reviews.

Key words: surrealism; abstract architecture; rendering; undergraduate architecture;

modern architecture

2 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the University of Florida’s

School of Architecture, faculty and staff, for developing the foundation of my

architectural philosophies and education.

Most importantly, I would like to thank Professors Alfonso Perez-Mendez and

Lee-Su Huang for their suggested fundamental methods of approach to the integration

of abstraction into the realities of architecture and design.

Thank you,

Kevin Mojica

3 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

PROJECT OUTLINE

Abstract

Acknowledgements

I. Introduction

a. Project Objectives

b. Major Research Questions

i. Efficacy in Design

1. What are the negative connotations to architectural

renderings?

2. How do architecture and design benefit from

renderings?

ii. Socio-Cultural Implications

1. What are the social and cultural implications of such

architectural visualizations?

II. Literature Review

1. “Surrealism and Architecture” by T. Mical

2. “Celebrating the Marvelous: Surrealism in Architecture” by N. Spiller

3. Design 06 Studio Project: Charleston’s Cultural Response

4. Design 07 Studio Project: Manhattan’s Urban Block

III. Methodology

a. Secondary Data Analysis

i. Findings to Literature Review

IV. Summaries

a. Efficacy in Design

b. Socio-Cultural Implications

c. Conclusion

V. Bibliography

4 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

CH.01 INTRODUCTION

a) Project Objectives:

The intent of this paper is to explore the implications of modern abstracted or

stylized renderings and their benefits to architecture in current and future projects. To

accomplish this, several literature reviews antagonizing the use of architectural

renderings will be analyzed, and several personal architectural undergraduate projects

will be utilized as examples of rendering’s efficacy in design intuition. Conclusively, the

philosophy of utilizing renderings in architecture will be discussed as a means of art that

integrates potential or suitable socio-cultural implications, which are often bypassed as

a secondary concern in architecture and the construction industry.

This analysis into the relation between the three-dimensional visualizations, known

as renderings, and both architecture and design are discussed to identify any

advantages and/or disadvantages in their use. The findings can clarify the intentions of

academia teachings in both the early and final representations of student formed

architectural concepts. This approach has become widely used but still sparks different

attitudes during academic critiques, as a result of a professional or educator’s bias

and/or fundamental beliefs in the process of design intent. The resulting student project,

or professional proposals, can suffer backlash from such skepticism on the project’s

architectural uniformity as a feasible structure. There should be a distinction between

hyper-realistic rendering and surreal rendering, in architecture, but both be acceptable

forms of architectural visualization in any stage of the building(s) design process.

5 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

b) Major Research Questions

To address these potential disadvantages and advantages, two central topics will be

discussed as follows: the efficacy in design with a visualization tool like renderings; and

the socio-cultural implications that are presented as the result of such stylized drawings.

Both topics will cover sub-questions that will be derived from personal academic project

experience and literature review. The “Efficacy in Design” topic is relevant to the

research focus on stylized renderings because the underlying factor in the success of

this specific design visualization is its promising architectural results. In other words, the

rendering should try to truthfully illustrate the completion of the proposed architecture,

when it involves characteristics like scale, materiality, structure, and finishes. Secondly,

the “Socio-Cultural Implications” topic is relevant to the research focus because there

should always be an attempt at the illustration of the project’s potential social

atmosphere— in a cultural context. The stylized renderings are not necessarily a form of

vital structural information, instead these drawings tend to be informal representations

of graphic qualities like the building’s colors and materials. This tendency, however,

does not rule out their efficacy in architectural development because there are graphic

renderings that address the atmospheric qualities of a project and then there are

construction drawings which are strictly uniform instructions of the building(s) assembly.

i. Efficacy in Design

1. What are the negative connotations to architectural renderings?

2. How do architecture and design benefit from renderings?

ii. Socio-Cultural Implications

1. What are the social and cultural implications of such architectural

visualizations?

6 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

CH.02 LITERATURE REVIEW

i. “Surrealism and Architecture” by Thomas Mical

The relationship between architectural theory and surrealism, along with several

other styles, are explored in this book as a cultural desire.1 From this peculiar

perception on architectural styles, there is a strong correlation to the development of

styles and not their demise. An architectural style, for example Baroque, was not a lost

nor incorrect perception of architecture but instead a past desire of certain principles

than transitioned into a new set of rules for appropriating architectural to the social and

cultural beliefs of the time. Mical’s philosophy provokes a change in the misconception

between history and architectural styles, as architectural styles are never-ending and

repeat over time. His perception of architecture, however, focuses on the least explored

architectural style being surrealism— a philosophy founded by André Breton, in 1924. A

fundamental philosophy that is often overlooked because of its radical qualities has

been the origin of many popular architectural styles like modernism, functionalism, and

brutalism, along with other cultural artifact movements.

