Came across the site of Alex Roman for his short film “The Third & Seventh.” He describes the project as:

“Architecture through the cinematographic lens. The visual fusion between the third and the seventh arts.”

The entire film including the above image is a fully 3D animated work. He has modeled already built architecture and filmed it through computer renderings. I find it interesting the exploration of the real through the virtual. He could have made the film with real cameras inside the real buildings, but consciously chose to virtualize the architecture and virtualize the camera. It brings to mind Baudrillard’s “Simulacra and Simulation”.

After so many hours producing CG images myself, it is obvious that it is done in CG, but at a level that I couldn’t imagine the time and effort it took to accomplish. The attention to detail is astounding in places like the textures of the camera sequence.  What is even more impressive is his ability to create a mood in the image that makes it compelling.  That is even more rare in today’s realm of architectural CG. My only gripe is the over-use of certain effects like the “shake.” If it is bothersome in a 2 minute clip, I would hate to imagine what it would be like for the whole thing. It is a minor criticism though.

I look forward to seeing it when it is complete.

http://www.thirdseventh.com/

A nice gallery or images of Peter Zumthor’s work. I am particularly fond of the protective housing for the Roman ruin in Chur. It reminds me of the cribbing used in old grain silos on the Palouse.

Peter Zumthor – a set on Flickr.