University of Oregon - Department of Architecture - ARCH 408/508 Cheng, Summer 1998

 

Assignment 6: Environment



Images of the Pantheon in Rome by Ayako Sakurai
Objectives:
To gain experience in controlled top-down modeling to scale.
To use top-down refinement in modeling.

Modeling in 3D requires an understanding of form. Modeling an environemnt which has been thoughtfully designed forces you to confront the geometric basis of the design. Creating a variation of that design requires a further understanding of the principles used to make design decisions.

Your task is to a beautiful space or room and model it.

  1. Choose your subject
    Find a place which is compelling such as
    • an unbuilt work
    • a real building or environment
    • part of a building which intrigues you.
    Your task will be easier if you have thorough documentation in the form of scaled drawings and photos. Select something small or simple in scope so you can complete it in a week.

  2. Create an abstract version. Define massing or space boundaries with walls, ground planes & ceilings. Create simple versions of symbols and place them.

  3. Gradually refine it. Add definition and detail. Substitute the refined parts as time allows.

  4. Create rendered views including a plan and elevation and a perspective. You can choose to emphasize unseen qualities of the space via diagrams as above. Combine them in Photoshop and post the result as "picture6.GIF" on your Web page.

For the ambitious: Create a variation of the design. If you are successful, your counterfeit variations will be as genuine looking as the original.

Note that you can continue on this project as the vehicle for your rendering experiments.

REMEMBER: BRING A DIGITAL IMAGE ON MONDAY

Resources

Consider modeling an irregular or organic space whose design or production was facilitated by computers

OMA/Rem Koolhaas, Scogin/Elam/Bray, Patricia Patkau, Frank Gehry, Stephen Holl, Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn, Jean Nouvel, Santiago Calatrava, Peter Eisenman, Ben van Berkel

See Architecture Links for ideas.

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edited July 5, 1998 by nywcheng