There is a vivid awareness of the role of entertainment in our life, be it physical or online. When architects design these spaces, the most important thing to keep in mind is people’s interaction physically and emotionally to the environment. Here, 3D rendering services bring striking change in this game. With the incredible realistic materials in the 3D scene, architects are able to create memorable and lasting architectural interventions that will define the experiences of the space.
Paul’s team was designing the interior of a bar lounge in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He talked with our project manager about their vision of this future club, and hope to use our 3D techniques to bring the design to life.
Let’s check the story behind Churchill Downs Bar in the United States, and how our 3D artists give life to this interior space.
3D Interior Rendering Process
Stage 1: the Scope of Work
Get to understand the scope of this project is our priority. As Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex, the renders of the bar should have a compelling and inviting atmosphere to its viewers. In the kick-off meeting, we got to know Paul was looking for five images to show the spaces in the bar, namely:
Three views to show different spaces of seating, including the booth, bar seating and regular seating area.
One view of the bar with a glimpse of the catering table.
One view from a corner to demonstrate the alcohol wall and cabinet.
With such clear goal in mind, we sorted the received files from Paul. To help the 3D rendering process, we have:
The floor plan. With the camera angles This offers a clear map of what we going to do next.
The interior elevations both in pdf and dwg. These information will help our 3D modeler with building the 3D model.
The material references. It indicates the material and texture choices, to assist our 3D team choose the realistic material for the each object in the 3D scene.
Floor plan
Elevations
Material board
Stage 2: 3D Modeling from CAD plans
When we were studying the CAD plans, Paul sent the geometry plan especially marked the ceiling height. This is because Paul wanted each interior view to see more spaces. With the help of the geometry plan, we were able to max lift the camera up to the ceiling so that more views were in the scene. Our 3D modeler started to create the 3D model. We use 3ds Max for this process.
At the same time, a plan with lighting locations were received. This greatly help our 3D artists locate each lighting at the accurate place. This in turn speed up the whole 3D modeling process.
Geometry plan
Lighting locations
Confirmed 3D model
As you see in the image, the 3D model includes partial materials. This is a draft that Paul and his team are able to check the materials in advance in an easier way. The next stage is to apply full materials and textures.
Stage 3: Materials, textures, and Lighting
When the scene was optimized and the partial materials were confirmed, our 3D artists proceeded with completing the full material and textures, and setting the lighting in. During this stage, Paul consistently offered his idea and comments on the colored drafts.
Paul’s different ways of commenting.
Stage 4: Post-Processing and Final Delivery
After the materials and lightings were all set, our 3D artists rendered the scenes and checked them carefully (our project manager was involved in this process as well). Throughout all stages, both the project manager and the 3D team worked together to guarantee the quality of the renders. If you want to know more details about how we deliver our visualization works in the best quality, please read our Quality Control system here: Understand AIMIR’s Quality Control System.
We are happy to be part of this beautiful project. We have to say the whole 3D rendering process was smooth and efficient. Both Paul’s and our team dedicated in this project to make it bloom. Of course, we are eager to create more 3D renderings for Paul’s interior projects.
Do you like these interior renderings? Need to bring your interior project to life before it’s built? Looking for realistic materials, textures, colors, lightings and the mood of the interior space to impress your client? Talk to our professional project manager now, and we’ll provide you with showstopping 3D visuals and incredible fast architectural visualization services that sell your vision to the views!
What do you think about the following sketch? Nice one, isn’t it? Apparently, AIMIR’s 3D artists didn’t think the same way when we saw it. Because this is the ONLY thing we’ve received for a rendering project. Yes, there is no model, no confirmed design, nothing but this.
Start from a Sketch
Anthony, reached out to inquire if we were able to handle the Royal Manor Residential project, a 3-story apartment building including 25 units in Canada. He mentioned the design was not finished yet. All he could provide was a conceptual sketch. Actually it is not correct to say the sketch was the only thing we got. Anthony sent us the sketch as well as four reference images. He pointed out the points he wanted to consolidate together for the rendering:
C1: the balcony and colors;
C3: the glass corner;
C4: the one he really likes, such as the mood and accent.
