After some of you mentioned the new rendering on Vision‘s Web site, I had to click over there and see it for myself. Mark’s reaction sums it all up: “Is that Waukegan?”
RDM Development‘s latest image (at left) is a snazzier, more detailed rendering than the one we’ve been using since March, and it corrects some of the old image’s glaring errors. (Division is a street, after all, not a parking lot.) On the other hand, it sites the project in a serene prairie landscape unlike anything I’ve seen around the Polish Triangle.
To be fair, we see this all the time. It’s come up in our own discussions about X/O and Solstice on the Park, for example. Architects would say that this approach turns the focus to the shape of the building, which may not be as apparent in a more realistic but more cluttered rendering. Others (including some of our readers, I’d reckon) would counter that it’s a bit of false advertising, since there’s nothing in that picture that resembles Wicker Park.
I would argue that this kind of rendering doesn’t help Vision’s case, especially in a tough market: When the peanut gallery says your project looks like a suburban office park, don’t answer by showcasing its design in suburbia. You’re selling urban homes to urban buyers, RDM, so use the urban setting to your advantage. (Okay, avoid the boarded up Pizza Hut, but work the MB building into the picture. It’s where your sales center is, after all.)
This is all nitpicking, yes. More troubling is the rendering at right, which is supposed to be an interior shot of one of Vision’s condos. I suppose I should be looking at the deep hardwood floors, the double-door entryway from the den into the dining area, and the sweeping arc of the living-area windows and the balcony outside. But that downtown vista? C’mon. I could imagine having a view like that from the tower at RDM’s Trio, but from a fourth-floor condo near Division and Milwaukee? Let’s get real.
Vision is under construction at 1624 W Division St. Check out yesterday’s post for more information on pricing and availability.
– Rate and review Vision Condominiums at NewHomeNotebook.com.