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Eirini Makarouni
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From conceptual work to photographs and videos to drawings and more, the jury is reviewing entries to Architizer's 2025 Vision Awards. Keep tabs on the world's best architectural representation by clicking here.
Architects, does this sound familiar? It is the final day before submission: the render/drawing/film is done, the building is resolved, the diagrams are made, and all that is left is filling the spaces with the necessary figures – people, animals, and of course the classic lone yogi. Other familiar figures include the cyclist passing a pristine façade, a couple strolling with takeaway coffees and a child chasing a dog. Everyone seems relaxed, stylish and suspiciously free of obligations.
Populating space in architectural representation oftentimes comes as an afterthought. It is usually a means through which scale is communicated, even though the advantages (and possibilities) are endless, provided that the right attention is given to it. A strategically correct figure may suggest who a project is for, how it works as well as the kind of life it promises. Below are four practical tips for using architectural entourage more deliberately.
In Planet City, Australian architect Liam Young cast real people to star in his film. The animation presented an urban composition that occupied a mere 2% of the Earth’s surface, inhabited by the planet’s whole population – a city for all. Planet City integrates festivals and celebrations from all the civilizations of Earth, preserving the diverse cultural heritage of our planet. In order to communicate this, Young used real people dressed in extravagant costumes to populate the film animation. These people danced and moved in such a way that it was impossible to imagine Planet City without them, becoming an integral part of the composition.
Practical takeaway: Start with the building’s purpose and its likely occupants. Before choosing figures, ask: Who comes here? Why? At what time of day? In fact, if you want to take it one step further, write a one-sentence scenario for the image before adding anyone: “It is late afternoon, and the library is filling with people arriving after school and work.”
Baghere Nutritional Center by Kyle MertensMeyer | Editor’s Choice Awards, 2025 Vision Awards, Vision for Localism
Going back to the yogi, yoga is both perfectly plausible as well as completely irrelevant in different settings. And yet why does it so often stand in for any activity on any terrace? Populating a space with precision requires choosing actions that reveal something specific about the design.
In the Baghere Nutritional Center render, there are people doing solely agricultural work. Why? Because the project showcases a symbiotic relationship between built and natural systems, designed to address malnutrition and food insecurity in Baghere. By realistically adding figures that cultivate the earth, plant seeds, and carry baskets of food, the viewer can immediately understand parts of the program without even having to read the brief.
Practical takeaway: Include ordinary activities such as waiting, cleaning, delivering and maintaining. These make the building’s operation visible alongside its pleasures. Ask what each figure helps the viewer understand. If the answer is nothing, reconsider the figure, activity or location.
Nomadelle 2080 by Jimena Ruiz Sing | Jury Winner, 2025 Vision Awards, Vision for Transport
So, what comes after proper casting and action setting? Making belonging visible. Apart from considering the building’s functions and spatial properties, architects should also consider context and time when selecting their protagonists. They should consider age, disability, household composition and different ways of occupying space.
A really good example is the sole figure standing at the center of the Nomadelle 2080 render composition. The story of the project is set in the year 2080, when a major flood strikes the province of Limón in Costa Rica. As a result, the population is forced to migrate to higher ground within the province and create various autonomous and mobile modules in order to gather food and engage in social activities. Morphologically, the key concept is to preserve Limón’s Victorian architecture, which is a culturally significant element. To enhance this, the figure is dressed according to Victorian attire. Immediately, this establishes the setting while sparking curiosity about the relationship between the region’s architectural past and its imagined future.
Practical takeaway: Review who gets to occupy the foreground, sit comfortably, move independently and take up space. A populated image should help readers assess the proposal’s intentions.
Liquid Domesticities by Thomas Gomez Ospina | Jury Winner, 2025 Vision Awards, Drawing – Computer Aided
Finally, the way figures are drawn should match the rest of the composition. For renderings, architects should check the scale, perspective, lighting, shadows and contact with the ground. In parallel, they should use placement and density strategically to explain circulation and occupation, without obscuring the building. This is also the case for drawings, whose graphic language influences the way figures are drawn and architectural information remains legible. Lastly, in film, people should follow believable routes, speeds and reasons to pause.
Liquid Domesticities is a large, vertical, perspective drawing that tells the story of a series of soft, lightweight infrastructures sited along the rivers of Puerto Rico that reimagine domestic rituals like bathing, washing, and gathering as acts of ecological care. The figures are tiny, dispersed throughout the drawing and following the black-and-white, comic-like aesthetic. Zooming in, the viewer begins to discover the individual activities and interactions that bring these domestic rituals to life.
Practical takeaway: Review the scene once for its story and again for technical consistency. Across all mediums, avoid using crowds to conceal unresolved areas or empty space merely to preserve a pristine composition.
From conceptual work to photographs and videos to drawings and more, the jury is reviewing entries to Architizer's 2025 Vision Awards. Keep tabs on the world's best architectural representation by clicking here.
Featured Image: Liquid Domesticities by Thomas Gomez Ospina, Jury Winner, 2025 Vision Awards, Drawing – Computer-Aided
The post Why Is There Always Someone Doing Yoga in the Rendering? A Guide to Architectural Entourage appeared first on Journal.
