Ahead of AVD 2018: Alex Hogrefe

First out at AVD 2018 is Alex Hogrefe, a well-known architectural visualizer from Boston. Through his website visualizingarchitecture.com he inspires the whole industry with his experimenting in architectural representation techniques.

What will you share with the participants at AVD?
“One of the things that I hope to speak about, is how to develop one’s sensitivity to different elements of visualization. I plan to show some earlier work from my blog and compare it to my more recent work to reveal areas that I somewhat ignored back then, but that I focus heavily on now. “

“My hope is that I can bring into the discussion a different way of approaching image making. Our industry is big and diverse. I hope to re-frame some of what we do and discuss some of the fringe work that visualization artists can create that sometimes gets overlooked”

You are the co-creator and partner of the visualization studio Design Distill, and also run a well known website - do you still have time to work as an architectural visualizer?
“Surprisingly, yes. I am still heavily involved in illustrating images in our studio. We are still somewhat small, so I take on quite a bit of the workload while managing the studio at the same time. I still very much want to get better, and I feel I can’t do this if I am not continuously practicing.

My blog is the place where I experiment and test out ideas, and my office is where I implement those ideas and put them to use.”

How did you end up working with architectural visualization?  
“In some ways, you could say that visualization found me. I really enjoyed visualization, but I had always planned to be an architect the rest of my life. However my business partner, Andrew, approached me several years back and was able to persuade me to go all in with architecture visualization."

"I like the fast paced world of visualization, being able to start completely new projects every week, and seeing rough ideas in architect’s heads come to life through our illustrations. For me, it is a perfect balance of being an artist while still dealing with the constraints of reality.”

Your blog is a place for inspiration for many, but where do you find your own inspiration?
“I will be honest, it is tough for me to find inspiration at the office because we are so geared towards production and meeting client expectations. So, the inspiration comes from others in the office, and our constant attempt to push each other to create better images and outdo the last image with an even better image next time.”

“I can also say that our clients can be a good source of inspiration as well. They are often coming to us asking for unique camera angles or creating interesting designs that get us thinking differently about how we will approach the images.”

What are you looking forward to the most at AVD?
“I have been aware of Architectural Visualization Days for a while now and the great list of speakers that it has had in the past. It is always an honor to be asked to speak anywhere, but to be asked to speak at AVD 2018 was especially exciting!”

“From the list of speakers this year, it seems clear that there will be voices from the many difference corners of architectural visualization. Listening to these different voices and how they approach their images always seems to get me inspired to revisit and rethink my own work.”

Read more about Architectural Visualization Days