It occurred to me that I should test these habitual techniques against the newest late-beta version of McNeel Rhino, since students have asked me about the differences between Rhino 4 and the forth-coming Rhino 5. I use the 3D modeling application to generate a perspective framework and suggest lighting/shadow situations which will be “over-painted” using an image editor (in this case, Adobe Photoshop).

As the project is eleven years old now, it struck me that I should render it as it might look if it had been built then and left exposed on the New England coast since. This is of course an ancestor of my 2008-2010 Stormhouse project. And, yes, a 2003 rendering of this Hurricane House occasionally appears as a header image for this website.

I’m not sure about why I felt compelled to put another cloaked figure in the foreground, violating some of my own precepts for architectural illustration in the use of entourage. I am most certainly not constantly glimpsing cloaked, mournful figures “out of the corner of my eye.” Not at all. Nope.

The students included undergraduates and Masters candidates in architecture, interior architecture, and sometimes other design fields, as well as practicing professionals in architecture and interiors who have sought to add to existing their skill sets.

From the BAC course catalog, Fall Semester 2010:

VS650/Lecture/C – DM3B SketchUp I/3D Modeling & Illustration | Credits 1.50
SketchUp is an easy-to-learn yet extraordinary tool for developing 3D models and illustrations; from the conceptual stages of simple designs to complex and sophisticated projects. The course will introduce the application and follow a project-based learning approach, focusing on 3D form creation, modification and communication.

VS635/Lecture/G – Rhino I/ 3D Design | Credits 1.50
Rhino is among the most influential software to emerge in the community of academic and professional architectural practice. Due to its efficiency and economy of performance, it is currently in use by numerous design firms small and large. With roots in marine engineering, the target output is digital model construction. The relative strength of Rhino lies in its close command-line relationship with the AutoCAD interface widely in use in the architectural and design industry. This allows the flattened world of two-dimensional construction drawings to be realized in three-dimensional form. Utilizing a minimal number of guide poly-lines, students will construct digital models that range from relatively simple to complex. The mathematical concepts of lofting, sweeping, cutting, splitting, and Boolean operations will be addressed as well as methods of curve construction such as slicing, sectioning, and continuous contours.

I made a great effort over the years to keep the courses from being the pedantic, soul-sucking exercises that so often characterize technical education in architecture. Students have been encouraged to choose their own unique responses to the assignments, with the only requirement being that they demonstrate their understanding of certain core illustration, modeling, or three-dimensional design process concepts within their work. For the four-week-long final projects in both courses, students have been permitted to choose any topic (real design projects, projects from design studios at the school, and even theoretical work), as long as the subject reflects an original design problem response on their part and is not simply an illustration or recreation of some existing work of architecture.

Of course, an excellent final project cannot always be distilled into a few renderings or diagrams, but here is a gallery (which I plan on expanding, should my schedule permit me to teach again) of some that can be so summarized:

To communicate with the creators of any of these works, please use the contact form for this website, and I will happily forward any messages or questions.