Walkthrough

A walkthrough of my project in CryEngine.

Plan, Section & Perspectives

To refine my design I have added in the brick wall on one side to show where the boundary is for 20 Wallace street, I then compacted my design so that it could all fit within the site. I added a walkway from the second bedroom, down under the house and up under the dream space so that a person could walk from start to finish through the space and experience the whole journey. For the walkway I wanted to introduce the 1m x 1m squares in a realistic sense so I created a spiral staircase pattern with them so the subject would be introduced to them with a realistic purpose for them later on to be bent into the surreal sense. I made the start of the walkway lit with warm inviting lights so they would start the journey, as they venture down the path it gets darker until almost complete darkness. As you walk from this dark hallway you approach the dreamspace and are bathed in bright florescent lights in different saturated colours. As you first enter the dreamspace you cannot see any of the house but as you move about the dreamspace the house is slowly revealed to you so there is a direction for your journey. As you enter the house I lit the bedroom with warm soft lighting similar to that of the start of the walkway so that you are drawn to the bedroom where the journey is finished. 

If the plan & section are printed out in A3 paper they will be 1:100 scale.

Models

Here are some pictures from my 1-20 timber frame room and 1-50 model of my design.

Conceptual Model

1:20 Timber Frame Model
Since in scale the balsa wood I had was 90mm I decided to use 90mm-70mm studs, therefore the spacing between studs would have to be 400mm. I choose to make my walls 3m high instead of the 2.4m that was circled in the tables that were given to us hence the 2 dwangs per wall.

Presentation

These are the slides from my presentation.

Plan & Section

Cry Engine

I decided to use cry engine as my render because not only does it look better that sketchup I can control the position of the camera easily and I can also use lighting to push my design idea further.

Here are some screenshots from Cry Engine.

Development

After some critique I was told that my design needs to be a bit more possible. Not that it will be built but more that it could possibly be built. I needed to represent the surreal dream space in a physical way so I decided to take some influence from my precedence and use real world materials to bend them into a surreal space. I still wanted the space to be a journey so I wanted the journey to start off underground and that the person would have to climb up these giant slabs of material to get up to the house. I think using a geometric feel to the dream space section would make it feel more surreal because things in reality are often not perfectly straight and geometric.

Sketchup

I started to make my sketchup model, I tore through most of the rooms with big ravines while leaving the bedroom intact to push the contrast of the bedroom being reality and all of the outsides being the surreal space. I wanted to start the journey in a highly geometric space and as you get closer to the bedroom things become more organic and realistic, like its being pieced back together. Here are some screenshots from my sketchup model.

Brief

My clients ritual happens after he wakes up from a lucid dream when he record's the emotions of the experience in his dream journal. The space I am designing is meant to capture the emotions of the journey from the surreal dream state back into reality in his bedroom.

Plan

Section

Design Examples

Grand Central Station
I found a picture of when Grand Central Station was first built and how the light was designed to shine through the windows. The station was designed by a collection or architects such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, John Wellborn Root, Alfred T. Fellheimer, John B. Snook. Original the light was meant to shine through to the floor in beams of lights but since taller building have built around it the light can no longer reach the windows in this way. The reason I like this building is how the light reacts in the space, I feel like the beams are breathing life into the hall, it makes the room feel a little surreal which is something I need to capture in my design.

The Schusev State Museum of Architecture Advertising

The creative agency produced a series of 3 different illustrations for the "Discover the Full Story" project for the Schusev State Museum. I really like these advertisements not only because it is aesthetically pleasing but because it mixes the real with the surreal which is something I want to achieve in my Design, I also like how the light plays with the buildings underground as it ties them back to the surface.

Building Textures

The next photo's are a group of textures used while building from various sources so I could not find the designer for each of the photo's. The reason I picked these images is because I really like how the designers have used ordinary materials but have arranged them in a way the creates something more un-ordinary, especially the images where the transition from a normal surface into a geometrical one. This is something I will try to create in my design because it creates a blend between the real spaces and the surreal space's and I think getting a smooth transition is important for my design to be effective.

Surreal Architectural Photography
This image is photography or photo manipulation of surreal Architecture by the Philip Dujardin Gallery. I have used this even though its not real architecture because I think it will be hard to find architecture that exists in real life that will be similar to the idea I am trying to portray. I like the geometric qualities of this photo and also how there is multiple light sources signifying multiple suns which gives it a more surreal feel which is what i'm trying to capture.

Thai Hotel
I choose this piece of architecture by Onion, Siriyot Chaiamnuay & Arisara Chaktranon because of the use of regular materials to create something very elegant. The use of the bricks in these big sweeping curves of the scalloped walls takes the brick out of its usual setting into something very contemporary and beautiful, I will try and use regular materials to create something more than what they are in my design much like they have in this design.