Final Entry #Architecture dilemma between Investment and life qualities

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Imagining Architecture as a movie or a memory flash back, we see how the human urban development has reformed from horizontal expansion to vertical expansion pattern, as a methodology to maximize profits, and make the best use of our limited resources such as Lands (reachable-view-value-location-services) instead of the early urban Utopian cities that imagined heaven far from our life city centers, where we have less pollution and more greens, the lower building levels and higher quality life values.
In fact this is how i imagine New York in 20 years ! it’s not gonna be bad ! But not as bright, life within 20 years will not change that much but humans will keep trying to overcome the existing feeling of horizontal expansion (which is a must sooner or later to avoid congestion), taller, agile, glossy towers with connections, bridges and some of that, a life that will expand more and more vertically, to respond to our higher density withing the congested-remaining city, within its services, buildings and existing infrastructures.
On the other hand humanity will keep using our old infrastructure ! Because come on nothing changed yet ! But less light, less attention to the those old streets, less clean and unfinished works everywhere, A real contrast of old vs new life forms, different technologies but still seems familiar, like seeing nowadays an electric car, seems a normal car ! But with a closer look in sounds different it has no compositions, no drag no noise ! Its electric.
With the observatory in the middle i tried to imitate the attempt of contrast a soft new modern structure than penetrates the existing gap, the gap between the towers, it’s our way as human to breath, break the habits and make an impact, it’s our way to overcome the hardships and see through the dark ! Yet its still possible to beat the dark.
Finally, this vision may not be real, it is not positive too, and yet to know its just a theory, but due to our life today am kind of skeptical about its bright future, hope am not too dark, but with such a healthy skeptical dose towards the future we may have a brighter one, and thanks for allowing us to be in such a very ingenious and amazing challenge.
Mohamed Ahmed Mahfouz,

HUYA (final entry)

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ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT

I decided to focus on developing of Western Yards. There were 4 main ideas in the architectural concept:
1. I aimed to avoid the temptation to use “futuristic” architecture as much as possible. The shift in architecture between 2040 and 2020 will be about the same as the shift between 2020 and 2000.
2. In recent years, European architects have been designing more and more often in New York. I assume that the European trend will only increase in the future, so I decided to move away from the classic New York skyscraper and use European architects with an international name as reference.
3. I used the classic New York grid in plan to fit the design into the fabric of the city
4. A very important reference was the work of Superstudio

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS

In order to better understand what New York looks like, I decided to watch the «Suits» series (and it is awesome). There were several aerials shots with cool view on Manhatten in each episode. And it inspired me to show project from different perspectives, including aerials.
From the very beginning of the project, I knew that I would make a lot of wide shots and bird-views, so I needed to quickly create an environment model. I decided to model the whole environment (even use railclone) – smacks of madness, so I decided to look for workarounds. My research led me to understand that with Blender and very basic programming, I can get a part of the model out of Google maps. Since this is a non-profit project, Google’s license doesn’t prohibit this (trust me, I watched 3 seasons of «Suits», which is almost the same as getting a bachelor’s degree in law)
All buildings of the HUYA project are modeled using railclone. This gives you a freedom to change the architecture and layout during the project and allows you to keep 3d scene light and comfortable to work with.

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«Lighthouses»

This image is inspired by one of my favourite movies «The Lighthouse» (2019)

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«Smog and flamingos»

This picture is an ode to my love for Superstudio (est. 1966–1978)
Adolfo Natalini wrote in 1971 “…if design is merely an inducement to consume, then we must reject design; if architecture is merely the codifying of bourgeois model of ownership and society, then we must reject architecture; if architecture and town planning is merely the formalization of present unjust social divisions, then we must reject town planning and its cities…until all design activities are aimed towards meeting primary needs. Until then, design must disappear. We can live without architecture…»
It seemed ironic to rethink their great and radical “anti-architecture” into something closer to reality and even commercial. It is interesting to observe how their ideas of “architecture of the monument”, “architecture of the image”, and “technomorphic architecture”, translated into reality, completely lose their radicalism and, at the same time, a significant part of their original meaning, reducing only to aesthetics.
The dense smog that is present on this and firther images is a reminder that 2040 may not be about robots and flying cars, but about environmental problems if we do not change our attitude to environmental issue.
I like this picture because it is quite simple, and at the same time it perfectly conveys the essence of the project.

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«Poster 1»

The main reference was a poster for the Fritz Lang’s movie «Metropolis» (1926), which was created by Boris Bilinsky
Each project should have a name. Especially project in NY. Word «HUYA» is composed of first letters – HUdson YArds.
Initially, I had doubts whether to post this picture as one of 3 main pictures or not. But I just like it too much.

