MVRDV
MVRDV's winning vision for a vertical gateway on the Busan waterfront
MVRDV's winning vision for a vertical gateway on the Busan waterfront. A full image set in two phases, plus a film.
We had the privilege of crafting the images and the film for MVRDV's proposal in the Busan waterfront architecture competition in South Korea. The work covered a complete set of CGI images produced in two distinct phases, following the design as it evolved, together with a film that combines photorealistic sequences and conceptual 3D visualization of the project. Every frame was built to give the jury an immediate reading of an ambitious idea: a new vertical landmark standing on the edge between the city and the sea.
The competition was won, and the project is now moving into the more advanced design phases, with our imagery continuing to accompany its development. Alongside this result, in 2025 we won another competition with MVRDV in Busan, this time for a diffused hotel, confirming a collaboration that keeps growing project after project.
We crafted the images and film for MVRDV's competition proposal: CGI in two phases following the design, and a film mixing photorealism and conceptual 3D.
01 Project
The visionary project introduces a striking skyscraper that redefines the city's relationship with the sea, integrating commercial and residential spaces into a dynamic vertical hub. Positioned prominently along the waterfront, the building is conceived as both a contemporary landmark and a symbolic gateway, welcoming visitors and residents alike to Busan from the sea. Its silhouette is designed to be read from the water first, the way most travellers will meet it.
A striking skyscraper redefines the city's relationship with the sea, a vertical hub and symbolic gateway designed to be read from the water first.
Our images had to carry that double reading: a tower that belongs to the skyline and, at the same time, an active participant in the city's evolution, enhancing the waterfront's vibrancy through its mixed use program. We composed the key frames so that the architecture never stands alone, but always in relation to the water, the streets, and the people moving between them.
Our images carry that double reading: a tower that belongs to the skyline and an active participant in the city, always shown with water, streets and people.
02 Context
A key element of the design is its connection to the city's historic fish market, an iconic part of Busan's cultural and economic fabric. The project creates a seamless dialogue between tradition and modernity, respecting the market's heritage while fostering new opportunities for public engagement and urban development. For the jury, this relationship was the emotional heart of the proposal.
The design connects to the historic fish market, a dialogue between tradition and modernity that was the emotional heart of the proposal.
We staged that relationship directly in the frames: the life of the market in the foreground, with its stalls, its crowds, and its daily rituals, and the new architecture rising behind it. Each element gives meaning to the other, and the image tells the story of a city that grows without erasing what it already is.
We staged it in the frames: the life of the market in front, the new architecture rising behind. Each gives meaning to the other.
03 Production
In that part of Korea no 3D data was available from Google Earth, so we remodelled a large portion of the city around the waterfront ourselves: streets, blocks, rooftops, and the harbour edge. That model was used in the animations and in all the views where no photography existed, keeping the project credible from every angle. It was an enormous piece of work, as was visualizing all the activities inside the tower, level by level, from the commercial floors to the residential ones.
With no 3D data available, we remodelled a large part of the city around the waterfront ourselves, and visualized the tower's activities level by level.
The film brought it all together, moving between photorealistic sequences and conceptual 3D visualization to explain the project from the urban scale down to the single space. Image set and film were developed as one production, so the same city, the same light, and the same life flow through both.
The film tied it together, from the urban scale to the single space. Image set and film were one production, sharing city, light and life.
Full image set