Architects, does this sound familiar? It is the final day before submission: the render/drawing/film is done, the building is resolved, the diagrams are made, and all that is left is filling the spaces with the necessary figures – people, animals, and of course the classic lone yogi. Other familiar figures include the cyclist passing a pristine façade, a couple strolling with takeaway coffees and a child chasing a dog. Everyone seems relaxed, stylish and suspiciously free of obligations.
Populating space in architectural representation oftentimes comes as an afterthought. It is usually a means through which scale is communicated, even though the advantages (and possibilities) are endless, provided that the right attention is given to it. A strategically correct figure may suggest who a project is for, how it works as well as the kind of life it promises. Below are four practical tips for using architectural entourage more deliberately.
1. Cast for the Place
In Planet City, Australian architect Liam Young cast real people to star in his film. The animation presented an urban composition that occupied a mere 2% of the Earth’s surface, inhabited by the planet’s whole population – a city for all. Planet City integrates festivals and celebrations from all the civilizations of Earth, preserving the diverse cultural heritage of our planet. In order to communicate this, Young used real people dressed in extravagant costumes to populate the film animation. These people danced and moved in such a way that it was impossible to imagine Planet City without them, becoming an integral part of the composition.
Practical takeaway: Start with the building’s purpose and its likely occupants. Before choosing figures, ask: Who comes here? Why? At what time of day? In fact, if you want to take it one step further, write a one-sentence scenario for the image before adding anyone: “It is late afternoon, and the library is filling with people arriving after school and work.”
2. Give People Something To Do
Baghere Nutritional Center by Kyle MertensMeyer | Editor’s Choice Awards, 2025 Vision Awards, Vision for Localism
Going back to the yogi, yoga is both perfectly plausible as well as completely irrelevant in different settings. And yet why does it so often stand in for any activity on any terrace? Populating a space with precision requires choosing actions that reveal something specific about the design.
In the Baghere Nutritional Center render, there are people doing solely agricultural work. Why? Because the project showcases a symbiotic relationship between built and natural systems, designed to address malnutrition and food insecurity in Baghere. By realistically adding figures that cultivate the earth, plant seeds, and carry baskets of food, the viewer can immediately understand parts of the program without even having to read the brief.
Practical takeaway: Include ordinary activities such as waiting, cleaning, delivering and maintaining. These make the building’s operation visible alongside its pleasures. Ask what each figure helps the viewer understand. If the answer is nothing, reconsider the figure, activity or location.
3. Make Belonging Visible
Nomadelle 2080 by Jimena Ruiz Sing | Jury Winner, 2025 Vision Awards, Vision for Transport
So, what comes after proper casting and action setting? Making belonging visible. Apart from considering the building’s functions and spatial properties, architects should also consider context and time when selecting their protagonists. They should consider age, disability, household composition and different ways of occupying space.
A really good example is the sole figure standing at the center of the Nomadelle 2080 render composition. The story of the project is set in the year 2080, when a major flood strikes the province of Limón in Costa Rica. As a result, the population is forced to migrate to higher ground within the province and create various autonomous and mobile modules in order to gather food and engage in social activities. Morphologically, the key concept is to preserve Limón’s Victorian architecture, which is a culturally significant element. To enhance this, the figure is dressed according to Victorian attire. Immediately, this establishes the setting while sparking curiosity about the relationship between the region’s architectural past and its imagined future.
Practical takeaway: Review who gets to occupy the foreground, sit comfortably, move independently and take up space. A populated image should help readers assess the proposal’s intentions.
4. Match the Entourage to the Medium
Liquid Domesticities by Thomas Gomez Ospina | Jury Winner, 2025 Vision Awards, Drawing – Computer Aided
Finally, the way figures are drawn should match the rest of the composition. For renderings, architects should check the scale, perspective, lighting, shadows and contact with the ground. In parallel, they should use placement and density strategically to explain circulation and occupation, without obscuring the building. This is also the case for drawings, whose graphic language influences the way figures are drawn and architectural information remains legible. Lastly, in film, people should follow believable routes, speeds and reasons to pause.
Liquid Domesticities is a large, vertical, perspective drawing that tells the story of a series of soft, lightweight infrastructures sited along the rivers of Puerto Rico that reimagine domestic rituals like bathing, washing, and gathering as acts of ecological care. The figures are tiny, dispersed throughout the drawing and following the black-and-white, comic-like aesthetic. Zooming in, the viewer begins to discover the individual activities and interactions that bring these domestic rituals to life.
Practical takeaway: Review the scene once for its story and again for technical consistency. Across all mediums, avoid using crowds to conceal unresolved areas or empty space merely to preserve a pristine composition.
From conceptual work to photographs and videos to drawings and more, the jury is reviewing entries to Architizer's 2025 Vision Awards. Keep tabs on the world's best architectural representation by clicking here.
Featured Image: Liquid Domesticities by Thomas Gomez Ospina, Jury Winner, 2025 Vision Awards, Drawing – Computer-Aided
The post Why Is There Always Someone Doing Yoga in the Rendering? A Guide to Architectural Entourage appeared first on Journal.