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«Grid»

In this picture I wanted to emphasize the facade architecture with creating the illusion of an «endless» grid by reflecting the facade in the water. I’ve decided to play with scale by having «endless» grid and small but very bright person in the middle of the image.
There is still a hint of Superstudio, but the main reference was the work of David Chipperfield.

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«Red circle»

This image is inspirated by photoproject «ALTERNATIVES LANDSCAPES» (2012) by Benoit Paille.

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«The Weather Project»

Image is inspired by installation «The Weather Project» which Olafur Eliasson has created in 2003. And ofcourse I did not miss the opportunity to pay tribute to the brilliant «Blade runner 2049» (I really wanted to not do this in this project in order to avoid any references to the «futuristic» future, but I could not resist).
This image supports topic of air pollution which I started in image 2/9.

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«Drone»

Initially, I wanted to add drones in this project, because I am sure that in the 2040m delivery by drones will play an important role. However, I decided to do it less straightforward. I wanted to create a flying drone feel in this picture without showing the drone itself.
Another important element is the texture of the render itself. Render noise differs from film noise and ISO noise in photos. But it also has its own aesthetics.
For some time I have been reflecting on the fact that the texture of paints in painting and film noise in photography have long been important elements of artistic expression. While at CG we are still trying to hide the texture while we are trying to disguise our work as a «perfect photography».

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«Plastic and whales»

I did not want to create a picture of a post-apocalyptic flooded city. I wanted to give a feeling of weird dream. When real objects meet those that cannot be there.
Water plays a big role in this project (water in the park and a view of the river). In this picture I wanted to hyperbolize this connection. I wanted to show turbid water (which still does not lose its beauty) as a continuation of the previously mentioned pollution topic.
This picture is not some kind of manifesto or appeal. This is a strange dream of an ordinary resident of HUYA. After this dream, he wakes up and decides that it is time to sort plastic a little more carefully.

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«Poster 2»

This is a view from the Vessel on the opposite bank.
This is an experiment about balance between abstract emotions and concrete facts.
Formally, the picture shows Western Yard’s buildings and the view, but in reality it does not show anything. As well as it gives accurate data about the areas in this project, however, in reality, these data seem totally abstract to us.

#Final The Day After Tomorrow

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The project is based on the ideas of great people like Elon Musk and Jacque Fresco, the people I’m inspired by, and whose ideas are very close to me. And I thought it would be a good fit for this project. I didn’t want to go into utopian and do something fantastic and super futuristic, I followed the already existing ideas and concepts that will solve the problems of mankind and tried to reflect it in my images as correctly as possible.

The main ideas of this project are to reduce mankind’s dependence on hydrocarbons through alternative energy sources, space travel and the raping of other planets, the development of transport and tunnel systems, artificial intelligence and new technologies, as well as the greening of the earth and the connection of nature with the infrastructure of cities. The culmination of Jacques Fresco’s lifelong work, helped me in this regard. The collection of the very best of science and technology into a comprehensive plan for the transition to a new society based on human and environmental care. The global vision of hope for the future of humanity in an era of technological progress.

I also described the steps as how we’re going to get there:

– 2027 – 50% of transport on Earth will be electrically powered.
– 2033 – Solar energy will be the main energy resource.
– 2037 – Global Greening of the Earth
– 2040 – We will build a colony on Mars.

I’ve always meticulous about the light and atmosphere in the scene and I initially thought that everything had to be in the same style to make the paintings fit together. But after feeling the project and playing with different types of light and atmosphere, I stopped at 3 varieties of lighting for 3 main pictures:

– Foggy morning
– Sunny day
– Evening after the rain

I thought it was a good idea, because it shows the basic architecture in different types of lighting, which makes the pictures not boring and attractive, and I’ve also made two additional pictures that allow a better understanding of the idea and reveal it from the inside.

Since the scene is large, I initially thought about optimizing it and decided to divide each angle into a separate scene. But before I did that, I assembled a general “Master Scene” into which I added all the main elements of the project and when the main angles were defined I started to detail and work out each of the angles more precisely. This method allowed me to work more comfortably in each scene, and optimizes the workflow.

I hope you enjoy my idea of the project and how I was able to bring it up visually. Overall, I am satisfied with the final result!
Thank you for this opportunity!

