Just as I told Noah yesterday at the Black Door, it is simultaneously frustrating and encouraging to see an entry like Joseph Wood’s win. While I am deeply disappointed that we elected not to pursue this competition a few months ago, it also empowers the part of me that steadfastly refuses to conform to what has now become the third leg of architectural presentation standards– the glossy rendering.
Ooooh!
Tower C, Bay Super Headquarters, Shenzhen, China. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Rendering credit brick visual. Image via designboom.
Aaaah!
Dawang Mountain Resort, China. Designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au. Image via Archdaily.
The winning proposal’s images have something old-school about them. There’s false perspective. There’s a lot of brown. There are fuzzy seagulls. I would venture that Photoshop constituted the lion’s share of its construction. They’re almost collage-like. And that, my friends, is a great skill: to be able to manipulate relatively rudimentary techniques to achieve a unique aesthetic. This gives me great hope– that next competition better watch the hell out.
