Building the Gothic Green Urban Core Model

This is the final piece I completed in the Gothic Green Urban Core Collection. I began this piece in February of 2008. The model conveys the design in 3D. It was an important step to complete, so that people would get the full concept.

This model was the first I ever made. I had no clear idea of how to execute it until I prepped food. I determined the process of prepping could be modified and used to build the model. Once I decided on this, it only took about a half hour to complete the preliminary plans.

I knew that prefabricated materials for models of buildings and trees would not suit my purpose, because the model would exceed my space limitations. I decided on a model that was 24” X 36”. Therefore I used the scale=1:1200. In other words, one inch on my scale equals 1200 inches scaled up to reality.

I then took the original color coded floor plan and began sketching out my plan ideas on the back of that page. I used a total of 3 sheets of paper (6 pages total) to articulate my model plans.

While drawing up the plans only took about a half hour, the model took a lot of time to build. I drew and painted everything by hand. It also involved a lot of measuring to ensure it meet the scale requirements. Everything had to be precise and accurate, yet the design also needed elements which appeared to grow naturally.

I used a variety of mediums:

1)      Watercolor

2)      Gouache

3)      Acrylic

4)      Pencils/Watercolor pencils

5)      Pen/Ink

6)      Markers

It also included many materials:

1)      Styrofoam

2)      Paper

3)      Elmers glue

4)      Toothpicks

5)      Foam

6)      Wire

7)      Cloth

8)      Pins

Some interesting points can be noticed from the original floor plan and the completed model. Among them, I added towers at the rear of the model. The experience taught me how to make models more efficiently and faster, so in the future, building them will take less time and effort.

Introduction to the Gothic Green Urban Core: From Urban Plan to Art

This series of posts will explain the concept of the Gothic Green Urban Core which is the flagship architectural piece of my work. The Gothic Green Urban Core combines vertical communities with compact horizontal development into a single architectural unit.

The inspiration of the Gothic Green Urban Core came from two sources:

1)      Gothic Architecture

2)      New Urbanism

I originally conceived this concept in June or July of 2005. At that time, my art skills were very limited to simple sketches and basic geometric shapes, so I illustrated the design with a color coded floor plan. The overall dimensions of the building were 1800 feet by 3000 feet. The building had heights that varied between 5 stories, 10 stories, and 15 stories.

I worked on this collection of art between mid-2005 until March of 2008. All of the pieces were meant to be viewed together as a collection; however, they can each be viewed individually without any loss of artistic value. It should be remembered though that the design is actually a realistic and sustainable city design. The art evolved out of the urban design.

Gothic Green Urban Core Collection

http://picasaweb.google.com/nolancary/GothicGreenUrbanCoreCollection?feat=directlink