Oscar Wilde asserted that “progress is the realization of utopia.”. Breaking the barriers of engineering and creating fictional masterpieces is a journey of discovery and delight. The book “Dreamscapes & Artificial Architecture: Imagined Interior Design in Digital Art“ released by Gestalten publishing house, based in Germany on June 16, 2022, showcases some of thec best and the most whimsical computer-generated imagery about architecture and interior design. It is an excursion through unusual landscapes, peculiar buildings, and dreamy visuals hovering between fiction and the real world. The book features a collection of highly aesthetic and outlandish digital works of 400-plus international artists, designers, and creatives that went trending globally via social media. Inviting the reader to explore a unique dreamscape of otherworldly scenarios and eccentric interior design renderings, the author demonstrates an intersection of nature, technology, and architecture in a pictorial manner.
“Architecture never derived its force from the stability of culture, but rather from the expression of those moments when that sense of stability slipped.” – Mark Wigley.
Architecture being a technology-intensive subject, the integration of technological innovations, both in the process of design and construction, is immense and ever-evolving. Digital technology and computed-generated design substantially impact all architectural aspects, including space planning, design, fabrication, construction, and teaching. Computer-generated imagery, digital modeling, and creating virtual scenarios have steadily taken a front seat in architectural design phrases. Creativity is a complex process that evaluates and creates a unique narrative between the narrator – the artist, and the culture – the viewers. Not only is architecture problem-solving oriented, but also a medium to support self-expression. The proportion between the two is solely based on the artist’s creative science.
Changing roles from catering to society’s problem-solving function to creatively expressing their vision of art is an absolute choice of the designer. The power of art awakens the unsaid thought inside us to drive us to depths that bring about change. Illustrative imagery to depict the abstraction of expressions and explore the possibilities of visualizing the built environment adds to the uniqueness of wild imagination and artificial architecture. The ability to visualize space and being beyond the traditional setup in thoughtful yet bizarre ways pushes the boundaries of architecture and interior design. Digital visualization is a tool that has opened up doors to innovation and abstraction in a relatively more straightforward manner, making it handy to most designers.
Characterizing space and volume with the help of this digital medium unleashes the power to observe and imagine with the freedom of exploring different forms, textures, backgrounds, perspectives, vision, colors, and depth. 3D modeling and rendering software aid the modeling process, adding depth and detail with no constraints, boundaries, or guidelines to limit the thought process. With no client requirements to cater to, no commercial restraint and no one to occupy them, these buildings and interior spaces are designed out of the sheer passion for creating a fantasy world away from existence.
Dreamscapes encourage this quirky and artful digital architecture movement, knowing that this uncanny environment will never be tactile nor built. Elli Stuhler, the editor of Dreamscapes & Artificial Architecture, claimed, “There is something so pleasing about these impossible, utopian environments, and of course, that’s not an accident.” In about 200 pages, the book highlights the creative approach illustrating the strangeness of moments in these renderings. Each artist defines an unusual theme, binding together the book’s contents, similar from artist to artist. By emphasizing pastel-hued interior spaces, floating objects, contrasting landscapes, paths leading to nowhere, utopian environments, exquisite furniture, and striking color harmony, a new genre of visuals is exposed, depicting artificial and unrealistic surroundings. The work of artist Paul Milinski homogenizes the whole vibe of the book with a combination of still-life art, landscaping, interior design, and architecture.
Creating illusionary illustrations using elements of architecture to create fantasy art showcases the very essence of Dreamscapes. Artist Hugo Fournier’s graphical rendering is a stand apart – expressing brutalism from the post-war era, in the form of an antique built structure, with raw concrete feel and glassy water body. Differing from that, striking built forms of contrasting nature with soft spherical balloons crunched in the middle of concrete cookie-cutter buildings taking pastel shades is a remarkable artwork by artist Antony Todisco.
Adding to that, artworks by artists Simon Kaempfer, Hayden Clay Williams, Peter Tarka, and many more depict various unusual scenarios that hit the brief precisely in their styles. Contrasting subjects with ambient lighting and feel, these graphics showcase endless possibilities to explore architecture and interior designs. This collection of artworks is not just photographs, renderings, and superimposed graphics but also an inspiration and source of encouragement for young artists to get inspired and a referral guide for bringing about a change in the future of the design industry.
Reference :
- Explore Stunning Dreamscapes Through Artificial Architecture – By Nadja Sayej
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/dreamscapes-and-artificial-architecture-book
- Dreamscapes & Artificial Architecture book editor selects five favourite 3D artists – by Natasha Levy
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/09/15/dreamscapes-artificial-architecture-renderings-gestalten-book/
