For more ways to supercharge your workflow, check out more articles in our Tech for Architects series, which includes our recommendations of Top Laptops for Architects and Designers.
With all the powerful tools at our fingertips, you’d think architecture had already visualized itself into perfection. These days, it’s often hard to tell whether you’re looking at a photograph or a rendering, which speaks volumes about the current state of the industry.
However, something quietly refreshing is happening in the world of architectural visualization: the almighty sketch is making a comeback. And, if you’ve been following industry trends or scrolling through the right corners of social media, you’ve probably seen it.
Animated and AI-augmented, these “living sketches” feel like a glitch in the matrix of hyper-polished renders that dominate our feeds. Instead of chasing realism, they do something else entirely; this is precisely what makes them so compelling.
To understand how this shift is taking shape, we examined the work of three designers and studios that utilize AI to bring their sketches to life, each in their own unique way. From drawing-led workflows to cinematic concept studies, these projects make one thing clear: the art of sketching isn’t going away, it’s just evolving.
Let’s take a look.
Reclaiming the Sketch as a Thinking Process
Work by Hamza Shaikh
Our first stop in the world of living sketches brings us to architect and author Hamza Shaikh, whose work explores how AI can support (not replace) the act of drawing. At the heart of his approach is a clear idea: sketching remains one of the most effective ways to think.
Shaikh’s process often begins with a hand or digital sketch, which he evolves through carefully directed AI iterations. It’s a feedback loop between designer and machine, each step adding clarity without losing the original intent. He uses tools like Krita, ComfyUI and ControlNet models, but the sketch always stays in control.
The images themselves are atmospheric and architectural, often hovering between concept and structure. Drawings like abstract elevations, layered spaces or moody building fragments. Much like the original analog sketch, visual explorations of an idea.
What makes this approach compelling is the way it reframes AI as a creative partner. Rather than using the technology to polish ideas into something final, it helps keep the process open. For Shaikh, sketching is still one of the clearest ways to think, to question, to begin. And with this work, he reminds us that the future of design might just start with a line, not a render.
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Follow Hamza Shaikh on Instagram to see more of his work: @hamzashaikh.design
Expanding the Sketch Into Narrative Space
Work by Studio Tim Fu
While Hamza Shaikh uses sketching to work through ideas, Studio Tim Fu leans into atmosphere and storytelling.
The studio’s Living Sketches series was created using Midjourney, Kling and Photoshop. The process starts with carefully written prompts that combine architectural references, spatial ideas and mood. After generating the images, the team edits them in Photoshop to bring out clarity and emotion. Sometimes, they add small diagrammatic elements or narrative details to suggest a sense of use or movement.
Some sketches draw from real buildings, like those inspired by Gaudí’s work. Others imagine completely new worlds. But each one captures a moment, often quiet, speculative and slightly surreal. They feel like glimpses of a space you haven’t visited yet but already recognize.
The goal of these sketches isn’t necessarily to explain a design. Instead, they give us something to sit with. And in the context of all the fast, glossy (and sometimes overwhelming) visual content out there, this slower pace feels kind of bold (or at least like a deep breath). You’re allowed to pause and just wonder. No key plans required.
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Follow Studio Tim Fu on Instagram to see more of their work: @studiotimfu
Making the Sketch a Living Part of Design
Work by Rolando Cedeño de la Cruz, AIMETA STUDIO
Some of the most interesting uses of animated sketches are happening right at the beginning of the design process. That’s the stage where ideas are still messy and open and again the goal isn’t to explain, but to explore. AIMETA STUDIO (led by Rolando Cedeño de la Cruz) sees real value in working visually before things get too fixed.
Cedeño de la Cruz’s first attempt at using AI focused on photorealistic images. While technically impressive, these images felt too polished too soon. In a way, the concepts behind the architecture got lost in the realism. After that, it became clear what was missing: a way to express ideas without locking them in.
So rather than presenting a finished image, Cedeño de la Cruz began using animated sketches to stay in that early, generative space a bit longer. According to him, this opens up a more flexible, intuitive way to work—both for designers and clients. As he puts it, these kinds of images “carry an evocative power that recalls the artistry and spontaneity of hand-drawn sketches.”
AIMETA uses tools like Midjourney, Kling, Leonardo AI and ChatGPT in a non-linear, mixed approach. Sometimes a prompt sparks an image; other times, the image comes first and the prompt evolves later. There’s no set path, just a willingness to follow the idea wherever it goes. This mirrors the way design actually unfolds: through iterations, adjustments and unexpected turns.
The animations themselves are quiet and suggestive. They’re not there to deliver a precise message. Instead, they offer a kind of visual openness — enough to stir curiosity and invite feedback. The ambiguity is intentional. As Cedeño de la Cruz explains, it helps create “a more intimate and participatory connection with the architectural concept.”
By sharing these sketches early in the process, AIMETA is also shifting how visuals are used in client conversations. The image becomes a jumping-off point rather than a final answer. And that can make the whole process feel more collaborative, more conversational and maybe even a little more fun.
In the end, AIMETA’s approach reflects a larger idea; that architecture is always in motion. A sketch that moves feels closer to how buildings are imagined in the first place—not as static solutions, but as questions that slowly take shape.
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Follow Rolando Cedeño de la Cruz on Instagram to see more of his work: @ai.metaverse.cr
Why These Sketches Stay With Us
In a visual culture chasing precision, these animated sketches offer something different: a much-needed space to think, imagine and respond. Whether used to develop ideas, build narrative or support a better client-architect collaboration, they show that sketching still holds power—not as a relic of the past, but as a living part of how architecture takes shape right now.
For more ways to supercharge your workflow, check out more articles in our Tech for Architects series, which includes our recommendations of Top Laptops for Architects and Designers.
Final video (“Why These Sketches Stay With Us”) and top image courtesy of Rolando Cedeño de la Cruz, AIMETA STUDIO
