"Fresnel value", "displacement setting", "sub-surface scattering", "dynamic range", "turbidity"… no worries, we’re scratching heads as well but this jargon is crucial to the quotidian workflow of the Architectural Visualizer. Visualizers are responsible for creating imagery of architecture that does not exist. Yet. Speaking in depth with a few masters in the field, it becomes apparent that they treat images as emotional communicative elements to explain architecture as a narrative, thereby becoming "artists whose subject matter often happens to be architecture", explain Bertrand Benoit and Nadja Orlowski of Paris-based visualization firm BBB3VIZ.

For BBB3VIZ, a particular filter on an image, a specific composition, even the way a character interacts with the scene – "simple and subtle things can hint at a story in the Proustian reflexes they evoke". As for Eric de Broche des Combes, founder of LUXIGON, one has to build a personal scenario within the image. Should the connection between all the sub-plots and the project (the architecture) itself be created intelligently, one can consider the job well done.

Just like no two painters or narratives are identical, the various Architectural Visualizers have developed their own specific aesthetic, coming from different backgrounds such as civil engineering, illustration, architecture, or photography. BBB3VIZ and freelance artist Peter Guthrie in Edinburgh, Scotland for example, focus on producing as photorealistic an output as possible. Their expertise lies in using their digital tools to create images so convincing, they are usually mistaken for photos. Nearly every detail is conceptualized, constructed, scripted, calculated, and rendered in 3D: from chrome door handles gleaming in the light and diffused light leaking in through the clerestory window to the grass waving in a computer-generated wind or tire treads being hushed by falling snow.

Others like Norway’s MIR (Trong Greve Andersen), LUXIGON Paris, and London’s VYONYX (Deyan Minchev), possess a differing aesthetic that steps away from photo-realism and delves into an atmospheric appeal. LUXIGON comments, "the laws of physics are utterly annoying" so the image then is the outcome of dreams and imagination "without the hassle of reality". Minchev in turn looks for composition, colour scheme, and light to "set the mood of the image and hopefully tell a story". A close look through the image selections above shows birds flying across a stormy sky silhouetting an architecture, or a family walking towards the setting sun gleaming gold off a building rooftop – the viewer is caught somewhere between a dream world and reality.

"CG-gurus" and "render-geeks" these artists may be, but Architectural Visualizers are creators themselves, drawing inspiration in varying ways. Minchev points to the rules of painting set by the old masters of the Renaissance as well as concept artists creating imaginative worlds for movies and video games. MIR, on the other hand, operates out of Bergen, Norway, aka "the Outskirts of the World", surrounded by surreal landscapes that include deep fjords, winding roads across high mountains, lakes, and 16th century cottages. For this particular team, it’s not unusual to go looking for blueberries and mushrooms with their kids after work just after finalizing the presentation for the largest skyscraper in Manhattan.

From the artists mentioned above, we received some intriguing insights that shed light on their creative work and the extraordinary lives of these creatives.

What’s a typical workday for you?
MIR (Trond Greve Andersen): We start at nine in the morning, eat lunch at twelve, and go home at half past four. Dilbert style! There is a lot of concentration going on, headsets and coffee, but the team also has a lot of interaction, trying to maximize the quality of everyone’s output.
LUXIGON (Eric de Broche des Combes): Coffee. Emails. Coffee. Work. Cry. Yell. Eat food that is bad for your health. Smoke. Coffee. Smoke. Emails. Yell. Cry. Guitar. Bar. Eat food that is bad for your health, again. Emails. See family sleeping.

How has your specific aesthetic developed through the years?
LUXIGON (Eric de Broche des Combes): Let's say I'm less inspired by sunshine than by the abysses of hell. Also things tend to get more interesting when under-exposed, they're the monsters you had in your closets as kids. I think it is necessary to play with the ambiguity of beauty. The thrill is in the risk. The strategy of seduction and the build of fascination are always interesting games to play.
PETER GUTHRIE: In a lot of my work I am trying to recreate interesting photographs I have seen (sometimes subconsciously). With everything in the scene being 3D, including grass and trees, I have the opportunity to experiment a lot with lighting and mood.
MIR (Trond Greve Andersen): In the beginning, 3D showed us the way. We just rendered reflections and radiosity (ed. note: how the computer mimics real-life light within a scene), and that was enough…but I think we have grown up a bit since then, looking at how architects photograph their built projects. Most architects have a lot of gain by being a bit more introverted, holding back on the big drums and drama and trying to show their own vision of architecture.

How much freedom do you retain in creating images for architects?
VYONYX (Deyan Minchev): We are fortunate to have clients that work with us because they like our approach. The freedom comes when we establish a relationship of trust and understanding with the architect and client.

What is the favourite aspect of your work that keeps you going?
LUXIGON (Eric de Broche des Combes): There’s a certain something in architecture that I think has been a bit lost in the other arts. Surprisingly the inner complexity of the work is prone to provoke great moments of insanity. Architects have a wicked sense of humour and it’s a nice thing to experiment. It’s not exactly "aristocracy" but there’s a certain old-fashioned je-ne-sais-quoi that still makes it attractive.
MIR (Trond Greve Andersen): Helping architects realize that they produce amazing things. Being able to ignite a lot of enthusiasm about the world we live in and the future by the simplest means, an image.

How would you describe your apartment? Are there any links to your Visualization work?
LUXIGON (Eric de Broche des Combes): I’m living in a very nice flat, in an old building, near the Opera. Munch, the painter, spent some time in here. He even did a painting, called Rue La Fayette, from the balcony of our bedroom. It is not its best moment if you ask me but voilà! It is enough to make me feel special. But the most related to our visualization work are probably the two other creatures living in this apartment. My wife and my kid you can find in nearly every image I do.