Why a 3d Model?

Blueprints are certainly a functional and useful way of viewing a building that hasn’t been built yet, but they ultimately fail to show a larger picture of what the space would have been like to experience. By turning these blueprints into a model, we can grant a view into what the space could have been, without requiring people who read the blueprints to piece it together themselves. Plus, the outlines for this potential library were incredibly detailed, and lent themselves to this style of visualization.

How was is made?

To start, I took each layer of the blueprints, and imported them into Blender – a free and open source tool for modelling, drawing, and simulating, focused on the art aspect. I layered and scaled each level of the blueprint on top of one another, and then scaled them vertically according to another image we had – an angled drawing of what the completed building could have looked like.

Next, I took each of those blueprint levels, and drew out the walls to match the general shape. Because the blueprints didn’t cover the highest levels of the building, I made some guesswork using the sketch to design the dome and pillars.

From there, I stacked each of these layers, and then added the perfunctory details such as window panes, crossbars, and the floors between each of these layers, as well as the basement level and additional trims not shown.

From here, I textured the model using the buildings around campus as a reference, making the grey brick, copper trim, and metal in blender’s shader graph tool, while using an image as the shingles. Additionally, I faked a refractive window effect using blender’s glass shader, using a musgrave distortion to add stylish reflections.

What’s the end result?