Körszálló
ai construction timelapse for a documentary on the Körszálló rebuild
client:
Marriott Residences Budapest
agency: Raconteur
documentary insert · 10 sec · 4K 16:9 · 2026
the Körszálló, Budapest's round hotel, stood above Városmajor from 1967: an 18 storey concrete cylinder raised around a central core, loved and teased as the "soft drink can". it is now being rebuilt as Marriott Residences Budapest. for a documentary about the rebuild, the task was to show something no camera could film yet: the new tower rising from the construction pit to its finished form, in ten seconds.
one static camera, golden hour light and film grain, clouds racing across the sky to mark the passing months, everyday traffic below. beside the building, a timeline graphic counts through the construction schedule, designed in the Marriott Residences brand language and timed to the build.
ai & motion: ZEDZARA
tools: Higgsfield, Nano Banana Pro, Seedream 5.0 Pro, GPT Image, Seedance 2.5, After Effects
agency: Raconteur
documentary insert · 10 sec · 4K 16:9 · 2026
the Körszálló, Budapest's round hotel, stood above Városmajor from 1967: an 18 storey concrete cylinder raised around a central core, loved and teased as the "soft drink can". it is now being rebuilt as Marriott Residences Budapest. for a documentary about the rebuild, the task was to show something no camera could film yet: the new tower rising from the construction pit to its finished form, in ten seconds.
one static camera, golden hour light and film grain, clouds racing across the sky to mark the passing months, everyday traffic below. beside the building, a timeline graphic counts through the construction schedule, designed in the Marriott Residences brand language and timed to the build.
ai & motion: ZEDZARA
tools: Higgsfield, Nano Banana Pro, Seedream 5.0 Pro, GPT Image, Seedance 2.5, After Effects
the starting point
the client's final architectural render set the end state, and their six step schedule became the timeline graphic. the render was reframed to a true 16:9 with AI rather than cropped, and every keyframe was then built backwards from the finished building.
the client's final architectural render set the end state, and their six step schedule became the timeline graphic. the render was reframed to a true 16:9 with AI rather than cropped, and every keyframe was then built backwards from the finished building.
the real site
midway through, the brief grew. two real elements had to stand in the frame from the very first second: the lift core already rising on site, and a protected section of the old building that survives the rebuild. the client marked both on site photos and on the render.
midway through, the brief grew. two real elements had to stand in the frame from the very first second: the lift core already rising on site, and a protected section of the old building that survives the rebuild. the client marked both on site photos and on the render.
character sheets for buildings
image models redraw the whole picture every time you ask for a small change, so placing two exact objects into an existing frame needed a method of its own. each structure got a turnaround sheet, the way a character would: front, three quarter, side and top views, built only from the site photographs. a position guide drawn straight onto the keyframe fixed where each one stands, and the final edit used only those four images.
image models redraw the whole picture every time you ask for a small change, so placing two exact objects into an existing frame needed a method of its own. each structure got a turnaround sheet, the way a character would: front, three quarter, side and top views, built only from the site photographs. a position guide drawn straight onto the keyframe fixed where each one stands, and the final edit used only those four images.
building with construction logic
the motion then had to obey how buildings are actually made: the tower rises around the core, the core grows only as new concrete is cast on top, and the protected wall keeps its full height until new walls close in around it. five video passes, each fixing one behaviour. a quiet echo of the 1960s, when the original tower also rose around its core.
keyframes: the first construction frame, the same frame with the real core and wall built in, and the end frame.
the motion then had to obey how buildings are actually made: the tower rises around the core, the core grows only as new concrete is cast on top, and the protected wall keeps its full height until new walls close in around it. five video passes, each fixing one behaviour. a quiet echo of the 1960s, when the original tower also rose around its core.
keyframes: the first construction frame, the same frame with the real core and wall built in, and the end frame.
