I believe that architectural renderings should reflect the rich cultural diversity present in communities.
In Minneapolis, America, on 25th May 2020 George Floyd was murdered by a Police Officer who knelt on his neck despite George’s protests that he couldn’t breathe. The outrage at another act of police brutality has and continues to be felt globally. It is not enough to not be racist but we need to be actively antiracist, which brings me to why we need increased diversity in architectural drawings.
Typically, if we’re photoshopping an architectural render and we’re at the stage ready to put people in, we go to our favourite website or maybe a saved folder of people pngs and use the same people. Whilst there is nothing wrong in doing this it is important to evaluate if we are including a diverse range of people. I believe that architectural renderings should reflect the rich cultural diversity present in communities.
An architectural rendering serves to sell an idea to a client or a lecturer, that idea being your design. Therefore, it is harmful to exclude categories of people from your drawings because architecture is for everyone to interact with, to walk through, to use.
The solution is to evaluate your favourite png websites, evaluate your personal folder of people pngs and make sure there is variation in who you are using. This doesn’t mean you need to include every type of person in every drawing sometimes a render calls for only a few people. It simply means that you’re consciously calling for greater inclusivity rather than unconsciously contributing the problem.
Resources:
ArchDaily’s 5 Places to Download Free, Ethnically Diverse Render People – https://www.archdaily.com/777432/6-websites-for-ethnically-diverse-render-people
Article by inews on how to Donate to Black Lives Matter causes in the US and the UK – https://inews.co.uk/news/donate-black-lives-matter-charities-where-uk-george-floyd-death-bail-funds-433605
Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design by Kat Holmes
Architecture & Lifestyle 