Let me start with a definition of what rendering is.
“..a representation of a building, interior, etc., executed in perspective and usually done for purposes of presentation.”
To further expand this definition in my own words I would add that digital rendering (and this is the kind I’ll be talking about) is the one generated with the help of modern day Technology.
 

But before I get into details of how the rendering gets done let me first explain why I have such a passion for them and why in my opinion they are a very important part of architecture, design and planning.
 

Did you ever get the feeling when you look at architectural plans that even though you loved all the room sizes, restroom locations, furniture arrangements, and the square footage overall fits your budget, you still can’t SEE the place. Then you look at elevations thinking, now, this is it, that’s what the place will look like, but still something is missing. The facade is just a flat connection of lines showing location of the windows and doors and how tall the building is going to be, but you still didn’t get the feeling of it. That’s alright, because plans and elevation are just that - scaled drawings of a future structure. They intend to communicate to builders and to those of us who have an enviable imagination. But here’s when renderings come in handy. For those who lack such a quality, renderings will show you what your building will look like as if you were looking at it from across the street, or from a bird view, or from the inside out. You can render a single room or wall inside the space or you can render the whole building with existing surroundings so you can see how well it fits in the neighborhood. You can see what it will look like in daylight or at nighttime, with warm lights welcoming you inside, during the summer or winter time. What about different types of landscaping?    Ok, I can stop here because this is where my imagination finally kicks in. The possibilities are endless.  And this is all thanks to the previously mentioned Digital Technology.
      With the help of the software you can change virtually anything you want in your building and compare your choices before its set in stone. There are obvious changes of overall design (what if this looks better with high pitched roof versus a flat one?), finishes on the facades (what if we change white painted brick to ivory stucco?). You can start as big as planning your site to make sure it looks just the way you want from across the town when approaching it on the plane or as small as choosing the right painting to put above your sofa without having actually putting nails in your walls. To further expand the use of this wonderful tool here’s my husband’s all time favorite: now I can choose the colors for my living room walls with just a couple of mouse clicks! (He still repaints the rooms at least once a year but that is a story for a different blog.)  I am so addicted to it now I am not changing anything in the house before checking it virtually. The other day I “tried on” a couple of different curtains for my windows before finally committing to one.  I have to admit there is still room for mistakes: you can’t exactly choose between a Faint Coral and Nearly Peach just by looking at the computer screen. But who wants to compare that? 
But let me get back to the architectural goals of renderings. We need these pretty pictures and we love them.  They help us and clients to see buildings the way they will be in real life: 3-dimensional, recognizable and coming alive.
 

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