Actually, this was not the first time AIMIR received project requests like this. Started our ArchViz profession in 2006, AIMIR has gained tons of experience handling all types of projects under various conditions. By the way, we’d like to share with you one of our regular clients from USA who occasionally provides beautiful sketches and AIMIR helps to make magic happen. Click here.
Since Anthony cannot provide any other materials and the design was not complete, we decided to build the model for the design first, and incorporate these features from each references for a rough draft.
Model Building – Redesign the Building
Anthony told us the sketch is just a concept design, so we kindly asked him to mark and design on one of the reference images he sent. In this way, we were able to catch more of his idea and build the model more closely as he imagined.
Anthony marked on this reference image per our request. This image became the key to our understanding of his design.
After receiving the marked image, Anthony’s design became clearer. We started to build the model according to the information we had at the moment, and it looks as below image:
Anthony responded with his markups for the design quickly:
After a couple of rounds, the final model was confirmed by Anthony as below:
In the production process of a 3D rendering, the modelling phase usually doesn’t take this long. For this project, Anthony the architect hadn’t finish the design when we started the project. So Anthony and AIMIR redesigned the building together. It apparently took a relatively longer time for both sides, and required extremely high professionalism for AIMIR’s 3D artists to give advice and design the building together with our client.
It was also a challengeable job to render the model, because the original “design” didn’t include any materials. We talked with Anthony and finally decided to use glass, aluminum cladding, and brick as the main material for this building. Thus, AIMIR’s 3D artists created the first round of draft with our own understanding and design.
AIMIR’s design of the materials and textures.
After seeing this draft, Anthony was very happy with the effect of AIMIR’s texture selections. But it seemed he prefers something more colorful. So he replied with some color-changing mark-ups of his own idea.
Anthony wanted more colors on the façade.
As he wished, we revised the colors. The final 3D rendering, which Anthony was thrilled to see, is as below:
After Final Delivery
Anthony is a freelancer architect, and this was the first cooperation between Anthony and AIMIR. It started with such a challengeable task. With comfortable communicating pace, it ended with a result that both sides are satisfied with. He said he would talk to us with another project soon.
The process of creating a 3D rendering is not the same for each project. It largely depends on the completeness of original design, communication efficiency, professionalism of the ArchViz studio, and various other factors that could happen during the production.
In a word, it does not always relies on one side to make perfect renderings. It’s about timing, communication, and professionalism of both sides to create a stunning visualization work. AIMIR is proud to work with full capacity and the highest professionalism in the ArchViz industry, and is ready to face challenges. If you have any interesting project, please feel free to talk to us!
A rollicking closing ceremony with the theme “Worlds We Share” marked the end of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The game gave us a total new look in this pandemic world, and earth’s top-tier athletes competed hard and succeed at almost any cost. The world appreciate it.
Let’s talk about the architecture design, the venues. In fact, most of the venues are older buildings reused, such as the Handball, badminton and wheelchair rugby venue – Yoyogi National Stadium – was completed for the previous Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. This is welcome, for humans are advocating green world. Actually, Paris, host of the 2024 Olympics, promises that 95% of its venues will be either existing or temporary, to halve carbon emissions in comparison to the last two editions of the Summer Games.
Please follow AIMIR to have a tour on the controversial main venue of 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games: Japanese National Stadium.
Japan National Stadium
Athletics and football
The opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics events were held on this Japan National Stadium. Costing around US$1.4 billion, Kengo Kuma designed a stadium with 68,000 seats colored in 5 different earth tones to create a forest-pattern mosaic as a natural solution. He said he was inspired by the traditional Japanese architecture and the environment.
The oval-shaped design features 3 tiers of seats beneath a partially covered roof made from steel and latticed wood. Known for his use of natural materials, the roof design improves the thermal environment of the stands and field by effectively bringing in seasonal wind, while removing the heat and humidity from inside.
