Minecraft
Minecraft is a popular fantasy 3-D game that many people have played at least once.
While it has a standard play-fight-win game strategy, there is also a mode for pure creative construction, from world sculpting to city planning. In Minecraft, everything exists one 'block' at a time, as the game is fully laid out in a three dimensional grid. This system creates a unique, thought provoking atmosphere for the creative process as the builder has to always think in exact ratios with little to no room for error without having to completely rebuild everything from scratch- much like hand drafting.
I've played this game for several years, starting with simple rock castles that I would build on the highest mountain I could find. I soon became bored with the same old plain faces and square block houses, so I tuned to youtube tutorials and quickly learned a simple yet effect building style that mimicked a historical German architecture. Soon enough, I became frustrated again with my limited ability, so I sat and studied again, experimenting with new processes to make my building look even more realistic and accurate. It has been in the last two years or so that I feel my Minecraft buildings are worthy of adding to my portfolio.
While it has a standard play-fight-win game strategy, there is also a mode for pure creative construction, from world sculpting to city planning. In Minecraft, everything exists one 'block' at a time, as the game is fully laid out in a three dimensional grid. This system creates a unique, thought provoking atmosphere for the creative process as the builder has to always think in exact ratios with little to no room for error without having to completely rebuild everything from scratch- much like hand drafting.
I've played this game for several years, starting with simple rock castles that I would build on the highest mountain I could find. I soon became bored with the same old plain faces and square block houses, so I tuned to youtube tutorials and quickly learned a simple yet effect building style that mimicked a historical German architecture. Soon enough, I became frustrated again with my limited ability, so I sat and studied again, experimenting with new processes to make my building look even more realistic and accurate. It has been in the last two years or so that I feel my Minecraft buildings are worthy of adding to my portfolio.
An example of my process
The following four images are of a Nordic style longhall. All of my buildings are reflective of "Dragestil" which is an example of Scandinavian Romantic Nationalism.
(For actual reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragestil )
My buildings are generally completely original now, rarely taking reference from existing buildings. The pictures below show my thought process. The first picture is an existing building that I did not create. It was damaged on an online server and I was tasked with rebuilding the area. The first thing I did was lay out a general floor foundation, and began working on the walls one level at a time. Due to the nature of the game, everything has an 'odd' ratio (values of 3, 5, 7, etc) so both sides of a building can be symmetrical and windows can properly fit. After the skeleton was built, the windows and walls came, ending with additional details and groundswork.
Many of the following images will have a similar story to them, as my latest building all took place on an online game server where I had to almost entirely rebuild an existing town from the ground up, one structure at a time.
Unfortunately, the online server that I spent nearly six months working on ultimately banned me, permanently, after being falsely accused of cheating. I was able to obtain a copy of my work for my own sake, but it was devastating to have so much work stolen from me. The originals now rot on the server as people damage and rework them however they want, without me to provide maintenance. I appealed multiple times stating that I wouldn't risk so much work over menial hacks and cheats, but they would have none of it. At least I have the copies.
(For actual reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragestil )
My buildings are generally completely original now, rarely taking reference from existing buildings. The pictures below show my thought process. The first picture is an existing building that I did not create. It was damaged on an online server and I was tasked with rebuilding the area. The first thing I did was lay out a general floor foundation, and began working on the walls one level at a time. Due to the nature of the game, everything has an 'odd' ratio (values of 3, 5, 7, etc) so both sides of a building can be symmetrical and windows can properly fit. After the skeleton was built, the windows and walls came, ending with additional details and groundswork.
Many of the following images will have a similar story to them, as my latest building all took place on an online game server where I had to almost entirely rebuild an existing town from the ground up, one structure at a time.
Unfortunately, the online server that I spent nearly six months working on ultimately banned me, permanently, after being falsely accused of cheating. I was able to obtain a copy of my work for my own sake, but it was devastating to have so much work stolen from me. The originals now rot on the server as people damage and rework them however they want, without me to provide maintenance. I appealed multiple times stating that I wouldn't risk so much work over menial hacks and cheats, but they would have none of it. At least I have the copies.
Here is a large windmill I designed by combining and modifying two older designs I had. Near the base of the second picture also shows some more of my experimentation where I was testing some non-symmetrical wall lengths.
The first picture below shows one of my favorite buildings in this town. It is simple and not very large, but space effective, detailed, and overall looks nice with how it fits into its surroundings. The town was situated in a narrow valley, and so it had a lot of sloping land. To overcome this, built many, many terraces to allow for more flat space that formed well into the landscape without looking overly teraformed.
The Cathedral
Near the end of 2015, I was enrolled in an Art History course at Ste Clare County Community College. Through this class, we saw dozens of different beautiful cathedrals which I had taken the time to really look at prior to this class. The Romanesque, Baroque, and Gothic periods impacted me the most though, adding to my mental creative reference bank. For nearly a year leading up to the actual design, I had been planning on building a cathedral in my personal city, but I could never come up with a design that I considered good enough until taking the class.
It was less than two weeks after learning about cathedrals that I finally began construction on my very own.
Drawing on elements of a Romanesque Basilica and towers, I combined Gothic elements such as spires and flying buttresses into my existing Dargestil repertoire to finally come out with this:
It was less than two weeks after learning about cathedrals that I finally began construction on my very own.
Drawing on elements of a Romanesque Basilica and towers, I combined Gothic elements such as spires and flying buttresses into my existing Dargestil repertoire to finally come out with this:
Ultimately, the cathedral remains unfinished. I still plan to add a final, massive tower at the end of the structure, rising up at approximately 30% higher than the current roof line.
As with Gaudi's cathedral in Spain, it will be finished. Eventually..
As with Gaudi's cathedral in Spain, it will be finished. Eventually..
The mansion
The following building has no real inspiration or historical references, but I felt that my city needed a seat of monarchy. I can build villages and towers and walls and districts all day, but it become monotonous. I wanted an break from the norm that could be viewed not quite as a king's palace, but to the same effect, toned down.
I started with a smooth area of land, and fortified it. Then I spruced up the grounds, adding a pond, trees, and pathways leading up to the manor. Again, I laid out the general foundation and wall joists, building up and up until I ran out of walls to build on top of. I wanted this building to complex and chaotic, yet elegant, like it had started as one thing, but through decades of expansion, grew continually.
I started with a smooth area of land, and fortified it. Then I spruced up the grounds, adding a pond, trees, and pathways leading up to the manor. Again, I laid out the general foundation and wall joists, building up and up until I ran out of walls to build on top of. I wanted this building to complex and chaotic, yet elegant, like it had started as one thing, but through decades of expansion, grew continually.