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Economic impact and cultural capital of hyperreal archviz
Economic impact and cultural capital of hyperreal archviz
01
What is cultural capital?

Hyperreal visualization is a traditional Veblen good as its exclusivity is derived from quality and craftsmanship rather than hype and induced demand. The artistry of execution and sharp cultural references in hyperreal archviz ensure it may become cultural capital.

The concept of cultural capital was developed by a famous French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu in a series of works from the 1970s to the 1980s. Cultural capital is the knowledge that we acquire and inherit from the groups we are a part of (family, school, university, etc.). Cultural capital is our way of thinking, knowledge of the language, science, literature, philosophy, music, arts, and so on. It signifies our belonging to a certain group of similar-minded people and conditions our success in society.

02
Hyperreal visualization is an objectified cultural capital

Most forms of cultural capital are intangible. The property the person owns (books, works of art, design objects) is called “objectified cultural capital”. Such sophisticated objects allow their owners to demonstrate taste and education level. But owning culturally significant works is not enough. Their owner must know about art and culture to understand them and recognize the context and cultural references. Only then does objectified cultural capital function to its fullest.

A person may appreciate hyperreal archviz on two levels. On an emotional level, it is an enjoyable visual and quasi-tactile experience. On a conscious level, people with a background in art are happy to spot the sources of inspiration for the hyperreal visualization. In the second case, an image gets turned into objectified cultural capital. Emotional and conscious layers in hyperrealism are not mutually exclusive, and none is strictly necessary.

Hyperrealism is more sophisticated than simplistic photorealism. But it is also more approachable than elitist neo-analog archviz. It makes hyperrealism the most inclusive of all three.

 

Illustration: "Portico" by Iddqd studio can be enjoyed simply as a standalone expressive visualization. But people with a background in art may entertain a multitude of associations: from the white figure in the "Isle of the Dead" by Arnold Böcklin to the shadows from the paintings by Edward Hopper.

03
A common sense of taste connects the architect and the client

The joint emotional and conscious appreciation of visualization allows the architect and the client to understand each other better. They recognize that they share aesthetic preferences and cultural backgrounds. And as Pierre Bourdieu demonstrated in his research “Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste” (1979), a common sense of taste creates group identities and a feeling of unity.

Originally, Bourdieu viewed taste as means of creating social hierarchy. But since the democratization of culture, the notions of good and bad taste became outdated. What it truly gives today is the ability to distinguish groups of interest and find great minds that think alike.

04
Cultural capital and the values of hyperreal visualization

Illustration: the values of hyperreal archviz: artistry, emotional experience, complexity, and apprehensibility. "Winterhill" by Iddqd Studio.

Cultural capital signifies not only an aesthetic feeling but also the values that stand behind it. In the case of archviz that would be the values of the visualization studio, the architect, and the project they created, as budlings are strong translators of cultural capital. So, what values could we read out of a hyperreal visualization? The refined quality, skill, craft, originality with an artisan touch, and an artistic background befits the unique buildings that hyperreal archviz represents. Hyperreal visualization promotes an architecture that is emotional, experience-oriented, and authentic. Hyperreal archviz suggests a state of in-between experimental and familiar. It maintains the distance from the banal and the commercialized, but it also shuns high-brow elitism. Hyperrealism suggests complex and sophisticated architecture must be understood and enjoyed by the community at large rather than the enclosed group of art and architecture critics.

When those values resonate with the client, the objectified cultural capital of hyperreal archviz transforms into the feasible economic capital.

Header illustration: "Winterhill" by Iddqd Studio.