Better Architectural Images in Midjourney: A Prompt Guide

Creating great architectural images with Midjourney starts with understanding prompt building. By focusing on three main parts – medium, subject, and environment – you can tell the AI what you want very clearly. This helps make your images precise and look good together. It lets you get the most out of Midjourney.

Let's look at each key part.

Part 1: Choose Your Medium or Style

The medium tells Midjourney what visual style or technique to copy. For architecture pictures, the medium changes how people see the design.

Different Rendering Styles

• Using the word "rendering" is good for showing architectural ideas like a high-quality photo. This style shows textures, lighting, and realistic details.

• Using "architectural sketch" gives a loose, freehand look. This is good for early ideas where the main focus is the concept, not small details.

• A "watercolor illustration" gives a soft, artistic feel with blended colors. Use this for presentations where mood is more important than exact position.

Simulating Photography Styles

If you want architectural images that look like real photos, telling Midjourney about the photo style is important. The words you use can guide the AI to copy different photo looks, each highlighting different parts of the building.

When you change the medium, the whole image changes.

For a realistic photo feel, you can use words about cameras architects use. Try phrases like "photograph of [insert subject] shot on a large format camera" or "shot on a Nikon d700 camera".

For a realistic photo with an old feel, research film types usada for architecture. Some popular ones are Kodak Ektar 100, Kodak Hawkeye traffic surveillance film, or Kodak Portra 400 film.

Other words about medium include landscape photography, urban photography, aerial photography, and architectural detail photography.

Part 2: Define the Subject (Architecture Details)

The subject is the main thing in your image. In architecture contexts, this includes the building and the specific parts that show its style.

Overall Design and Styles

Precision is important when talking about the overall building design. Look at architecture books for specific words. Simple words like modern, Victorian, or brutalist work well. You can also use more specific terms like parametric, organic, deconstructivist, sculptural, pixelated, monolithic, modular, or lattice.

Specific Features and Materials

Point out structural parts like cantilevered balconies, glass facades, or steel beams. Describe facade treatments like brickwork, cladding, or Corten steel. Be specific about materials like polished concrete, wood, or corrugated metal. Note unique features like a rooftop garden, a floating staircase, or intricate masonry.

Defining the subject correctly helps Midjourney focus on the parts of the building or structure you want to show.

Part 3: Set the Environment (Context)

The environment is the setting around the building. It helps show the subject and adds meaning to the image. The environment can change the mood or story of the picture. Think about:

• Is it city or country?

• What time of day is it?

• What is the weather and season?

Here's how to describe environments in your prompts.

Urban vs. Rural

An urban setting shows how the building relates to the city. It might show how the structure fits with or looks different from other buildings and busy streets. A rural setting shows how the building fits into nature, like forests, mountains, or fields. This can create a calm or isolated feeling. You can be specific about landscapes like coastal (near water), mountainous (against rocks), or desert/savannah.

Time of Day

You can be precise about the time of day:

• Morning light: Often soft and warm, giving a welcoming mood.

• Noon or noon brilliance: Bright and strong light, showing textures and materials.

• Golden hour: Rich warm colors that make building details look good and create a calm or older mood.

• Nighttime: Focus on building lights and the night sky, suggesting mystery or life.

Weather and Season

Use words like clear skies, rainy, foggy, or snowy to describe weather. You can also mention the cultural or historical context of the place. Talking about modern urban centers can link the building style to current design. Including a season like spring, summer, autumn, or winter makes the image much more specific.

By carefully choosing environment words, you can help tell the story of the building and its setting. It adds context that fits or contrasts with the building's design.

Managing all these details for multiple prompts can be time-consuming. Consider using a tool specially made for this. The TitanXT Midjourney Automation Suite simplifies creating and managing complex prompts, helping you get consistent results faster.

Putting It Together: Example Prompts

Let's see an example prompt for a university in France.

A Good Example

Exterior photograph of the University Building in a serene suburban setting in France, shot on a large format camera. The building features a unique architectural style with a recessed ground floor and cantilevered glass upper floors, creating a floating look. The roof is a multi-sport court with a tall metal fence. The structure is entirely exposed concrete, with each floor slab showing concrete beams below. There isa group of students in white and blue uniforms entering the building. The scene shows a calm and airy feel with soft daylight, soft shadows, and natural colors.

This prompt clearly shows the medium (exterior photograph, large format camera), subject (university building, unique style, cantilevered glass, concrete, sports court), and environment (suburban setting in France, soft daylight, soft shadows, natural colors). It's a complete prompt.

A less detailed prompt would be: "A building of a university in France. The building is modern and it is sunny, in the style of Rem Koolhas." This prompt lacks specific detail about the building and setting.

Avoiding Reference Architects

Using the names of famous architects like Frank Gehry or Zaha Hadid gives specific results. But if you want new and different results, try to be structured and descriptive in your prompt using the details we discussed instead of relying on architect names.

Using Image References

Midjourney can use image references to influence your output. Just add " --sref " followed by the image link at the end of your prompt.

Adding Image Links

Upload your reference images to Discord, copy their web address, and paste it after " --sref ". If you use the same text prompt and add an image reference, the result will change.

Adjusting Influence (sw)

If the image reference changes the result too much, use " --sw " followed by a number. The default influence is 100. Lower the number (e.g., 50) for less influence, or increase it (e.g., 200-400) for more influence.

Color Palette Influence

You can also use an image to influence only the color palette. Remix your image (or start fresh), apply the style reference link using " --sref ", and then add " --sw 50" or another low number for the influence. A lower influence often works best for just colors.

Experimenting with these settings and techniques can greatly improve your architectural images. Managing different images and parameters manually can feel like a lot of work. Streamline your creative process and manage your Midjourney projects efficiently with the TitanXT Midjourney Automation Suite.

Exploring Settings (Ratio, Style, Mode)

You can adjust global settings like image ratio, mode, version, aesthetics, and speed modes. The image ratio matters more than just size; it can affect the output style. A 1x1 square ratio might give a more old-fashioned look compared to a landscape ratio, even if you use a vintage film style word. Increasing stylization makes images look more like older Midjourney versions.

Play with all these settings. Many users stick to a landscape ratio, raw mode, and the latest version for general use.

Once you have an image, you can use features like zooming out, panning, and remixing to refine it further.

Conclusion

Creating impressive architectural visuals in Midjourney depends on crafting clear prompts. By focusing on the medium, subject, and environment, and using descriptive language, you guide the AI to create specific, high-quality images. Using image references and adjusting settings gives you even more control over the final look. Keep experimenting with different words and settings to find what works best for your design ideas.