House Designs

Software / Tools / Machines

• Autodesk AutoCAD

• Blender

• Autodesk Hometstyler

The Process

The assignment is to create two distinct house designs. For each of the constructions, floor plans, elevation drawings, and a 3D rendering of the designs would need to be made. The output files will be made utilizing CAD tools and procedures. Each of these designs has a distinct problem and set of requirements.  I made the decision to go with the Eco Friendly House choice and the Tiny House option. I also gave the alternative of a high density urban dwelling for my smaller design some thought, but immediately abandoned it because I felt the tiny home would challenge me more. The Estate Style Traditional Home also reminded me of earlier ideas I had created, and I wanted to attempt something different with house design. Moreover, I tasked myself with the large scale task to create 3D animation of the entire home and its interior.

I decided on working on both homes at the same time, alternating at every section of my design process. I Firstly started on making the 2D CAD floor plans that would inspire my 3D design. This was a big challenging with the smaller square footage of the tiny home but I eventually had a design I was happy for both homes. Next, I pursued the design of the front elevations. I believed that the front would be plenty and I would likely change the side elevation design as I embarked in the 3D conceptualization anyway.

Logically, I moved on to the 3D design of my CAD drawings. I realized I would not have the capacity to composite, texture, and render from scratch with my abilities or computing power, that is where I sought for specialized solutions. I ended up choosing Homestyler as the software that would allow me to import custom models I would design in blender, use existing models, use existing textures, and render reasonable graphics with reasonable time and photorealism. After a lot of trial and error, and doing various render and design attempts, I created final products I was satisfied with for the time I spent.

Enjoyment

This task was a colossal undertaking for me in comparison to previous works. Designing the floor plans of both homes, then making its furnished version in 3D, and lastly animating them in a photorealistic manner, meant this would be a really complex job. However, this is equally what drew me to the project. Since I was able to see what a professional architecture proposal look like thanks to a provided sample by Versant at my school, it was interesting to see how my final product could very easily be translated in a real proposal that is up to an industry-standard design, and much more, and industry standard photorealistic render. Being able to see a real-world application beyond my interest and passion for a project was captivating for the possibilities my designs could have not only as a career, but future business endeavours.

Lessons learned 

The biggest notion I learned throughout the design of this complex project was how important the amount of planning and coordination projects on a larger scale need. Even though I did a lot of planning and thinking-ahead, I felt later on, in the 3D modelling process, that I would have had a better final product faster if I did even more planning. Having a strong plan and foundation of what and how something will be designed is pivotal for its realization and success. Before, for smaller projects, I could get away with improvising a few parts of my final design. This time, however, following a rudimentary design process was what allowed me to maintain consistency of the project tin the end. Furthermore, I saw how teamwork in bigger projects like this is near necessary and how planning places yet another role into that. The time management involved for bigger projects are only possible thanks to design processes, which I was able to fully learn and understand thanks to this major project of mine.

What I would change if I started over 

If I started over, I would most definitely try a different type of home. I would like to design and apartment of high density home because it would be a very new and distinct house design that I never attempted. With my newfound knowledge with House modelling and rendering, I would now have the courage to attempt more complex house design choices. I would equally invest more in my animation. I believe this would yield much better results because I would learn from many of the mistakes I did and I think I would have to redesign and re-render much less than I did on this project. Particularly, I would work on having a two-storey home with a balcony and more complex roof with more gables. Moreover, I would likely have a much better final render of the homes with the current knowledge I now have.