maximalist AI explorations reimagine the versailles palace with mesmerizing gold facades

produced with midjouney, the hypnotizing series features the versailles palace decorated with gold feathers, glass bulbs and gemstones.

K. Najafian edited by christina vergopoulou September 15, 2022 4 min

Kaveh Najafian’S AI EXPLORATIONS OF the Versailles Palace

Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) program Midjouney, architectural designer Kaveh Najafian visualizes a series of hypnotizing renders of the Versailles palace decorated with feathers and maximalist gold facades. The series, titled ‘Flying Versailles’, is part of an iterative process or experimentation done by only a textual prompt that is constantly tweaked and carefully altered to become more accurate.

Kaveh Najafia uses the Versailles palace as the main facade to experiment with, as it is an epitome of decorative architecture in Europe and the peak of the French Baroque. As Midjouney has a heavy database of references for Versailles, it counts as a ‘natural habitat’ for the AI software. Additionally, the sheer number of online material gives a solid base to the software to work with. The details of the facades and the interiors are in harmony with the artistic language of the up-scaled features of Midjouney V3, the text-to-art AI generator, which helps to produce accurate results.

all images courtesy of Kaveh Najafia

MIDJOURNEY IMAGINES facades with feathers AND gemstones

According to Kaveh Najafian, when the Midjourney uses any of its well-documented ‘natural habitats’, such as the Versailles Palace, the intricacy of the images becomes simply mesmerizing. In the AI renders, royal symbols are seamlessly merged into the palace building in order to create the ultimate expression of maximalist architecture. Windows are decorated with feathers, facades are inlaid with glass bulbs and gemstones and interiors are overblown with pure gold.

‘Everything related to Midjourney and text-to-image technology is subject to rapid and drastic change, which might change the whole course of design in the future,’ explains the architectural designer.‘The sense of empowerment felt by thousands of designers will change as a result of adapting to new tools around them that make their work even more versatile and powerful.’

flying versailles resurgence of the maximalist architecture 2 — AI renders propose new glass-like feathers as an exterior statement

flying versailles resurgence of the maximalist architecture 6 — the facade expresses baroque elements, including overlapping and emotional exuberance

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flying versailles resurgence of the maximalist architecture 7 — elevating maximalist architecture with new hypnotizing golden features

flying versailles resurgence of the maximalist architecture 8 — facades that are inlaid with glass bulbs and gem stones

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flying versailles resurgence of the maximalist architecture 12 — interiors are overblown with gemstones and gold

Kaveh Najafian — baroque sensuous richness and drama is illustrated with dark blue hints, over the roof of the Versailles

flying versailles resurgence of the maximalist architecture Kaveh Najafian — dynamic interior decorates the Versailles with golden glass feathers

flying versailles resurgence of the maximalist architecture 3 — generated golden blown glass creates a sense of movement

project info:

name: Flying Versailles: Resurgence of the Maximalist Architecture
designer: Kaveh Najafian |@contingency_plans

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