Urban Living: only Europe?
manekiNeko
Posts: 1,395
question to those who live in the US, or even maybe East Asia: this environment https://www.daz3d.com/urban-living_KindredArts states "This is a large-scale urban environment based on low-income housing estates found in the UK and Europe."
now, is it totally unthinkable to use it halfway realistically in an US, or a Japan/China/Korea context? for me flat blocks are flat blocks. but i have zero sense of observation, even looking on goggle... might have been different if they were say, all red brick, which is very typical of the UK. but this is concrete (i think?)... a worldwide "ingredient" ~
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
224 S 200 W, Suite #250
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
It's not so much the material they're made of, but the style. Here in the US, most low income housing will be high-rise buildings. Or if it's slightly nicer, short sections of townhouses. They might work for Asia, but not for here in the US.
hmm.. and how is it about using only the tall building (guess i can hide the low ones), since there are 2 very different types of buildings, including what i would (maybe?) call a high rise?
The tall buildings can pass for The Bronx or Chicago, unless you do close-ups. The details give it away as Council blocks or non-US.
I saw the mention of the Bronx and had to chime in.
Co-Op City in the Bronx is a good example of the type of an American "housing estate." This wasn't far from where I grew up, so it came directly to mind.
This is a good example of the ground level of them. Keep in mind that this picture was taken from the best possible angle, at the best possible time of the year. The general appearance of the buildings is pretty standard though.
Again, best possible angle at the best time of the year. This image is good for giving a better view of the full buildings. Also of note is the way everything is laid out so residents don't have to travel far for most things.
A possibly interesting side note is that Co-Op City was built on the remains of a failed amusement park, Freedom Land USA. The park opened in 1960 and was closed by 1964. Construction on the development began then, making the general design very late 1960s and 1970s.
thanks for the insights for a start - i hope maybe more people will add their thoughts...
i have some cognition issue i think, i can't compare things, really. even seeing them near each other doesn't make me see the difference, i already had this problem with faces as i tried out facegen, or try to imitate a face with morphs. i mean, i can see that the high rise from the product is not the same, and those have balconies, also another color for the red ones, of course. about the green space/outside installation, i guess even in the US not all have so lush and broad environments, and maybe overpasses are built too?
but the general feeling, the main gist, i don't get it. and if i look at one design, once i look at the other, i forgot the first = comparison really hard. flat blocks, cubes of concrete, big matchboxes... all the same for me. it's weird. i also can't remember how something was once it has changed- it's like the new version overwrites the memory of the old.
i'm not retarded or anything, i speak different languages among other things (memory works...) and can handle many types of brainy games/puzzles, but this comparison thing is annoying...
EDITED TO ADD: wow... i had quite a very very different image from the bronx! like, very old, neglected, poor-ish, no plant in sight, maybe even dirty. dark, suspect, dangerous.. this looks quite friendly and "nice" to live in...
The Bronx is quite diverse. The neighbors are extremely different. I know the prevailing image from outsiders is something akin to a Mad Max movie or other dystopia, but that is a gross oversimplification. It varies considerably from area to area, just like any other metropolitan location.
Like someone else said, the buildings in the Urban Living set can pass for American style complexes, but a lot of the close details are different. The walking overpasses would be a good example. Not too many American ones have this sort of arrangement. Most of the time the public passageways are interior to the building, so that invidiual apartment doors aren't opening up to the outside air. The buildings are usually taller and almost always have balconies.
This image is a good example of what I mean... It just feels "unAmerican" as vague a statement as that is. Private outside areas are almost a requirement (balconies). Interior public areas are the norm. So interior hallways that lead to the private doors.
My assumption is that this is all driven by the climate. In the winter, you want to be able to be warm and keep your interior area warm. In the summer, you want to be able to cool down.
This is a street view of a similar building to the one KA has modelled. They are 2 level flat (called Maisonettes in the UK) These particular ones were built in the 50s Image taken from Google maps. I these particular blocks the stairs from ground level to the the upper access balcony are inside the building, at the end where there are less windows. There are 3 one bedroom flats at that end and the ground floor level is access doors and bin storage for refuse bins.