The imaginative realm of surrealism2, was known as a 21st century movement which

spawned incongruous art and literature from the dreams or imaginations of

philosophers. These mixed media forms were typically unrealistic in the sense they

could not be replicated in the physical reality but were depictions of a philosopher’s

1 Mical, Thomas. Surrealism and Architecture. 1-8. London: Routledge, 2005. http://search.ebscohost.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=nlebk&AN=127927&site=eds-live 2 "Surrealism Movement Overview and Analysis". [Internet]. TheArtStory.org. 21 Dec 2011. https://www.theartstory.org/movement/surrealism/

7 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

interpretation of an object or idea. Notable pioneers of this philosophy were Salvador

Dali, André Breton, and Max Ernst.3 A fundamental analogy to this philosophy is to

automatism, or the automatic unconscious actions of an individual, which can also be

related to intuition. Architecture, as Mical suggests, is a fragmentation of the designer’s

true imagination and is commonly intended to be much grander than its sole function as

a building(s).

ii. “Celebrating the Marvelous: Surrealism in Architecture” by Neil Spiller

This book explores the endless interdisciplinary implications of modern architectural

thinking at the academia and professional industry with the fundamental philosophy of

surrealism. A few of the mentioned architects include Le Corbusier, John Hedjuk,

Bernard Tschumi, and Rem Koolhaas. These mentioned architects pioneered pre-

modern architecture into what is now referred to as contemporary architecture of the

21st century.4 Countless methods for design-making, such as computer-generated

algorithms and biophilia, remain a derivative of surrealism as these methods are still

unusual for the development of a building. The notion of this avant-garde challenges the

renowned architectural philosophy functionalism, or “form follows function” by the early

American architect Louis H. Sullivan, with the conceptualizations of an informal method

to spatial matrixes.

3 Ibid. 4 Spiller, Neil, Anthony Vidler, Alberto Perez Gomez, Dagmar Motycka Weston, Nigel Coates, Mark Morris, Elizabeth Williams Russell, et al. 2018. Celebrating the Marvellous Surrealism in Architecture. Architectural Design: Vol. 88, No. 02. John Wiley & Sons. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=cat04364a&AN=ufl.PDA003337115&site=eds-live.

8 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

Beginning the literature with the praise of late 20th century architects Rem Koolhaas

and Bernard Tschumi, both their contributions to the literature and philosophy of

architectural theory are considered surrealistic approaches. Koolhaas’s “Delirious New

York” and Tschumi’s “Manhattan’s Manifestos” illustrate the components of New York

City like a matrix of various systems from transportation, public infrastructure, buildings,

human activity, and so on. The complexity of such life engine cannot be contained in the

limitations of pencil and paper but must be portrayed as an endless structure of ideas

from the deep mind. Manhattan, in New York City, has been a prime example of the

complexity in design and functionalism. The assembly of matrixes of different function

are all interconnected through a series of ever-changing mixed styles of design-thinking

and making. However, the underlying mitigation in all this mesh of uncertainty is that of

surrealism. The conceptualization of surrealism as a loosely defined architectural theory

has paved the way for emerging styles of architecture such as deconstructivism and

futurism to coexist with various other time-based5 styles; this is due to the idea of

fragmentation of space and matrixes which allow the connectivity of various approaches

into one assemblage known as the modern city.

5 Ibid.

9 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

Design 06 Studio Project: Charleston’s Cultural Response

Figure 1: Exterior Rendering of Charleston’s R.I.S.E., depicted in the evening, during its public occupation

Titled “Charleston’s R.I.S.E. (Resilient Institute for Sustainable Engineering)”, this

project was developed into my third year of undergraduate architecture at the University

of Florida’s School of Architecture (SoA). In this project, there is a strong focus on

climate resiliency in the region of downtown Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston’s

R.I.S.E. began with the initial design intent of restricted cultural response but this project

geared its functions to passive design, early on, because of the associated risks

between climate change and natural disasters— such as storm surge, tsunamis, and

flash flooding. The functional characteristics of this building include an automated

louvered façade, raised foundation, durable and hydrophobic materials, passive

ventilation, rainwater harvesting, and permeable exterior grounds. These features, atop

its cultural significance to the region as a reminder of the extremities of nature,

demonstrate the intents of resilient architecture in coastal areas.