Zaha Hadid’s Proposal Scraped & Kengo Kuma Accused of Plagiarism
This stadium’s design was actually won by Zaha Hadid in the design competition but later was dropped with concerns over costs and opposition from Japanese architects, which perhaps was the biggest controversy in the run-up to the games.
Zaha Hadid Architects won the competition to design the stadium in 2012. However, the proposed design was criticized by leading Japanese architects. “They don’t want a foreigner to build in Tokyo for a national stadium,” Hadid said, “on the other hand, they all have work abroad.”
What interesting is, the Kengo Kuma’s design was accused of plagiarizing. Zaha Hadid thought the new stadium’s design had “remarkable similarities” to her own proposal, especially has a similar shape and layout. However, Kuma denied the claims, insisting the originality of his design.
Eco-friendly or Greenwashing?
The 68,000-seat stadium used plenty of timber in the roof. An investigation by over 40 charities found that the tropical hardwood being used was linked to deforestation and human rights violations. They think the use of tropical timber from Sarawak on Olympic construction sites is nothing to celebrate.
On the other hand, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games aims to be the greenest games in modern history, since they are using recycled cardboard beds for athletes and podiums made of donated plastic. However, a peer review conducted by the University of Lausanne found that the Games in Tokyo is the third-least sustainable Olympic since 1992. Proofs lead this event easily to be criticized for greenwashing.
Rowing on Lake Taihu in Jiangsu Province of China, we may see a building resembling a bamboo forest hidden in houses. Designed by Steven Chilton Architects (SCA), the building, Wuxi Taihu Show Theatre, is inspired by the Sea of Bamboo Park in Yixing, the largest bamboo forest in China. Devoted to combine local culture and creative technology, it has been shortlisted for “The Top Ten Buildings for 2019” by the Times and “The 10 Most Anticipated Structures Set to Complete or Open” by CNN.
Its appearance consists of three primary elements, the columns, the shade canopy, and the building envelope. The tall and slender white columns symbolize an abstract impression of a bamboo forest. In our eyes, these columns look rambling. However, their positions are derivable from the structure of the canopy. Standing around the perimeter of the building, they form a screen between the building façade and the surrounding landscape. Meanwhile, they help lead visitors to accesses the building.
Wrapping around the perimeter of the building at the roof level, the shade canopy represents the thick leaves on the top of the bamboo forest. It comprises of many triangular bays where rows of gold anodized aluminum louvers are arranged. Each bay is orientated randomly and set at various angles to create an organic quality to the structure. In addition, it brings the variation of light and shade patterns that fall across the building envelope through the day.
Made up of rendered and painted block-work and curtain wall glazing, the building envelope is fitted with white and gold stripes that imitate the appearance of the bamboo forest and strengthen the effect of resemblance. To provide maximum views into and out of the main public areas, the glazing is designed to have the full height of the building in and above the entrance lobby.
In the evening, when illuminated from below, Wuxi Taihu Show Theatre is an ethereal beacon glimpsed between the “bamboo forest”, attracting tourists and audience in the surroundings.
This project is not the first try of SCA in China. It has completed lots of major theatres in large cities. Their mix of traditional culture and architecture design makes a hit here. Now, let’s enjoy their other works.
Puzzle Ball Theatre in the Huadu District of Guangzhou, China (Its inspiration from ancient Chinese puzzle balls.)
Guangzhou Yue Show Theatre (The Yue Show Theatre concept was inspired by Chinese silk, a fabric known for its exquisite texture and rich historical significance.)
Han Show Red Lantern Theatre (The “Red Lantern” concept was developed with reference to the humble Chinese paper lantern.)
Wanting to know more about interesting news in architecture? Please give attention to our website. We worked tirelessly for high-quality 3D architectural visualization and the delivery of inspiring architectural design. If you need our rendering service, please feel free to let us know.
