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Videoa "nevergascloud" taldearen eskutik

DBOX-ekin elkarrizketa

    Sarrera hau hain gustoko eta liluragarri gertatzen zaidan gai bati eskaini diot; "Architectural Vizualization" edo render/imagin fotoerrealisten sorrerari. Honela lan hau burutzen duen estudio bati egin izan zaion elkarrizketa bat ekarri dut;

    Munduko "Architectural visualization"-eko estudio famatuenetariko bat dugu "dbox" 90. hamarkadan sortua izan zena, hiru arkitektuen eskutik: Matthew Bannister, Charles d' Autremont eta James Gibbs Garai hartan, ideia bat besterik ez zena 2004. urtean New York-en formalizatu zen, bertan jarritako ofizina bati ezker.
Egun New York-en, Londres-en eta Taipei-en dituzte ofizinak eta etengabeko eskaerekin lanpetuak dabiltza.

"Hi Mark, please tell us how did dbox get started, and what exactly does dbox mean?
dbox was founded the mid 90's by three architects: Matthew Bannister, Charles d'Autremont and James Gibbs, all of whom had found a collective fascination (some may say obsession!) with the potential of CGI for portraying architectural design. 

The name dbox comes from "dialog dbos, Arch 372", a class the founders taught at Cornell University, dialog box was a description they used to describe computer visuals being interactive and having a narrative. dbox the company was born of that marriage between dreaming of virtual un-built worlds and passion for architecture and multi-disciplinary design. 

What are the major differences between then and now?

Then, we had to chase prospective clients, often using guerrilla marketing tactics like sneaking into their offices in order to convince them about what we had to offer! For example, the majority of architects in the mid 90’s still made use of watercolour visuals for their client presentations, so not only was a meeting with a potential client an attempt to sell dbox it was also an attempt to sell CGI as a discipline. Thankfully, we managed to convince them of both to get the business up and running in New York.

Like many creative studios we have evolved since those early days. dbox is now a branding and creative agency with studios in New York, London, and Taipei. We have built long-term relationships with many of the world’s foremost property developers and architects which has allowed us to create campaigns and presentation material for award-winning architecture and developments.

We are very proud of our client roster and working closely with clients, as clichéd as this may sound, really is what has got us to where we are today. Our multi-disciplinary expertise informs everything we do, including our CGI work.

Now, thankfully, we don’t have to resort to jumping out from behind our clients’ photocopiers anymore!

Can you tell us a little more about how dbox first became interested in the possibilities CGI for architectural rendering?

Like I mentioned, we are a company born in the 90’s, a time when marrying CGI technology and architecture was still in its infancy. Of course, the technology has changed but some of our architectural points of reference are very much unchanged for us. Our appreciation of great architectural visions and those that helped create the visual for example. Influences such as Hugh Ferris not only had an impact on how to represent architecture but also architecture itself. We find it mesmerizing how powerful an image can be. We could happily talk all day about our inspirations!

Of paramount importance in realising CGI and architecture has been an understanding of photography and its relation to our process and style. Equally, the strongest results, in particular photo-montage and film are typically most successful when composed against good photography or footage. When we feel photography is a necessary component of a client’s scope we will suggest a photo shoot, wherever the site is.

Can you please tell us a bit more about the importance of photography in what you do?

It is essential. Great contextual architectural CGI requires great photography and our in-house photographers travel the world to make sure that we get this. We have also built an extensive library of photography from around the globe, including major projects that we have been involved in. We should get round to publishing that someday!

dbox’s CGI has a unique and recognizable visual style, how would you describe that style?

It’s interesting to talk of a unique style when you consider dbox is a global company, operating for over 15 years and with dboxers originating from all over the globe! dbox is a great place to learn in particular about representing architecture and architectural intent. Balance that teaching with years of experience and I think you have the foundation of our style. That style pervades company-wide through all disciplines, whether it be strategy, graphic design or CGI.

We have a lot of repeat custom which I think represents an appreciation of our work. We are fortunate to have clients who provided us with fantastic constructive feedback and commentary. One of my favourite comments was a client who told us they could ‘smell the quality of the light’ in our imagery! Beautiful! We love feedback like that. If our clients can envision the sound of themselves walking across a computer-generated highly polished marble floor, then the person or organisation they’re selling or presenting to will likely have the same feeling. If the viewer can connect with our imagery then we feel that’s a success.

It’s worth also noting all our work is created in-house, including our CGI, and this enables us to follow procedures that ensure we maintain our trademark quality in all aspects of our work. If this quality were to dip, then so would our reputation. We are aware that we are only as good as our most recent work. Of course, by not outsourcing work we sometimes have to turn down projects we would like to do when our schedule is full, but that’s the way our cookie crumbles.

Can you tell us about some of your recent CGI projects?

The CGI we produced for Foster + Partners’ design for the West Kowloon Cultural District is a great example. The site is a 40 hectare mixed-use waterfront development which we helped representation with 15 images for presentation by Foster + Partners. The CGIs are currently been exhibited in Hong Kong. We assisted Foster + Partners to select vantage points which helped best explain the design from a human perspective, throughout the course of a typical day. Narrative was a key element to help explain usage of the design, but also engage the viewer. I must add, much of the design was still at a low-detail master plan level which meant a significant portion of artistry was applied by dbox to help set a more complete, believable scenes.

The motion work we recently completed for the Discovery Channel’s Rebuilding Ground Zero series is also worth mentioning. dbox has been involved at the World Trade Centre site in New York since 2002 and we have been working on one or more of the projects at the site ever since. Most recently, we collaborated with KPI, executive producer Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks on ‘Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero’ for the Discovery and Science Channels. ‘Rising’ is a six-part documentary series that chronicles the activity at the Ground Zero site and tells the personal stories of the construction workers, engineers and architects who have worked to make the vision a reality. dbox provided brand identity, graphic design, CGI and aerial cinematography for this landmark series. We feel enormously privileged to have been able to contribute to such a significant and inspiring project.

Hot of the press is a job with UNStudio for their first project in the UK. We assisted UNStudio and the development team with their planning application, which we are happy to hear has recently been approved.

Lastly, a project SDA architect who are located in Los Angeles is a good contrast to the larger practices and organisations which I mention above. SDA are a smaller outfit with previous tenures at Zaha Hadid, Future Systems and Amanda Levette Architects all of which has resulted in a fantastic and fresh approach to architecture. We joined them on their competition entry for the New Taipei Art Museum."

Elkarrizketa "ronenbekerman" en eskutik