My thoughts exactly as a U.S. citizen The walking overpasses are something I never see.
okayyyyy.. thx to the new inputs, everyone. thing is, i couldn't even say which kind is more familiar here in switzerland, i'm pretty sure i've seen at least 2-3 of the types mentioned here - but again, my sense of observation on the spot is catastrophic, and then i won't remember details anyway later. or maybe it's more in the style of the european ones, and that's why it doesn't seem "odd" on the promo page, or it's what i "expect" a block building to look like...
seems in the US balconies and outside hallways are more common, while the european style is more compact.. tho the US buildings are gigantic, not so much their height but they're like stuck together...
so one solution would be to have different sets in reserve and then use them according to where i want my scene - if i give any importance to accuracy - basing my choice on what the promo says they come from (or goggle the planned scene's environment IRL).
the other solution would be to just forget about accuracy and use whatever i have in my runtime, knowing that i'm tampering with facts/using "artistic freedom" and that some elements might come as off to those who are familiar, but it might not be very important - i mean, i don't do this professionally or illustrating real life - and afaik, i've never seen elves, demons, angels or sexy friendly enticing yakuza in my whole life, nor can i vouch for their existence, but i still draw them...
EDITED TO ADD: i looked under 3D Models / Places / Structures / Cityscapes / Contemporary , and apart from quite a few postapocalyptic scenes and very asian mixed/influenced futuristic settings - both types excellent, i have a few in my runtime and more wishlisted, but maybe less suited for an actual present setting - plus the odd very stylistic european packs like london, amsterdam, whatever, and city center US buildings, there is no US or Asian equivalent to the aforementioned product in the store...
In Minneapolis there's the skyway - almost ten miles of enclosed walking. You can often get around in the city in street clothes when it's -20° outside. That would make an interesting urban model.
Could be that from a modeling perspective, creating a large section of apts and landscape is a pretty daunting prospect and not something most modelers would tackle consideing you would have to plan your modeling out very carefully beforehand to make it as efficient as possible.
I think you may be overthinking things...
If you like the model and want to use it in an image, go for it. I wouldn't worry about whether it looks "right" or "wrong" from a geographical stand point.
Just because I say that the overpasses look odd and "un-American" doesn't mean that they don't exist somewhere anyway. There is always an exception to the rule.
The Google Maps view isn't a bad idea, so I thought I would add one of mine...
This is a less stylized and "perfect" view compared to the images I provided earlier. I think the best way to describe the setting would be Utilitarian, Industrial, Built to Last. There is no fancy decorations. There is no extraneous fixtures. What was built was built to perform a function and that's all.
It can be pretty bleak and depressing, to be honest.
wow this is so awesome!! wish i could visit minneapolis just to experience that! so futuristic, those who imagined that really deserve high praise, what with the cafés and shops and ofc the view, it's genius. and yes, this would make an excellent environment! ^^
i agree.. tho since the Kaleidoscope has made his new iray debut, i think someone a bit gifted can make awesome scenes with just a few buildings ^^
true, haha.. as i said, elves and stuff ^^ - and also true that some housing schemes could have been built in a style less current than usual anywhere ~
actually, the bleak depressing functional look would be what i'm looking for. more at night than in the day anyways, the cold, urban look of deserted dark streets where stuff happens, urban mysteries, secret meetings, criminal endeavors, or just city loneliness... in my mind i didn't even think much of a scene at day time..
EDIT: in my ex town there is a hood looking just like this one - maybe not the exact details (and gooo maps doesn't go inside) but the general feel is really similar - and i live in switzerland...
I hope i didn't confuse anyone by referencing UK/Europe. It's Brutalist Architecture, you can find it all over the world really, it's just that this particular set was based on the heygate estate in London, so i thought i would localize the description a bit more. You could possibly see this in east Asia as you mentioned, or Russia, south America, Even parts of Africa. Unfortunately that's not a very snappy tagline
. I hope you enjoy it anyway, thank you for your purchase!
aaaah i'm glad you commented! ^^ so i see i won't make a blunder of epic proportions using the set in the "wrong" setting, lol!
. well, i learned a few things today ^^
omg, i can't believe they actually called this "Brutalist Architecture"! but i just goggled it... way. interesting. i wouldn't have thought they actually defined and named a style for our late 20th century concrete bunkers for low income citizens... but the name fits very well, it's brutal
Brutalism is very cold, very unpleasant, there's something very soviet about it. Come to think of it, the town of pripyat (which i'd love to model!) is very brutalist. I can see why they did it, it's easier to cast prefabs than to have more organic shapes. Still, i'd rather not live near it. Anyway, i'm sure you'll find the right setting for it
another interesting story - i had never heard about this town. shortest-lived city ever... usually when you say ghost town people think about western-type villages of the old far west.. but this, it's just.. eerie. i'm also pretty sure nobody else liked to live there, it was obvs not built to please people. and the incident didn't exactly make it more homey. but maybe in a few hundred years when radiation can be dealt with future tourists will enjoy it as an attraction park ~
...Milwaukee did a similar project connecting several buildings along Grand Ave from the old Gimbels store (now a hotel) which included one of the oldest shopping arcades in the nation, the Plankinton Arcade built in 1915 and enlarged in 1924.
