Welcome to Luftschloss: Where Technology and Creativity Merge

If you've just landed on this site and don't yet know what Luftschloss actually does: this post is the overview I would have wanted before reading about individual projects in detail. In short: we build visual experiences where technology and creative idea aren't developed one after the other, but thought through together from the start.

Why we exist at all

Luftschloss emerged in 2024 from the CGI department of Gieske Studios – not as a marketing-driven spin-off, but because a team that had spent years building photorealistic visual worlds and interactive applications eventually outgrew the department housing it. I've told the story of that spin-off in detail elsewhere. What matters for this overview: we come from the craft, not from strategy consulting. Every image we show, someone on our team actually built.

Three competencies, one connection

From the outside, our services sort into three areas – from the inside, they're barely separable:

CGI and 3D visualization. Photorealistic renderings for architecture, products, and advertising, built from 3D models instead of a camera. The advantage doesn't show on the first image, it shows on the twentieth variant, the product that doesn't exist yet, or the scene that has to stay consistent for years. I've described in detail where this pays off compared to classic photography – and where it doesn't – in CGI or photography?

Interactive technology. A CGI model that exists once doesn't have to stay static. Renderings become applications that users operate themselves – from the 3D configurator in an online shop to installations that respond to body movement, no touchscreen required. I've written up how interactive product presentations work and why spaces often make the better interfaces in two separate posts.

Creative design. For us, technology is never the starting point, it's the tool. Every project begins with the question of what story an image or an experience should tell – only after that comes the decision of which means to use.

The reason we don't offer these three things separately: in practice, the value emerges exactly at the intersections. A CGI model without a creative idea is technically impressive and empty in content. An interactive installation without solid image quality feels cheap, no matter how clever the technology behind it. Only together do they become something that actually moves a brand forward.

What this looks like in practice

Two projects show this most clearly. PZ Nova, our interactive media facade in the center of Pforzheim, created with the Pforzheimer Zeitung and awarded the German Customer Award 2026: passersby control the facade with their movements, no app or instructions required. I've written up how it came about behind the scenes separately. The Portal, our AI-powered photo screen, turns visitors into part of a staged visual world within seconds – more on that here. Both projects only work because CGI, interactive technology, and creative concepting come from the same hand.

What sets us apart from pure technology vendors

We don't sell off-the-shelf software, and we don't sell campaigns without a technical foundation. What we deliver is always built for a specific project – tailored to the question of who will stand in front of it, with how much time, and in what mood. That also means: we tell clients honestly when an interactive installation is the wrong path and a good photograph is enough. That honesty isn't a contradiction to the business, it's the precondition for the projects we do take on actually working.

Conclusion

Luftschloss isn't an agency with one core competency, but a team that practices three crafts – CGI, interactive technology, and creative design – together, until the lines between them disappear. If you want to see what that looks like in detail, this site has the individual projects and posts to go with it – this text was just the overview.