With that said, the listed image at the top depicts the project in the late evening

as public activities and public opportunities are presented inside the structure, such as

gallery exhibits and lectures. The exterior rendering, in this case, does utilize the

10 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

existent urban context such as the surrounding buildings, hardscape, and landscape.

However, the setting is dull and grey as the building is luminescent with translucency

through its actual perforated metal façade panels. In addition, there are no vehicles to

focus on the grandeur of the building’s impact on the corner of a busy urban corner. The

question then is, why illustrate impractical outcomes?

To achieve a grandeur of a momentous building unseen in an area as

conservative as downtown Charleston, there must be a seductive conceptualization.

The art of rendering, in this case, is portrayed as a dull and otherwise calm setting

juxtaposed by a glowing beacon of resiliency— in the event of natural disasters.

Charleston’s R.I.S.E. was presented to be a paradigm for future architecture in the

region, as climatic threats increased, with a focus on the advantages of an autonomous

façade. The truth behind its scale, materiality, structure, and finishes are not false, but

intensified to emphasize the notion of its efficacy in resilient architecture.

In addition to its physical connotations, the presence of Charleston’s R.I.S.E.

raises the concerns for socio-cultural deficiencies in the area, such as conservatism and

education. These concerns are not resulting of the proposed building’s aesthetics but

instead were motivators for the buildings functions as an academic institute. These

design programs also fashion the image in which the rendering is perceived, which for

Charleston’s R.I.S.E. proves to be a more open and public environment.

11 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

iii. Design 07 Studio Project: Manhattan’s Urban Block

Figure 2: Exterior Rendering of the Hudson institute of Technology (HIT) , depicted in the morning, illustrating the cultural atmosphere of the adjacent Chelsea Park

Titled the “Hudson Institute of Technology (H.I.T.)”, this project was developed

into my fourth year of undergraduate architecture at the University of Florida’s School of

Architecture (SoA). In this project, there is a strong focus on the reimagination of an

urban block in a densely populated region like Hudson Yards in Manhattan, New York

City, New York. The H.I.T. began with the initial design intent of reconstructing the

functions and programs of an urban block at a grand scale and complex environment

like that of Hudson Yards, adjacent to the preceding Chelsea Park. The characteristics

of these series of buildings include an exposed structural system, transparent ground

floor space, porous encapsulation, and lightweight facade. These features are

reminiscent of the modern contemporary architectural styles of Thom Mayne’s

Morphosis firm, like the Cooper Union, and a hint of deconstructivism and futurism.

12 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

With that said, the listed image at the top depicts the project in the early morning

as the location’s daily activities occur in harmony with one another, from the children

playing sports in the adjacent park to the university students of H.I.T. flying drones

around the building. This exterior rendering does utilize the existent urban context such

as the surrounding buildings, hardscape, and landscape like the previous student

project Charleston’s R.I.S.E. However, the setting is not fully dull and grey because it

attempts to illustrate a utopian society. The building is luminescent with translucency

throughout its façade and an emphasized exoskeleton system implicates the rigidity of

the buildings as a cohesive conglomerate of ideas. In addition, there is a transparent

remnant of moving vehicle traffic as the rendering focuses on social engagement and

walkability in the area, to focus on the grandeur of the university’s sociability. The

question again is, why illustrate impractical outcomes?

Like Charleston’s R.I.S.E., there must be a seductive conceptualization to

achieve a utopian-like grandeur of a university amidst a chaotic matrix of differing

functions and architecture. The art of rendering, in this case, is portrayed as a futuristic

setting in a utopian society actively engaged in the city’s services and features. The

H.I.T. was intended to be a creative milieu for all sectors of a city including society,

culture, economics, and the natural environment. The notion of sustainability is explored

as a balance between society and the natural environment, in this case being Chelsea

Park. However, the truth behind this project’s scale, materiality, structure, and finishes

are not false, but intensified to emphasize the notion of its efficacy in a matrix of urban

context— despite the conglomerate of differing functions and styles within the project.

