Cinematic Objects: Architecture in Situ

This course explored architectural representation as a cinematic and photographic practice, framing the image not as a static outcome, but as a generative design agent. Drawing influence from the compositional clarity of Andreas Gursky and the staged realism of Jeff Wall, the seminar positioned architectural imagery within the lineage of constructed photography—where atmosphere, detail, and narrative are equally instrumental. Gursky’s exaggerated depth of field and overwhelming density of information, for example, became prompts for spatial design, encouraging students to build scenes that exceed the sum of their parts. These influences shaped not only the visual ambition of the course, but also its pedagogical claim: that architecture is not just represented through images, but fundamentally shaped by them.

Working from an assigned architectural precedent, students re-situated fragments into speculative site conditions—rethinking climate, program, and tectonics—before constructing a visual narrative across four curated stills. The process unfolded through a series of biweekly tutorials focused on modeling precision and material articulation. Using Rhino and V-Ray, students developed textured and layered models that were then post-produced in After Effects and Photoshop, with optional compositing support in Nuke and realtime aniamtion in Unreal. The final phase of the course focused on selecting a single “hero image” to animate. Without moving the camera, students introduced subtle motion—sky drift, dust trails, flickering lights—and synchronized environmental sound design, transforming stills into immersive, time-based spatial documents.

Pedagogically, the seminar foregrounded storytelling, cinematic atmosphere, and digital craft as parallel tools for architectural thought. By embracing speculative realism and the language of photography, the course asked students to question not only what architecture looks like, but what it performs—socially, climatically, and culturally—within the world of the image. The act of representation became inseparable from the act of design.

This approach cultivated a unique intersection of narrative sensibility and technical fluency. Beyond form or aesthetics, the image became a medium of architectural agency—capable of constructing context, revealing power, and reframing precedent. As a result, each student’s work emerged not just as a project, but as a moment in a broader cinematic ecology: a fictional fragment tethered to the real.