In architectural competitions and early-stage proposals, architects have only a few seconds to land an idea. Most juries glance first at the imagery and only later at the plans. A presentation filled with renderings that feel highly realistic gives the jury confidence and helping them decide which project to support financially, professionally, and emotionally. A package that feels staged or artificial does the opposite. This is why photorealism matters. Not as ornament, but as a signal of credibility. As Péter Kollár, our Lead CG Artist, puts it, “If I hesitate and wonder whether it’s a real photograph, that’s when I know the image is doing its job,” positioning the project as a viable and realistic concept.
Visualization has moved upstream
AI has made lifelike architectural rendering easier, but also more precarious. Architectural Digest has warned that realism without discipline can mislead. Applied to an entire image, AI can feel artificial; when used on elements that cannot be realized, it can create false expectations. Clients and juries perceive these disconnects, sometimes before, sometimes after, and the resulting mistrust can undermine the architect’s credibility.
At the same time, visualization has moved upstream. Renders no longer sit at the end of a process; they shape the design. Yet their strongest influence still lies in the decisive moments, where one image can tilt a jury from hesitation to conviction.
Architects respond to images the same way the public does, instinctively. The cues that create trust are small and precise. Light must behave predictably, glass must catch reflections, shadows must vary in tone, materials need layered irregularities. Any walls or textures too uniform or too symmetrical becomes unrealistic.
Mohamed Atef, our Senior CG Artist, describes the craft as a flow of “adding colour, then tiny imperfections, not to make things dirty but because nothing in real life is perfect.” When these layers fall short, often due to deadline pressure, the image and credibility breaks.
A building rendered with over-flat walls or perfectly gray shadows might remain okay, but it feels wrong. Viewers and juries may not be able to pinpoint why, yet they sense a lack of life, depth, or authenticity, and that instinctive doubt can outweigh even the most polished presentation.
Realism is not an effect. It is the accumulation of dozens of micro-decisions.
Where photorealism fails under pressure
Most failures in realism are not dramatic. Daylight scenes with every interior light blazing, glass that doesn’t reflect, vegetation that belongs to the wrong climate, or people dressed for another continent are common mistakes. Not something you get for the first impression, but something working subconsciously. There is growing criticism around the over-idealization of renderings, especially “greenwashing,” and unrealistic atmospheric conditions, which can generate false expectations for clients, stakeholders, and even public media when the built reality cannot match the promise of the imagery.
AI can amplify the problem. It sharpens what is already thoughtful, but it cannot rescue an image lacking a believable base. As Mohamed says, “AI isn’t magic. It only enhances a little.” The temptation to use AI as a shortcut is strong, but the result is usually an uncanny surface rather than a convincing one.
If lighting and materials define the physics of a render, people define its psychology. They must belong to the place and programme, the climate, culture, and the everyday rhythms the building will host. A surf club with office workers creates doubt.
The goal is not to decorate a scene with storytelling, but to make it feel authentic. When people, weather, attire and behaviour align, they strengthen the architecture; when they don’t, they weaken it. The same applies to perspective: many architectural renderings default to dramatic aerial views, yet we remind clients that such perspectives are rarely accessible in real life, unless you are in a helicopter or on the 26th floor of a neighbouring building. Sometimes, it is easy for a building to look impressive from a particular angle, but this reflects software freedom more than authentic perception, and it risks distorting how the architecture will actually be seen.
Authorship of the realism
Architects influence the visuals more than they realise. Strong briefs with references, resolved models and an understanding of local context create the conditions for photorealism to flourish. Vague references or stylised images that ignore physics tend to increase the risk of unreality. Much of our work, in those cases, is helping redirect the conversation from preference to trust. The best results come when both sides share authorship of the realism.
Photorealistic renderings act as a universal language that bridges the gap between technical drawings and non-technical decision-makers. Achieving realism takes time, research, and a refusal to cut corners. After delivering tens of thousands of renderings, we’ve learned that a believable image becomes a quiet signal of confidence. Our role is to create these images and cultivate a feeling of trust and authority in our partners’ audiences. When we succeed, the architecture carries the room, and our project wins the competition.
Last updated: December 2025
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