Think of the word building, and you may conjure up an image of many skyscrapers towering into the sky with a magnificent outside But, with the frequent appearance of environmental problems, the concept of a building is changing. To be future-ready, a building must be eco-friendly, energy-efficient, sustainable, flexible, safe, and reliable. Now let’s look at those buildings in 2019 shaping the future.
1. Re-freeze the Arctic | by Faris RajakKotahatuha, Denny Lesm Ana Budi, FieraAlifa
The project that proposes to re-freeze the arctic won the 2nd prize in an international design competition initiated by the ASA (the association of siamese architects).
Aiming at melting icebergs, this team designs a submarine architecture which measures 25 meters in diameter. It is intended to restore the polar ecosystem by re-freezing sea water that has melted into new “ice fields”. The system of the architecture, called “re-iceberg-isation”, will release what is referred to an “upnormal freezer” each month.
In a hexagonal shape, it will float in the sea and collect water to divide the fresh water and salt water. The top lid will close to keep the cold temperature after desalination. And within a month, a new hexagonal-shaped “ice baby” is released. As time goes on, this system will create as many freezing vessels as possible. Thanks to their regular hexagonal shape, they will insert themselves into the larger ice sheet for the best “re-iceberg-isation” effect.
2. Floating Housing | by HOV
As a changeable buoyancy floating housing unit, “flolony” consists of a mobile naval architecture piece equipped with autonomous energy and developed on geometry so that it can accommodate to any marine conditions and even the extreme ones. Its buoyancy is adjusted by compensation basins. The 36.5-meter-deep range of float-on and float-off enables it to keep floating on the water under both extreme and optimum marine conditions.
Controlled by systems, the upper part of the structure is always out of the water to guarantee the maximum supply of vital elements (light and water), which is conducive to the residential or productive metabolism.
In the simulator, the building applies a realistic social model. Each person pays the building cost of the colony according to the number of inhabitants, the costs for maintenance, services, crew and so on.
Its designer, Italian studio HOV, proposes a housing unit in a marine environment, in which a community of individuals could choose to live a short or long part of their lives on the open seas. Each unit is autonomous as to the basic living facilities. Without external supplies, it can work independently for periods from a few months to years based on its potential configurations and equipment.
3. Floating Skyscraper | by Honglin Li
Awarded an honourable mention in 2019 eVolo Skyscraper Competition, “Filtration” is a floating skyscraper developed by American architectural designer Honglin Li. It is envisioned to purify the seawater according to recycling the garbage in the infamous “Pacific garbage patch”.
This concept, especially its prefabricated waste-management and waste-to-energy megastructure, provides a reference for the solution to the global environmental and energy crisis.
The Filtration skyscraper contains “material recovery facilities (MRF)” and “water treatment plants (WTP)” to clean up the seas and offer green energy. These structures allow the power station to support itself while working to clean up the “floating garbage continent” in the north pacific gyre.
4. Singaporean Founder’s Memorial | byXTU
What’s next is the entry for Founder’s Memorial in Bay East Garden in Singapore. XTU architects base their proposal on the mangroves and banyans along the coastal regions of Singapore in honor of the legacy of the founders.
The memorial includes two parts: a viewing tower and a museum. The viewing tower soars above the horizon, lifted by 6 columns symbolizing the roots and canopy of a mangrove forest. They depict the six core values of Singapore: building a multiracial nation, boldness and diligence, resilience and adaptability, integrity and incorruptibility, humility and teamwork, and values enshrined in the National Pledge.
The museum is situated underground, wreathed with a large garden and water patio. The distinctive design creates a microclimate which insulates visitors from the city. It offers a chance to walk through the history of Singapore in the reflective ambiance. As seen from the outside, the museum blends into the surrounding scenery.
5. Vertical City | by Luca Curci Architects
Presented by Luca Curci Architects, the project of a vertical city collects various renewable energy resources to follow the zero-waste policy faithfully, like wind, water turbines and solar panels.
The vertical city contains water desalination system, energy storage solutions and integrated food production and farming, focusing on a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. According to the architect Luca Curci, it conveys a new way of living. While combining a high-sustainability model for a dense population, the project aims to build a zero-energy city-building hybrid.
