Antirender: remove the glossy shine on architectural renderings

Overall concept & immediate reaction

• Tool reimagines glossy architectural renders as bleak, late‑November reality; many find the idea hilarious, cathartic, and genuinely useful.
• Several commenters say this matches what their brain already does when seeing marketing images.
• Some prefer the “anti‑render” look and find the greyness cozy or more inviting because it feels lived‑in; others find it depressing or “emo.”

Urban realism, weather, and architecture

• Strong theme: much of the built world actually looks like this—especially in Central/Eastern Europe, the UK, and other cloudy climates. The tool is dubbed “Poland filter” / “British filter” / “Soviet filter.”
• Debate over brutalism and modern glass/steel:
  • Some see brutalism and bare concrete as inherently bleak.
  • Others argue brutalism has “soul” and is preferable to anonymous glass boxes.
• Multiple comments note that real cities accumulate utility boxes, cables, trash containers, dead landscaping, and bad retrofits—exactly what the model adds.
• Several argue architecture systematically ignores aging, maintenance, and weather; they’d like this kind of tool to become standard in competitions and design reviews.

How the model behaves

• It’s not a simple “filter” but an image editing / diffusion model (described as using Nano Banana or similar via a prompt).
• It often: makes skies overcast; removes people; kills vegetation; desaturates color; adds grime, rust streaks, puddles, electrical cabinets, manholes, and trash cans.
• Criticisms:
  • Alters architectural details and materials, sometimes unrealistically.
  • Overdoes leafless trees and utility clutter.
  • “AI slop”: convincing at first glance but weird on inspection.
  • Not physically or materially accurate aging, so unusable for engineering decisions.

Use cases and variations

• Suggested uses:
  • Apartment/house hunting; Zillow/Redfin browser extensions.
  • Real‑estate “reverse” filter (already exists elsewhere) to beautify drab photos.
  • Architectural practice to preview worst‑case reality.
  • Games (Fortnite, Half‑Life, Fallout aesthetics) and sci‑fi concept art.
  • AR or contact lenses to do the opposite—beautify real life (seen as very “Black Mirror”).

Infrastructure, monetization, and UX

• The app quickly hit API limits (402 / non‑2xx errors), sparking discussion about the cost of wrapping hosted models.
• Debate on how viral, non‑product projects should be funded: tipping links, ads, browser‑level micropayments, UBI, or simply accepting that not everything must be a business.