Silvia Rueda: How Unreal Engine Pixel Streaming Is Changing Architectural Visualization (Heatherwick Studio & Burning Man)

There is a moment in every architect’s career when the software stays the same but the ideas stop fitting inside it. For Silvia Rueda, lead designer at Heatherwick Studio, that moment arrived during the Google Bay View campus project. She was staring at a Photoshop file full of manually placed plants that looked nothing like the Revit landscape schedules she had spent weeks building.

“You’d be waiting an astronomical amount of time — and then you forget to turn on a light and have to re-render the whole thing,” she told the Real-Time Talk podcast.

That frustration changed her trajectory. Today, Silvia is one of the most important voices at the intersection of architecture, Unreal Engine, and pixel streaming. For the complete deep-dive into her workflow, read the full feature on Eagle 3D Streaming.

Who Is Silvia Rueda? From Colombian Architecture to Immersive Media

Silvia trained as a traditional architect in Colombia — metal construction, wooden structures, structural engineering. When she moved to London for a master’s in Interactive Architecture, she discovered 3D scanning, soft robotics, and wearable emotion masks built with inflatable sensors.

That experimental instinct never left. It is the same instinct that pushed her to replace static renders with living, interactive environments at Heatherwick Studio, where she now leads the Immersive Media Cluster and teaches Twinmotion to other designers.

Why Traditional Landscape Rendering Fails Architects

At Heatherwick — the firm behind London buses, floating parks, and Google Bay View — Silvia discovered what thousands of architects know: traditional landscape visualization is basically impossible to do honestly.

The old pipeline — V-Ray, Rhino screenshots, Photoshop — produces what she calls “beautiful lies.” Mature planting that will not exist for ten years. Materials that behave differently in reality. Lighting that never matches the site.

Real-time rendering collapses that feedback loop. Instead of committing to a plant species and waiting six hours to see if it works, you drag a slider from year one to year ten in front of the client and ask, ”Which do you prefer?”

Silvia started with Twinmotion — “the baby of Unreal” — and now uses it across landscape, interior, and facade work. For studios ready to make the same jump, Eagle 3D Streaming breaks down the full AEC workflow here.

Twinmotion vs Unreal Engine: Which Do Architects Actually Need?

The difference is accessibility versus control.

Twinmotion is beginner-friendly, with drag-and-drop assets, weather sliders, and instant plant aging. Fastest path from BIM to a living scene. Unreal Engine offers deeper control for interactive elements, custom materials, DMX lighting, and pixel streaming delivery.

Most teams — including Silvia’s — start in Twinmotion and move to Unreal for complex, client-facing projects. Eagle 3D Streaming covers the full comparison in their architect’s guide.

What Is the Unreal Fellowship? Inside the World-Building Bootcamp

The Unreal Fellowship is a competitive annual program run by Epic Games that accepts roughly 100 participants globally. Silvia applied alongside her studio work and was accepted into the world-building cohort.

The format is deliberately chaotic. Each participant receives the same attributes with randomized values. Silvia’s assignment: a swamp setting, surrealist style, concrete materials, golden hour lighting, fog, and an “Animalia” plot twist.

She built a surrealist concrete landscape with a walking Dalí-style elephant and Niagara particle effects. It placed top 20. One judge mentioned her scene was the only thing their autistic child stopped to stare at during the showcase.

Hear her tell the full story on YouTube -(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qww2kHDDGxU&t=19s).

Nebula Burning Man: Mushrooms, Sensors, and Pixel Streaming

Silvia’s most ambitious project is Nebula, a Burning Man installation representing Colombia. The concept began with a Colombian expression for loneliness — ”soy un hongo” (“I am a mushroom”).

The team designed modular plywood mushroom forms in four sizes (XL, L, M, S), built to shelter visitors and literally lean on each other. The structure uses DMX-controlled lighting and sound sensors. When an art car rolls past with bass, the mushrooms dance. When a yoga class breathes nearby, the lights shift to silence.

The Nebula tech stack:

• Rhino and Grasshopper for parametric structure
• Twinmotion for early visualization
• Unreal Engine for real-time lighting and sensor integration
• Pixel streaming for public access and fundraising

The team earned a Burning Man art grant — the first Colombian women-led team to represent Colombia at the event — but the grant covers only 20% of the cost. They are funding the rest through online courses where participants build their own Burning Man structure inside Unreal Engine.

What Is Pixel Streaming? How Unreal Engine Runs on a Phone Without a GPU

Pixel streaming is native Unreal Engine technology that streams real-time 3D directly to any browser or mobile device. Heavy rendering runs on cloud servers; the user receives a live, interactive video feed they control with mouse, touch, or gamepad.

For architecture studios, this means clients walk through a project on their phone — no downloads, no GPUs, no headsets.

None of Nebula’s interactivity could be communicated through a static render. So the team built a browser-based version that fundraising attendees could walk through on their phones — zero friction.

“Not everybody is into technology. Sometimes you just need simplicity,” Silvia said. “And pixel streaming is just a game changer for everybody.”

If you want to test the same delivery method, Eagle 3D Streaming offers a free 7-day trial — no credit card, 60 lifetime minutes, 1 concurrent stream, 5GB storage.

How Architects Use Eagle 3D Streaming to Share BIM Models in Real Time

This is not a story about software. It is a story about timing and trust.

Traditional rendering forces architects to ask clients to believe. Real-time rendering lets architects ask clients to choose. The conversation shifts from “trust me, this will look good” to “do you prefer morning light or golden hour?” That is a fundamentally different professional relationship.

For firms scaling this across multiple projects, Eagle 3D Streaming’s enterprise platform handles global server scaling, analytics, and multiplayer collaboration — entire teams reviewing BIM models together from a browser. Book a personalized demo to see how it fits your pipeline.

Key Takeaways: Why Real-Time Rendering Changes Client Meetings

• Honest landscape visualization: Show year one, year five, and year ten planting in seconds. - Instant feedback: Adjust lighting, materials, and seasons live in a meeting.
• Universal access: Pixel streaming lets stakeholders review projects on any device.
• Sensor integration: Unreal Engine connects to DMX and IoT for responsive installations.

If Nebula gets built in the Nevada desert and eventually relocates to a Colombian forest, it will have traveled from Rhino to Grasshopper to Unreal Engine to a pixel streaming link — and finally into the physical world. Most studios are still figuring out that pipeline. Silvia has already done it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you run Unreal Engine on a mobile phone?

Yes. Through pixel streaming, rendering runs on cloud servers while the phone receives an interactive video feed. No local GPU required.

Is Twinmotion better than V-Ray for landscape architecture?

For real-time client presentation and plant aging, yes. V-Ray still works for final production stills, but it cannot match the speed and honesty of real-time feedback.

How much does pixel streaming cost for a small studio?

Eagle 3D Streaming offers a free 7-day trial with 60 lifetime minutes and 5GB storage. Paid plans scale by concurrent users and hours.

What is the Nebula project at Burning Man?

A physical installation by a Colombian women-led team, with Silvia Rueda as lead designer. Made of modular plywood mushroom forms, it addresses loneliness through architecture. Developed in Unreal Engine, uses DMX-controlled lighting with sound sensors, and shared via pixel streaming.

How do I upload my own Unreal project for pixel streaming?

Package your project, upload to Eagle 3D Streaming’s self-serve platform, configure settings, and generate a shareable link. Minutes, not hours.

Ready to stream your own projects?(https://eagle3dstreaming.com/category/blogs/silvia-rueda-from-colombian-architect-to-unreal-engine-fellow), watch the full interview, or upload your project and start streaming today.