The building is perforated to support the circulation of air and light on each level. It is equipped with green areas and vertical garden. In a way, the vertical city rethinks the traditional concept of community and society and design meeting and social areas for community life in response.
6. What If | by m²ft architects
“What if” is a purely hypothetical scenario, which describes lots of well-known sites in Rome. But, not limited to Rome, the project boldly re-imagined contemporary architecture from all corners of the world, where there are a series of fantastic scenes. For example, they place London Eye in Roman Forum and Pompidou Center in Piazza Navona in Rome. The transformative potential is shown in the reposition of contemporary elements in the totally irrelevant surroundings of Rome. A fancy mix of ancient architecture and modern design indulges visitors in pleasures without stop.
Apart from the distortion of reality, the project also communicates the message to the world that Italian capital can be a fertile breeding ground for innovation. Its powerful historical characteristics can also keep pace with the evolution of modern times through similar interventions.
7. Green Spaceship | by 3GATTI
Named as “Green Spaceship”, a new municipal library will be constructed by 3GATTI in Villaverde, Madrid. The idea behind the design is to excite tourists’ curiosity and establish a recognizable landmark in this area.
The library is divided into two storeys architecturally and conceptually. The ground floor is designed to be transparent and open for the purpose of accommodating the noise. The upper floor, with a floating monolithic volume, can contain all the quiet functions like quiet study zones.
As the real “spaceship” in the design, the upper floor has a concrete and brick base, sprayed with dark plaster and built with red tubes and a metallic net cladding structure. It supports the Virginia creeper vines planted on the roof; hence the library has seasonal changes in appearance.
8. Iranian Skyscrapers | by Mohammad Hassan Forouzanfar
Short of the technology of beams and columns, Iranian architecture lacks verticality. Although some cities has adopted the modern style and built some high-rise buildings, most towns still use the traditional architecture technology.
However, Iranian architect Mohammad Hassan Forouzanfar wants to make some changes. He decides to retain the historical identity while improving the local traditional architecture.
In his collection about “retrofuturism”, introduce the concepts of skyscrapers and surrealism into historical architecture. Imaginary skyscrapers in a vernacular style stand out in the middle of the desert, which seems a mirage.
9. “High Lines” Bridge | by Lissoni Architettura
The “high lines” pedestrian crossing is designed by Lissoni Architettura to be a new landmark within the urban fabric of New York. It’s not only to set up another elevated walkway but also to recreate a brand-new vision for this part of the city.
The bridge evolves like a living creature that continually changes shape by accommodating to the heights of the adjacent buildings. Like Spiderman’s web, the bridge is suspended from the surrounding buildings without hampering any activities below.
Walking on it, passers-by will find themselves walking among a varied and new landscape with the feeling of floating above the roads. The project only uses eco-friendly and recycled materials, which could reduce CO2 emissions and production cost.
10. Monuments of the Past | by Nick Stath
Australian architect and illustrator Nick Stath makes up a dystopian fairy tale happening in 100 years from now. There were no more natural elements on the future earth. What was left was a world that had similar landscapes to Mars, where parents had to describe what forests, mountains and lawns was once like.
Humans could only remember theses natural scenes by viewing the man-made landscapes on the massive structures in the sky. Therefore, they are named as “monuments of the past”.
The story has taken the second prize in Fairy Tales 2019 Architecture Storytelling Competition. It is inspired by climate changes and the fact that humans have taken the beauty of the nature for granted. The designer tries to use it to reveal a question how our life would be when natural resources were exhausted.
(All the pictures above are reprinted from ABBS.)
Those are the top 10 future buildings in 2019. There’s no doubt that since the environmental problems become increasingly severe, it influences how we think and act in the world of architecture. We all have the responsibility to make this world a better place for the next generation. Hope you enjoy today’s sharing. If you have any interesting designs that want to share with us, please feel free to contact AIMIR.
