Architecture is one of the first major professions whereby 3D digital visualization tools were applied. Moving from pen and paper to CAD software, the field has benefited greatly from the introduction of digital technology in the design process.
Architectural visualization designs are meant to portray an idealist, speculative version of a future building that has yet to be constructed. Although this use case often applies to commercial forms of architecture, the democratization and spread of these digital tools has led to a whole new realm of artists that create within a genre that emerged from traditional architecture.
Architecture and art have a long relationship that dates back many centuries, whereby creativity is encouraged and rewarded when done correctly. However, when used for practical purposes, architects can be shackled by the laws of engineering and the laws of nature when creating their designs.
The fusion of the art with modern 3D design tools allows the creator to defy these ‘rules’ and run free with creative expression.
From time of day, to geographic location, to extreme geometric forms and unique materials that defy our current understanding of physics, creating imaginative architectural designs with 3D software allows artistic creativity to run wild.
Several digital artists have entered the Web3 space producing artworks that take this new concept to the highest level. By incorporating backgrounds in graphic design, creative direction, furniture design and illustration, they’ve trail-blazed a new genre of art that is wildly popular on social media and mood-boards alike.
The best of the best have become highly successful artists that tokenize their work.
The following individuals are some that catch our eye when exploring this fascinating style of 3D artwork.
Paris based 3D artist and art director Hugo Fournier is a particularly skilled creator whose organic shapes and highly creative designs stand out amidst this increasingly popular genre. Employing a modernist yet organic style to his designs, the places that he creates are both visually beautiful and enticingly liveable. He uses a lot of curvature and natural elements such as stone or clay in his materials, perfectly striking the balance between modernist and natural in the pieces that he creates. You can find his work available to collect on both Foundation and SuperRare.
Alba de la Fuente is a Madrid based 3D artist and trained architect who combines these skillsets to produce phenomenal digital creations. Her approach focuses on “architectural environments through textures, lights, shadows, and perspectives” as she states in an interview with visualatelier8. Her work is hyper realistic and sophisticated, traits that could be attributed to her deep understanding of architectural principles and concepts. De la Fuente has collaborated with some of the leaders in this field and we look forward to seeing what she continues to release in edition to her existing work on Foundation and SuperRare.
Ezequiel Pini is the creative mastermind behind the account Six N. Five, a Barcelona based studio that creates digital images, films and physical objects. With an extremely strong sensibility for colour and light, Six N. Five is perhaps the most well known artists within this niche. They’ve had multiple successful releases on Nifty Gateway and SuperRare, and have pioneered the 3D architectural visualization movement.
Alexis Christodoulou is a South Africa & Amsterdam based 3D artist with a successful commercial practice of creating product and furniture designs. Christodoulou also creates fantastical imagined architectural spaces, often with a midcentury touch bathed in plants, warm colours and sunlight. As a self taught artist, he attributes a lot of his influences to both video games and traditional architects alike.
Jenny Jiang is a 3D artist and founder of Dreamscapes Studio, a digital design agency based in NYC. Her work is particularly etherial and dreamlike, and the use of pink tones and pastel colours further emphasize her whimsical take on imaginative worlds.
Peter Tarka is a London based artist and art director with an extensive portfolio of unique and high quality work. Aside from a successful commercial practice, he has released multiple pieces of tokenized artwork on SuperRare, usually comprised of bold shapes and colors. His pieces often have a Mondrian-like aesthetic and in the use of color and his approach to composition.
Paul Milinski
Paul Milinski is an Australia-based artist, designer and 3D visualizer. His work is some of the most recognizable in the space and his creations have been shared through social media countless times. His incorporation of nature into his modernist and sometimes art deco scenes creates a fusion between the extreme manmade and pure natural in a way that manages to harmoniously coexist in an unparalleled way. His frequent use of the colours gold, light pink and green make his artwork instantly identifiable, which is a big accomplishment in the crowded field of 3D artists.
This selection of artists active in Web3 are making compelling imaginative visualizations, many having done so long before the popularization of NFTS. Their work is closely tied to the advances in 3D software and digital tools, and it will be interesting to see how their art develops as technology continues to mature.
Perhaps AI tools will become an ingredient in the process, or perhaps the hands-on-approach of drawing digitally makes a resurgence. In any case, we love the dreamy and utopian aesthetic infused in this genre of artwork and see it as a particularly important part of contemporary digital art.
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