a space represented

I did some 3D rendering/perspectives early in February for a proposed housing development in Jo-burg.  Again: this is not my design – i just modeled and rendered what the architect had designed.  (i do have some suggestions though..)  As the project is still at concept stage the materiality and design of the actual building is not yet defined.  The purpose of these perspectives was to “sell” the social space/ green space / interaction space/ relaxation space.  The focus thus falls on the people and landscaping – they are in a sense the main characters in this slide show.  While i normally use people’s silhouettes to indicate scale and use of a building, the focus here was of experience.

I often feel that when “photo-real” people are used the client ends up focusing on the people in the image rather than the function the serve.  (men are often distracted by pretty women, or “the people are the wrong colour.” …)  For this project, there are no real buildings to take attention away from – the housing units in this case plays more of a supporting role.  I guess in the end the lessons are: know your client, know the focus of the presentation.  Here are the perspectives i did for the courtyard, cafe, circulation spaces and the jogging route.

I personally feel that 3d perspectives are like representing the dream: dreams seem to make sense when you are in them although sometimes things seem to be a little out-of-place.  The point is, i don’t want to trick the viewer into believing that he/she is looking at the real thing – it’s a dream and the point is to realize the dream.  Good for people who’s goal is to achieve photo-realism – it’s not mine.

Architects: Bentley Faulmann Architects in collaboration with Joshua Conrad Architects.

all-nighter

More 3D perspectives i did for the office i worked for this year.  This time for a Student Lifestyle Centre at the same university the Student Village is being built.  The client wanted to know what the building would look like at night.  This was the first time i did night renders in V-ray.  I like the way it turned out – though i hope in a couple of months i will look back and say “gee, i’ve come a long way from those 3D’s”

storey to tell

These are two 3D perspectives i did recently – the office i work for is trying to convince the client to add another storey to his house.  The modelling was done in Sketchup and then rendered using V-Ray.

I added the reflection layer – which does not accurately reflect the yard, but i did not have much time to do it.  Next time i’ll play around with adding images of the yard to reflect in the window.

The house as it is now…

children love to play

About a month ago i mentioned that i met with Marco at Skinny Legs and All to discuss some new 3d’s.  They were for proposed children’s play areas on wine estates near Stellenbosch.  The images are representations of what he is proposing and thus didn’t need to be photo-realistic – it does leave something to the clients imagination (i feel).  That is also why i use transparent silhouettes of people – i don’t know who will be using the play area/building – your guess/imagination is as good as mine.  I used Google Sketchup to model the shapes and V-Ray to render (i am relatively new to V-Ray).  This is some of what i did for Marco: