interview with andrás káldos, brick visual's CEO and co-founder

since its founding in 2012, brick — an architectural visualization studio that has been responsible for bringing to life the vision of, among others, kengo kuma and zaha hadid architects — has grown from a group of five young architects to a company of more than 70 people. ‘our primary goal is to help our clients express their visions by delivering the best solution to different design communication needs,’ andrás káldos, brick’s CEO and co-founder tells designboom. ‘another goal is to create unique visuals that stand out in terms of quality. to achieve this, we draw inspiration from other creative industries and a multitude of art forms – in particular contemporary digital art.’

in addition to discussing the sources of brick’s influences and inspirations, andrás káldos also explains what a typical brief from an architecture firm entails and why he feels there is a ‘radically growing demand’ for architectural visualization. read the interview in full below.

nordic office of architecture – museum of photographic arts, seoul | all images courtesy of brick

designboom (DB): how did you originally become involved in the world of architectural visualization?

andrás káldos (AK): I completed my academic studies in architecture and I have always been interested in experimental approaches regarding the industry. during my university years, I worked with local architecture firms — I helped them shape design concepts and create visualizations for architecture competitions. after graduating, I decided to continue along this line by working full-time as an archviz professional. architecture as a discipline is a cornerstone of my activities, although I would not say that I have the typical mindset of an architect. the world of architectural visualization provides a broader perspective on styles, approaches and working methods used by multiple architecture firms from around the globe. this variety and the opportunity to compare and contrast their traits is what I find truly fascinating in archviz.

HPP architekten – essen innovation campus

DB: what software are you and your team using to create your images and videos?

AK: the main software we use are 3D studio max, V-ray for rendering, photoshop for creating images and several others for movie production. we also have a range of scripts and plugins we developed ourselves. since these tools enhance the workflow of any 3D artist, we made them commercially available under the name pulze.

kengo kuma and associates – shenzhen opera house

DB: how do you ensure that your renderings stand out from the crowd?

AK: our primary goal is to help our clients express their visions by delivering the best solution to different design communication needs. another goal is to create unique visuals that stand out in terms of quality. to achieve this, we draw inspiration from other creative industries and a multitude of art forms — in particular contemporary digital art, to which archviz belongs. the collection of inspirational references we gather is the cornerstone of our production, as we apply similar color palettes, story lines and compositions to our work. not only does this approach enrich our visual style but it also ensures that the quality of our illustrations are consistent.

zaha hadid architects – conceptual bridge project

DB: what is a typical brief from an architecture firm when you receive a commission? do architects ever have strange requests?

AK: first we receive the raw material of the design that needs to be visualized. usually this is a raw 3D model which has limited input and details. the quality or level of elaboration varies a lot, ranging from a rudimentary napkin sketch to a detailed BIM model. afterwards, we receive the brief, which can either include concrete requests, like what camera angles, moods and lights to use exactly, or the main purpose of the design with looser guidelines. the latter enables us to think about the concept holistically and gives us room to propose alternative viewpoints and solutions, resulting in more convincing designs, in our experience. occasionally, we receive atypical briefs and fun requests where we can really flex our creative muscles by adding playful elements to an image. for instance, in one of our super exciting projects we were asked to create a surrealistic, psychedelic ambience for an art center, so we added floating submarines and luminescent jellyfish in the sky. for another client, we placed an ice tiger into a bedroom interior. the possibilities are endless!

zaha hadid architects – tower C

DB: you recently illustrated zaha hadid architects’ competition-winning tower C project. how closely do you work with an architecture firm during your commissions?

AK: we work very closely with architecture firms, as we are involved in the early design phase of projects and we communicate with our clients on a daily basis. these are important aspects that allow us to understand the purpose of the design and to translate visions into powerful visuals, with which firms can win architecture competitions. zaha hadid architects’ tower C project is a great example of this, because we had started working on drafts before the design of the building was finalized. we had created approximately 50 drafts with multiple camera angles and moods from which the team of zaha hadid architects chose six designs. we consulted with them every day via emails and online video calls to refine the six illustrations that were submitted for the competition.

DB: how much creative freedom do you have in producing the images?

AK: it differs from case to case, at times we are given much creative freedom, in some cases we are more restricted. even if we follow stricter guidelines, we propose alternatives along with the client’s original request to best represent the concept of the design. we believe that we can show another point of view which is relevant, since we are architects and design communication specialists at the same time. we know how to create engagement and a connection between the illustration and the viewer, and to focus clearly and understandably on the architectural message.

anttinen oiva architects – lagmansgården school

DB: in what ways do you see the world of architectural visualization developing in the future? is AR/VR a big consideration for you?

AK: in general, a paradigm shift is taking place where visuals overpower written content. this is why we see a radically growing demand for architectural visualization images. we believe that the amount of visual content will continue to grow and AR/VR are undeniably relevant tools. yet, these technologies will not replace those products that exist on the market, like stills or videos, as they are additional solutions.

atelier dalziel – log-driving museum

DB: you have an ‘art’ section on your website dedicated to projects created by your team after working hours. why did you decide to showcase these images?

AK: for us, being involved in creative projects is not only due to our professional ambitions, but it is a lifestyle that extends beyond office hours. we used to show each other what (digital) art works we create in our free time, and decided to create a platform titled ‘my life after 6PM’ on our intranet to share these. as the collection evolved, we thought it would be interesting to show it to the world, so we now feature digital art, painting, photography and music created by brick artists on our website. through ‘art of brick’, we aim to show how multifaceted our team is by presenting an array of artistic skills and competencies, and to celebrate and honor the artistic talent of our colleagues — which is brick’s utmost value.

see a selection of projects taken from the ‘art of brick’ below.

andrás káldos – the fountain ep01