Architectural visualization has become such a powerful and essential aspect of “design delivery” that it’s becoming difficult to distinguish what is truly real and existing in the physical world and what is merely a digital rendering. Before software such as Blender, V-Ray, Cinema 4D, and countless others were available, architects relied on sketches, drawings, and models to convey their designs in a “tangible” and “visually digestible” way for clients and collaborators to understand their 2D vision. However, with architectural technology continuously pushing the limits new opportunities showcasing what’s possible can be accomplished like never before.
In the fall of 2020, a design competition led by Arch Out Loud invited architects, students, and designers to flex their rendering skills and see whose work would be named “Render of the Year.” The architecture industry and its adjacent disciplines like film, music, video games, and even advertising communicate through ideas through a visual narrative. Rendering software and design ingenuity have expanded into these speculative worlds where an idea can come to life. Arch Out Loud’s inaugural “Render of the Year” competition allowed for designers to become storytellers. The competition aimed to find “compelling images that tell stories of architecture, interiors, cities, and worlds that could be.”
With a star-studded jury consisting of industry leaders from firms such as Kilograph, The Boundary, Metanoia, New Affiliates, Deborah Berke Partners, BIG, and AAmp Studio, among others, five projects were awarded the top prize in addition to a selection of honorable mentions. Below are the winning projects and their work.
Young Designer Award – “Platform for Imagined Ruins”