CANAL HOUSE [BLDG 0003] : 3D Modeling A Signature of Amsterdam

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BLOCKTOWN is a community art project powered through your comments and engagement. It’s an experimental game of city-making, a digital Madurodam. With each post, a new layer of buildings will be added to the Town. Your photographs, quotes, stories and feedback are the raw materials that drive construction for each new layer.

New Residents!

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Thank you to @roused for the second ever image submission! This building in BLOCKTOWN is based off of the charismatic and signature Amsterdam Canal Houses. Facing the canals, these whimsical facades each have their own unique style. Windows alternate between square, round, big and small. Next time you're in Amsterdam, be sure to take lots of walks and enjoy the architecture!

Here's a look at the process of assembling and modeling the Canal House, beginning with the 2D image submission and growing the 3D modeled character. Over the next few days I'll be modeling new buildings and adding them into the TOWN master plan at the beginning of each week.

Amsterdam is one of my favorite urban areas. Like Venice, it is built upon the determination of people who wouldn't accept natural limitations. As a result of building on re-claimed land, structures are modest in height. There is little wasted space. Like the Dutch people themselves, the windows are open and inviting -- it's a city with many quaint neighborhoods, and the building have their own special charm. The large windows, in addition to giving the rooms a feeling of space, also allow furniture to be delivered by hoisting it up to the windows ;-) - @roused

Take a look, below, to see the process of modeling the CANAL HOUSE. Building No. 3 of BLOCKTOWN:

How to Play

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Take a look at the announcement post, here.

Each building and landscape element of BLOCKTOWN will be derived directly from your comments. Photographs, quotes and stories will inspire their own design logic and manifest themselves as 3D characters within the Town. Beginning this week, new buildings will be added to the Town with every new post.

Coming soon...

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Later this week I'll be opening up the canvas for other 3D artists to play with. Currently, I'm completing a 3D kit of parts (building pieces) for other modelers to download / create their own building to add in! Stay tuned.

An Experiment in Building Community

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Through this project - I hope to engage in a broader dialogue with fellow Steemians about their own sense of place and placemaking. These types of game-structured conversations are a fascinating way of learning more about what a person defines as his or her “community.” It’s a way of connecting to one another through the geographies we are deeply tied to and knowledgeable of. In a world of links, likes, upvotes and IP addresses, it’s exciting to find ways of bridging the digital divide and connecting with those on the other side of the screen.

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Let's get building!

- Take a look at the announcement post, here. -

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