The Expanding Use of Animation in Architecture

Nate Berg writes in The Architect’s Newspaper about the expanding use of animation in architectural practice, both in presentations for proposed projects and for marketing completed buildings. Whereas in the past, architectural animation consisted of literal “flythroughs,” architects are increasingly taking a more cinematic and impressionistic approach to illustrate ideas. For example:

Some architects are actually using animation as part of their design methods. “It becomes part of the creative thought process,” said Kulapat Yantrasast, a principal at wHY Architecture in Culver City. “By doing the video, you learn how to communicate the idea more clearly, which sometimes refines the idea itself.” For one residential project in the Hollywood Hills, wHY took inspiration from the neighborhood’s history in the film industry to create a sort of film-noir animation of the house’s design. Taking cues from Alfred Hitchcock and the early days of mystery movies, wHY’s film shows the house from the perspective of a private detective investigating a crime. The “investigation” takes the detective and the viewer up the drive to the home and through each of its rooms. The crime isn’t exactly solved, but the narrative style turns what could have been a drab flythrough into an engaging exploration.

(Disclosure: Nate interviewed me for the piece.)