and according to historicmilwaukee.org, with guided tours... a pity the US is so far away, i will never be able to afford a trip...
i tried to goggle something similar here in CH, but there's no unique word like skyway in GE/FR that comes to mind.. i've seen little ones just between 2 buildings but no bigger project ~
also while browsing buildings i noticed that apparently, red bricks constructions are not only UK - there are a lot in the US too. like the new york set that just came out.
i still remember how i got hopelessly lost at night after a party in suburb london, amidst entire dozens of rows and streets with totally similar little red brick houses (my phone also decided to battery-die on me lol), i walked for ages, prolly in circles since my sense of orientation sucks, i think i probably had drunk a bit too - there was nobody around to ask, and ofc i could neither find my way back to the party nor reach the friends i was staying at XD
...in both Milwaukee and here in Portland OR where i nowl ive there are quiea number of red brick buildings
and interesting thing if you Google "Milwaukee local brick" you will see a number of creme coloured brick buildings as well. This is because of a white clay that is unique to the area which was used for making bricks from the mid 19th to early part of last century. Due to the heavy industry in the city as well as wide use of coal for heating homes, many of these buildings turned dark grey to almost black from the soot as the bricks were highly susceptible to pollution and dirt. A special chemical and glazing process has been used to restore and preserve the original colour
This is why Milwaukee earned the nickname 'The Cream City", not because of the state's dairy industry.
A couple nice examples:
Turner Hall in downtown.
St. Lucas Lutheran Church on the south side
Here is the same church many decades ago before the restoration:
interesting... i never really paid attention to architectural details, and even less to materials. nor did i know about different types of bases you can make bricks from...
this beige-y color reminds me of the buildings/material you can see here a lot in the capital, bern, and other bigger cities. but it's not brick, it's sand stone. the color might be a bit more yellow/greenish than this seemingly warmer cream. and i think they cut blocks, it's sculpted not baken. probably.
those 2 churches are very nice buildings! it's good they keep them clean from the ambient soot thing. the first actually looks more like a kinda town hall than a chuch ^^
very similar to some here in Adelaide, we don't tend to go much higher
Sydney has plenty that look like KA's set
My sister lives on the two upper floors of a maisonette like these, on a similar estate, as did her daughter until she left for uni last year. I think it's pretty grim, but have got used to seeing all sorts when I've visited over the twenty two years or so that she's been there (thankfully I missed the drug-related stabbing outside her building a couple of months ago). Weirdly, she's adamant that she would not want to live anywhere else as she is terrified of spiders and has never seen one the entire time she's been there! Maybe it's all those stairs :)
....actually the first one was an old athletic and social meeting hall that was renovated and today serves as a venue for concerts and social functions.There is still a gymnasium in the basement.
Much of the heavy industry that Milwaukee was renowned for either shut down or moved elsewhere by the end of the 1980s just as occurred elsewhere in what is called the "Rust Belt". Natural gas also replaced coal for home heating by the end of the 1960s (the house I grew up in had a coal furnace until around 1965) so heavy soot is now a thing of the past. During winter, it wasn't unusual to see a light dusting of soot on top of the snow in some areas of the city back then. Most of it was produced by coal and a byproduct foundries used known as "coke" (not to be confused with the soft drink). There was a large coking plant just south of downtown near the lakefront, and several of the city's powerplants were coal fired, including one not far from where I lived. Coal soot is corrosive and was very damaging to the brickwork of many old buildings in the city. Sandblasting was found to actually increase deterioration ofthe weakened brickwork so the process I previously mentioned about had to be developed.
The estate in the Photo is a really nice estate, very friendly, no troubles. The somewhat surprising thing about this particular estate is that it had open fires, The dark square on the wall next to the front doors is the hatch to the coke store, and the fire place in the living room had a coke burner, lit by a gas burner. Most residents had that changed to a gas fire, obviously, by the time I moved into my upstairs maisonette. I had mine changed as soon as I moved in. That was in 1975. we lived there for about 5 years, and in a way I was sad to leave.
that's cool - and healthy too! - now the old builings can (if they haven't already been) be cleaned and the new ones won't be affected ^^. i think in cities like London or Dublin have/had a lot of those darkened buildings too (been ages since i was there, not sure how it looked), they could need inspiration like this (if they haven't already - i goggled but what comes up is rather companies cleaning soot damage from recent fires than the coal stuff). i heard/saw they use sandblasting here too, and always wondered about the damaging it could cause...