13 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

CH.03 METHODOLOGY

a) Secondary Data Analysis

i. Findings to Literature Review

The preceding literature on the attitude towards new and emergent architectural

tools significantly relied on the philosophy of surrealism, and its implications as a loose

interpretation of dream-like conceptualizations. Both “Surrealism and Architecture,” by

T. Mical, and “Celebrating the Marvelous: Surrealism in Architecture,” by N. Spiller,

provided fundamental ideas on the reasoning behind new methods of design thinking

and making through approaches like computer-aided design, parametricism,

abstraction, biophilia, and metabolism. The reasoning behind these architectural styles

stems off from surrealism and is termed “automatism,” which translates to the

unconscious action of an individual in their intentions of creating.

Both these literatures acknowledged the complexity of architecture in the grand

scale of a city and emphasize the importance of the proposed building catalyzing social

and cultural opportunities to integrate into the existent and ever-expanding urban fabric.

Architectural styles, as stated by Thomas Mical, are a designer’s desire for the

building’s grandeur in a heterogeneous urban context with the idea of only being a

fragmented piece of both urban fabric and owner’s conceptualization.

14 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

CH.04 SUMMARIES

a) Efficacy in Design

The success of a rendering is best valued throughout the words of the designer’s

philosophy, as represented in this report through my personal undergraduate school

projects. The visualizations of the proposed design intentions are all interconnected in

the rendering and are facilitated with proper emphasis on the selected items, such as

colored façade or neutral environment. The efficacy in design for stylized renderings

depends on the intent of the designer’s— as does everything else in architecture—

appropriation for the exaggerative imagery in relation to the context. There should be a

connection between a building’s, or series of buildings, connotations to the surrounding

context to achieve a certain public perception. The realities of the building are not

restricted, but instead glorified to the possibility of a new atmosphere benefiting the

socio-cultural existence of the current setting.

b) Socio-Cultural Implications

As mentioned, a stylized rendering can imply the improvement of a current

environment’s qualities with the help of an emphasis on public engagement and social

activities. Simple graphic representations of people walking and immersing themselves

into the functions of the proposed buildings sparks an imagination beyond the limitations

of the building’s sole function, because as mentioned earlier, the building will only be a

spatial node within a larger urban fabric of matrixes. This philosophy allows designers to

think and create accordingly to the larger scheme of things and venture outside the box

of form and function, as depicted in works by architect Bernard Tschumi’s Parc de la

Villete.

15 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

c) Conclusion

The resulting thoughts on the art of rendering are an amalgamation of literature,

educators, and personal experience. The main conclusion on stylized renderings is that

of storytelling. This form of art tries to best capture a proposed building or structure in its

grandeur, amidst several varying factors like climate and societal norms. There is a

notion of its essence in its integration into the preexisting urban fabric, depicting the

qualities that are most suitable to convey its efficacy in a predetermined setting. Stylized

renderings don’t interfere with the realistic components of the design, as there are

construction drawings for that regard, and should instead be characterized as a method

of artistic storytelling to convey a purpose for its existence. A rendering is the intricate

inner-mechanisms of a designer’s mind illustrated onto a subjective three-dimensional

representation of architecture, with no correct nor wrong approach to the intuition that

conceived it.

16 T h e A r t o f R e n d e r i n g

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Beilharz, Tracy. “How Architectural Renderings Are Ruining Your Design - Architizer

Journal.” Edited by VIA Technik. Architizer, November 12, 2017.

https://architizer.com/blog/practice/tools/how-architectural-renderings-are-ruining-your-

design/.

• Mical, Thomas. Surrealism and Architecture. London: Routledge, 2005.

http://search.ebscohost.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db

=nlebk&AN=127927&site=eds-live

• Mojica, Kevin Gonzalez. “Architecture Design Portfolio: B.Design: University of Florida

2016-2019.” Issuu, December 13, 2019.

https://issuu.com/kevingmojica/docs/mojicak_portfolio_final_pages.

• Spiller, Neil, Anthony Vidler, Alberto Perez Gomez, Dagmar Motycka Weston, Nigel

Coates, Mark Morris, Elizabeth Williams Russell, et al. 2018. Celebrating the Marvellous

Surrealism in Architecture. Architectural Design: Vol. 88, No. 02. John Wiley & Sons.

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=cat04364a&

AN=ufl.PDA003337115&site=eds-live.

• Vanessa Quirk. "Are Renderings Bad for Architecture? " 06 Jun 2013. ArchDaily.

Accessed 28 Apr 2020. https://www.archdaily.com/383325/are-renderings-bad-for-

architecture/