Imran Shakoor: Week 1 Shib Shib Palace (Castle)

Concept: The concept was to create a desert scene with a old devoid castle in the middle of some sand dunes. To create the perfect castle for this scene, I took the Arabian sandals called Shib Shib and turned them into a building. The curves of the shoes are perfect for a sort of roof or tent covering and and the sole of the shoe is a nice base as it as a flat surface. Ultimately in the end, I had trouble creating the desired desert scene, but the look I ended up going with shows off the castle nicely and still looks like an empty Palace almost. I think it could be found on a beach or anywhere really, it just looks like a chill spot to be at and carries the sandy desert vibe due to its inspiration from Saudi Arabian culture.

Process: The process ultimately started with me taking pictures of the shoe and using them as reference images in Rhino to get the proper proportions. Using interpolate points, I followed the outlines in the images and created the curved base (sole of the shoe), and lofted it up to give it that width. The rest of it was primarily using interpolate points to create the all the curves for the leather "roof" features, and switching between views quite a bit to specifically move points to get them in the perfect position to loft a curve. I had to create two curves for each leather piece, and then used the 2 Rail function with skinny rectangular cross sections, to form the actual pieces. The rubber pieces holding the leathers were oval shape pieces that I used the bend function to bend to my desired angles, and filleted the edges. As for the glass part that makes it look like a building, I had to use a perpendicular slab piece and trim/boolean difference to make it fit the awkward half circle shape it fits in. The door opening part was just putting certain shapes together and trimming certain pieces out/ using boolean difference.

Materials: For the Leather roof pieces I used Anodized Niobium Brushed Purple because it gives it a fashionable hard metal look and reinforces that it is a large building. The middle East is also known for having large buildings with twists and turns and curves and this fits the aesthetic. I used white Marble for the base because marble floors are characteristic of large mansions and palaces, and it gives it gleaming look especially with the light shining of off it. For the stumps, I used Walnut because wood is characteristic for holding up raised buildings and was a nice shade as shade, and goes with the ladder. The wood I believe is gives it that pier aesthetic that matches the sand. The glass window and door is Glass (Solid) Black and is a nice glass that lets the perfect amount of light through without changing its color. The lighting environment was a desert one, and moved the sun to get the desired shadows.