We believe that renderings reflect our aspirations as architects, and that our decisions about representation matter. Renderings should reflect the people in and around the site, and should project a future that values diversity and acceptance of all people. The goal of NONSCANDINAVIA is to give young architects and students access to a database of free, high-res, PNG images that reflect diversity in all its forms. — Nonscandinavia
The world of architectural renders is a strange place. Here, the air is hazy yet skies are blue. Trees grow translucent and lawns are always green. Buildings are illuminated by perhaps two or three suns. Little girls roam cultural centers alone, clutching red balloons.
And just about everyone is a young, white, hipster from Northern Europe.
Thankfully, life in most cities isn't like this. And, while there's much to be said about the problematic overuse of architectural renders in general, it seems like they're here to stay (at least for the time being). A render can help sell a project, conveying a space much more eloquently to a lay person than a plan or axo – if not more factually. But that doesn't mean that these imaginary worlds have to be so homogenous.
Nonscandinavia, a project from the student group A-Frame at Columbia University GSAPP, comprises a open-source collection of hi-res PNG images, "dedicated to increasing diversity in architectural representation." As the name suggests, the project is construed as a counterpart to the popular cut-outs site Skalgubbar, which has caused "a ubiquitous creep of Swedish hipsters in architectural renderings outside of Sweden."
"The goal of Nonscandinavia is to remove the structural obstacles to represenational diversity," states Riley MacPhee, an M.Arch candidate at GSAPP. "And to leverage the site to generate broader conversations about the significance of diversity in architecture and representation."
The project is student-run and completely not-for-profit. As of now, they don't have professional licenses for many of the images (so their use-value may be limited to students or other noncommercial projects), but they hope to accumulate and tag creative-comons and public domain images as they grow. People are encouraged to contribute to the site by submitting photos. 
And, let it be said, the folks behind Nonscandinavia don't seem to have a problem with Scandinavians in general, just their over-representation in architectural renderings. The site includes links to Skalgubbar, as well as Escala Latina ("if you're working in South or Central America") and Kaleidoscope ("a collection of images that challenges the dominance of gendernormativity, ableism and race-blindness in architectural drawings by diversifying the population of represented peoples in renderings").
Happy rendering!
17 Comments
Wait... I keep hearing how Sweden is utopic. Are we supposed to just toss that out the window now?
kill whitey!
Where are the obese people or the vertically challenged? And what about the nonurbanites, the hillbillies or the manual labourers?
Stop being idiots people. The architecture of BIG and others is going to help change everyone into cool hipsters. That's the point of the renderings. Nice $$$ projects to CLEAN UP the ref raf and make it more pleasant.
i don't think any architect makes renderings to increase diversity, or for any sort of political or ideological reasoning. we render buildings to sell design ideas.
wtf is that pizza guy doing the splits for, and how does that sell a building? and the guy in the suit without socks? why doesn't he have socks on? these distractions don't sell buildings.
if you have a new 8 story mixed use building and you want planning to approve your design and your client to pay you piles of money, do you really want them seeing a couple with sleeping bags sitting out front?
fuck BIG
"And none of the people pictured above had any idea that right in the middle of their block was the source of a virtual museum of architecture."
How did you escape from the dictionary again? Hubris is missing its example section.
I wonder what Spike will have to say about his image in a rendering library...
quondam.com, is that Philly?
+++knoa
quondam, just because you do not understand something or cannot afford to live in the neighborhood doesn't mean you can critique the design. The people that want to live in a nice clean neighborhood and can afford to hire us will be the type to benefit from the work and they should be. Yes the people living there before are trying to stay around and keep making a mess and causing come, but BIG isn't hired by them because thy just do not care about their neighborhood.
knoa you sound like one of the those underpaid employees at BIG. you are the rif raf damnit.....oh wait your parents are probaly loaded and thats why you can afford 90% of your income going towards rent......kill whitey
Knoa, are you saying you need to make a minimum salary of "x" in order to critique architecture? What's the limit set at?
- - - knoa thought yoy were being sarcastic...you suck!
Why are you shooting the messenger. - all of you.
go travel - observe - and be richer culturally. Then take your own pics.
why are you diggin up this long-dead thread? Should you not be out traveling and observing?
And anyway, isn't Sweden the utopian dream state to which we should all aspire? It's confusing!
^ I just noticed my earlier comment way above, from six years ago. At least I'm consistent.
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