AI + Pixar Give Proposed Trinidad Development Some Pop

• November 6th 2025

by UrbanTurf Staff

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A development pitched for a corner in Trinidad may give the neighborhood a little pop — with help from artificial intelligence.

Adam Crain, principal of 2Plys Architecture, told UrbanTurf that he used ChatGPT to create an image to adorn the facade of a proposed six-unit short-term rental development that his firm designed along Florida Avenue NE.

“I thought a boy holding a ton of balloons would be cute,” Crain said. “I think I had recently watched the movie Up with my 3-year-old, and that inspired it.”

Crain took the AI-generated image and had his renderer apply it to the building’s facade, making a few adjustments to fit the window pattern. The resulting design features a child holding a colorful cluster of balloons — a concept meant to bring levity and charm to the project.

“It’s a corner building, highly visible with a big projecting bay, so I wanted to punch it up a bit and make it fun for passersby and for the folks who would be staying there,” Crain explained.

The six-unit project will offer short-term accommodations; a previously-approved nine-unit project at the address has been nixed. Whether the mural will actually be painted, however, remains undecided.

“It’s a maybe,” Crain noted. “That’s entirely up to the client.” 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/ai_pixar_give_proposed_trinidad_development_some_pop/24039.