Imagine if city buildings could talk, revealing their history, energy efficiency, and impact on the environment. What might they tell us? Researchers are exploring just that with BuildingView, a groundbreaking project that leverages the power of AI to unlock the secrets hidden within urban landscapes. Using Google Street View and cutting-edge multimodal Large Language Models (LLMs), BuildingView analyzes building exteriors to construct detailed databases filled with valuable information. The project goes beyond simply identifying building types. It delves into intricate details like architectural style, materials used, the presence of green spaces, and even estimates the number of windows and air conditioning units. This wealth of information can then be used to assess a building's energy efficiency, its impact on the urban heat island effect, and its aesthetic contribution to the cityscape. Think of it as giving urban planners, architects, and environmentalists a powerful new lens to understand and improve our cities. BuildingView has already been tested on diverse urban environments like New York City, Amsterdam, and Singapore, revealing fascinating insights about each city’s unique architectural fingerprint. While the technology shows immense promise, challenges remain. Occlusions in street views can sometimes obscure details, making accurate 3D modeling difficult. Additionally, interpreting human-centric aspects of building design, like aesthetic appeal, remains a complex task for AI. The future of BuildingView lies in incorporating additional data sources, like satellite imagery, to address these challenges and create an even richer and more comprehensive global building database. This research opens exciting new avenues for urban planning and sustainable development, promising a future where cities are not just built, but understood.