As I get older this one is becoming even more grotesque.

Sound like mordernism or could be flank lloyd wright influence?

It goes back way further than that.

Can't wait to be that guy one day.

ding ding ding

^ This! I continue to tell the young designers in the office that the more photorealistic we present the design, the more the Owner takes it literally. To a point where they break out the old rendering upon completion of the project and compare. I prefer loose sketches and very conceptual imagery to covey intent.

Without fail people will hone in on the one element you added as an afterthought and derail the entire discussion. If you have photorealistic concept renderings, someone will inevitably harp on patio tables or a mullion width for 20 minutes.

Going through this issue at the moment. 

Client asks the PM: "can't you just pump out renderings from revit model? What about animations?."  

PM turns around to his BIM guy (average revit skillset on a good day) who confirms and says should be a day or so, just got to get the materials down. 

 PM turns to me (I'm not involved in this project) and asks the same thing... to which I reply yes-ish, but with a long-ass footnote explanation. 

My concerns are ignored, obviously and here we are, several weeks later, trying to explain to the PM why it's not that simple. Sure, I can do it, but I don't have the time and it's not my fault the staff you have on board greatly over-estimated their skill set. There is a button and a whole library of materials, why can't your BIM guy figure it out instead?

9 times out of 10, it's not a software issue.

@Non Sequitur: I think the word "pump out" is oversimplified by the client.

If design was as simple as a good rendering material library, I'd be out of a job.

What the client is really thinking

^ This guy could have three legs, but that wolverine beard will keep him lonely.

I feel like this is turning a corner in my neck of the woods. I work on larger projects but they're starting to clue in. One of my current larger projects ($25M healthcare) got put on hold so the client could raise the difference in funds to go net Zero which is really exciting. I'm feeling really optimistic.

We just had a project get put on hold because the city wants the client to move to a new building and energy code (2015 to 2021). The new code won't be adopted until 2025. The city also wants the project to be net zero and LEED Silver or higher. The project is a small mountain city that due to population density cannot go beyond LEED Certified.

That's very exciting, Chad and BB! I just attended a green building conference in Vermont and came away both encouraged and motivated--we have squandered all of the extra time we had, and it's going to get bad, but we still have a chance to reduce the eventual impact of climate change. Every decision matters.

I'm going to challenge this one a bit--although I agree in premise, especially the 'much cheaper' part. I do still like a good mood book. By that, I mean the overall vibe that the Owner is looking for. (Developed by the design team, not the client). For me, an effective visioning package has only about half of the images dedicated to architecture. The other half are textures, hues, art, geometry, wares, tchotchkes, etc. Those are where the project really lives. Once you agree to those, decision making during design becomes very intuitive.

Do you put the original designer on the mood board? It always makes me uncomfortable presenting other people's work without proper credit, even as inspiration.

That's a fair question. I try, but I'm not always good about getting all the credit's shown. (This tends to be more about me wanting to know who developed said cool project than needing to give proper credit during a client presentation). My feeling is that the internet-of-things has put visual imagery on hyperdrive. There are billions of images at our disposal. Using precedent projects may be a crutch, but it's effective. And to my earlier point, I typically try to avoid large [architecture] shots that capture a lot of the building--opting rather for small cropped vignettes of pieces and parts.

I'm not averse to precedent. I used to be, but we're a visual species and a remix culture. Avoiding precedent and inspiration is basically requiring we always reinvent the wheel.

You guys raise interesting points. Precedents and examples are indeed very helpful in establishing technical credibility ("It has been done before and proven successful") and communicating some kind of visual choice at the preliminary stages. What I fear is that preliminary visual identity overwhelming subsequent decisions.

I've been tasked with photoshopping out sprinkler heads and recessed can lights. It bothered me.

Same. Years ago, I was asked to remove exit signs from an image that was to be used on the website portfolio. The comment I received was, 'they are distracting.' Under my breath, I said, 'you mean obvious?--as in, necessary for life safety? I guess we don't intend for people to use the space . . .'

A photographer on a recent project decided to edit out the outlets in the kitchen. It's a pretty tame design anyway; now the backsplash is just beige paint and looks stupid to me.

Or a picnic basket

My studio once had a student design a building from Southeast Asia, so that student designed a building in the shape of a rice grain. (Took inspiration from The Gherkin)

Do not speak ill of the Longaberger Basket Building in my presence.

You need see it in person if you haven't yet.

Okay, now I have to go.

That's a beautiful bridge. And your cynicism is not helpful or wanted.

What about all the CO2 and dead polar bear babies because of the new infrastructure built in order not the demo/replace this bridge?

As long as they ate the polar bear babies I'm cool with it.