Kind Regards,
Roman Huzar

The current future

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The pictures show a futuristic future in which the architecture is not replaced by new buildings, but is preserved in its original state. The public transports of the past are kept as relics. A future where we return to looking at the well-being of the individual and in which nature has a fundamental aspect.
The park creates a pattern where water, green areas, and materials, are melted together.

M-15

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‘They are not humans. What rights do you expect them to have?

M15 was used to hearing such words from humans, but they never failed to hurt him.
He wasn’t sure when it started, but one day he started experiencing feelings. He wasn’t supposed to feel hurt, tired, or happy, he wasn’t supposed to develop hopes and dreams. After all, he was a robot.

Ever since the pandemic hit the earth in 2020, humanity tried its best to win against the newly surfaced enemy. The tragic losses made the world realize how fragile the human body is, and that awakened their survival instinct. Millions of new inventions were mass-produced each day, tested, perfected, and put in the market.
Amongst the mass-produced products were the robots. Humans abandoned jobs that they deemed unworthy to sacrifice their life for, however, they were vital for the city. For that reason, they resorted to using robots to fill out the menial tasks that keep the city running.
For the most part, things were running smoothly, all the prevention measures were working, businesses flourished again. New York was back to its previous glory and glamour, although not as jammed. The city overcame the burdens rather quickly, it regained overnight its status as ‘city of dreams’, a place where hopes and wishes became a reality.

(01)That was the case for M15. Visiting New York was a dream of his, one that he would realize today. At 5 am, he headed to the old station and took the ‘train’ to Hudson Yards. It was a dark and long ride, the train was barely used nowadays; ever since the new station was built, other modes of transportation were slowly abandoned.

(02)At noon, M15 arrived at his destination. He was feeling anxious, here he was defying the rules. “But no one would know”, he told himself. After all, robots looked the same, and no one bothered to check their serial number unless an accident occurred. Taking a deep breath, he climbed the stairs, looking forward to starting a new life.
The first sight that greeted M15 was the Vessel, which he could see through the screens. His dream was finally coming true. Hopeful, he continued up the steps, ready for his new life.

(03)He knew what to do now, he would blend in with the cleaning robots, tasked to clean the streets. They were many of them, his presence will not be detected. He started cleaning, no one paid him any mind.

(04/05/06/07)Day in, day out, he worked. He was content but was not yet satisfied. Something was missing, After all, he was only pretending to be part of the scenery. He wasn’t free, he couldn’t express himself.

(08)One day, he was mindlessly cleaning the screens. Suddenly, looking up he found himself standing below the vessel. The structure bewitched him, pulling him to visit it.

(09/10)At last, he entered the vessel. He stood still, what he saw amazed him. Looking up he could see the sky the buildings the greeneries and the people. To him, it looked like paradise, a safe haven that shelters him from the outside world.

(11)He stopped on the third floor. There, he could see the sunset, filtered through the vessel. He sat down, laid his feet on the rail, and enjoyed the scene. Bathed in gold rays, he looked at the world in a new light, filled with hope.

Link for VR images;
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o1rrtiQoEIFnQE9DCAbpF6znnOYP4Tcs/view?usp=sharing

link for high-resolution images:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NCXHsXyQF6CFh2a08VU8wdicFIuSjha3/view?usp=sharing

Thank you
Amer Farah

the Frame

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What will New York look like in 20 years? I think it won’t change much. It is a city that everyone in the world knows, a real icon. Some people are lucky to have been there. I am among the majority and i know this city only from photos, films, music, posters … All these forms of art have created a vision of this city that is unique.
When i started working on this competition, i quickly realized that i didn’t want to focus on designing futuristic buildings. I wanted to show how i see this city, and the architecture that was supposed to appear on Hudson Yards is just an excuse.
My idea is based on the creation of one large object that would become a visual gateway to the city. A huge cube with a sphere cut out inside (or maybe a big apple) frames the surrounding space. I decided to create three completely different images. These three stories do not tell about specific people or events, but i hope they convey the spirit of this place.
My work on this project is mainly sketches and thoughts. Before i started creating a model of this place, i looked through millions of photos and videos to find a good idea for every shot. The first sketches were made on paper and as simple collages in photoshop. When i started creating 3d model i knew exactly what and how i want to show.
Modeling was limited only to the elements that will be visible. I modeled the main building, a piece of waterfront and “sheep meadow”. I put some office furniture, lamps, people on the floors with the forest pack. On the street i added several cars, traffic lights and trees.
The background is mainly photos with improved perspective and lighting, placed in 3ds max. The exception is the top view, where i had to stick each building separately. The rest is matte painting.

I hope you enjoy my work.