Twinkle Shah: Project 1 Castle

Concept: 
When most people think of a castle, they think of a medieval, historic castle made of stone and with large pillars. Although not technically a "castle" by definition, I thought of the Taj Mahal. I wanted to make a more modern version of an old castle with some aspects that resembled the Taj Mahal. In particular, I liked the concept of the 4 pillars that surround the structure, and want to include that in my project. I do not intend to include many other concepts besides the pillars from the Taj Mahal, because I want my castle to have a minimalistic, modern, and futuristic feel.

Taj Mahal-Inspiration

Here is what I came up with:

Ghosted Castle Painted Black

Castle in KeyShot with Materials

Bird's Eye View of Castle

Pedestrian View of Castle

Process:
I started by constructing the base of the structure, which I created using the pentagon form tool. I then used the same tool to stack one more pentagonal prism above the first one. These made the two tiers of my architectonic structure. Next, I added the 4 pillars surrounding my structure that resemble the Taj Mahal. These were also pentagonal prisms, continuing the repetition of the pentagon throughout my design. Hovering above the 4 pillars, I created a ring that serves as a futuristic force field to protect the fortress. I oriented each of the pillars so that a flat edge was lined up with the ring above it. I then added detailing with some small spheres on the points of the two main pentagons and the ArrayPolar command. I wanted to be sure not to overdo the details so that I can stick to my minimalist look. I then added some cones that intersect the 5 sides of the top pentagonal prism, also using ArrayPolar.  

Materials:
For the hovering ring, I used glass (solid grey) because I liked the translucent effect it had. For the top tier and the spheres on it, I used anodized titanium brushed pink, and for the cones, I used a very reflective anodized niobium polished green. The bottom tier is marble (black advanced translucent), giving nice reflections and providing some striking color contrast. The 4 pillars are copper polished, also producing nice reflections of the inner structures. For the lighting environment, I used a lighting with 2 large light sources for ample light. I increased the contrast and included ground shadows and reflections for a nice finish. 

Brandon Wehenkel: Castle

 Black & White Ghosted

Colored Ghosted

Different Angles

Concept:
"Your home is your castle, but it is also your identity" ~ David Soul
This design is far from the medieval interpretation of castle, but its the idea that your home is your castle that I went with.  I enjoy the intricate designs of modern homes especially the ones that defy logic and dangle over the sides of cliffs. Also I played The Sims a lot and I like creating modern homes more often.  A particular youtuber from Australia is my inspiration for most of my home designs.  I chose to create a home where the center is water and everything around it builds up and down from that.

3/4 Aerial

Entry-way Interior

Modeling Techniques:
There are 365 pieces in this house and most of them were created with ExtrudeCrv and Copy.
The main level is not the level is not the foundation.  That is found on the lowest level that dangles over the cliff side.  The main level is where the pool rests (red layer in colored ghosted photos).  I built the house entirely around the pool allowing stairs to move above and below the pool.  When I created this model I didn't know about the 3D/2D scale tool.  So I used all four perspectives to measure out each block repeating them many times due to the size being wrong. In the ghosted mode, everything is colored according to floor and wall, except glass and the pool.
On the curved shapes, where the drive way is, I used Polyline and changed it from line to arc in properties. Then used Cap planar holes.  I used the Polyline tool several times to create triangular blocks around the architecture.

POV Back

Materials:
Most of the modern homes look like they're just giant blocks of colored cement.  So I chose white Carrara marble due to its similar quality, then changed its roughness.  I added the glass materials to the areas where glass should be.  I didn't want people falling over the sides of the balconies, or just walking through the rooms as if they didn't have walls.  The deck around the pool has Mahogany wood material.  Also I felt that the building was too boring if it was all white, so I added some pale green Travertine stone material, a brown Granite material, and some Metallic blue dividers on the main level. I changed the roughness of the white, green, and brown stone to reduce reflectivity.
I rendered with Caustic on to simulate the water effects.

POV Front

Problems:

1. My main problem with the techniques I chose could have been less time consuming if I knew a bit more about the tools themselves.  I did a lot of trial and error, creating several odd shapes, which ended up wasting a lot of time trying to close them.  I had an idea, but the cap tool stopped working, and I had to redesign the façade.  
2. The driveway is a bit odd and that is because I couldn't figure out how to blend the roads together. If I knew how to model a cliff it would have looked a bit more ideal.  
3. Sometime when I imported the document the textures stopped working correctly.  All the textures for the materials became flat and I couldn't revert them back.  So the granite just looks like flat paint on the walls.  
4. I'm also used to building homes in a game so the whole idea of building in Rhino threw me off, and the overall multi layered layout became a bit overwhelming at times.