Creative Direction, Design & Animation
Creative Direction, Design & Animation
The Chicago skyline has a very special place in my heart. I lived there for five years and will never cease to be amazed by the towering structures of commerce and activity.
When I was tasked with modeling a procedural building in Houdini, I wanted to pull one of the greats from the windy city. The modernist Mies Vand Der Rohe in the IBM Plaza felt a bit too straightforward to recreate in 3D, same with the Sears a.k.a. Willis tower and the Aon Center. The Trump Tower is a new and frankly gorgeous addition to the skyline, but I’d rather not have that name associated with my body of work.
Cut to Marina City a building by Bertrand Goldberg. He imagined that a person could live their whole life inside these connected, mixed-use residential towers. Having spent a handful of winters in Chicago, I can understand why he thought that might be a good thing. Aside from the practical concerns, Marina City looks like a building straight out of The Jetsons, and it looks even more space-age when the matching towers light up at night.
Each pie-shaped apartment has its own curving balcony. They are often called the Corn Cob Towers for obvious reasons, which makes me extra happy as I was born and raised in the Cornhusker State.