The Zen of Building....

Just wanted to get some input on how you go about building...thought this might be interesting...hearing the story of the why and how and not just seeing the building

Anyway, some of you may have seen a building or so of mine and I know some are quite critical of them...not very prim efficient....texture loaded...(well some are)...
On the other hand....I build .... I look at the land and see if it brings up an idea....try to get a feeling for the surrounding...
as soon as I have a general idea...I build....no plan....just an idea nd let it develop...
One of main things I watch for is 'view'....creating views...in larger as in smaller areas....a specific view of an area or an object...that will play with the eye....or the senses....create a feeling...
It is not a prgamatic approach...its a very 'sensual' approach...ok...that might sound wrong *grin

How do you approach builds or projects and how do you work on them?

I tend to sculpt the land more than I let the land influence what I'm building. I guess I usually have a pretty clear idea of what I'm going to build before I start (I often sketch out structures on whatever paper is at hand a time or three to try out shapes and configurations).

I have noticed though that I tend to build EVERYTHING out of the same prim. I'm beginning to call this Single Prim Building; how is that for Zen? I hate to be making something, need another piece, create a new prim, align that new prim, size and position it, link it, then make have to make another prim, align, size and position, etc. More and more I start out with a prim, size and position it, shift-drag copy that one, change the prim type if needed, and then copy that one for the next piece. I hope that description makes sense.

To put it another way, The Ivory Tower I'm building in Noyo is built like this. I named the first prim, and wrote a description on it and now when you hold your cursor over any single piece of the structure of the tower, it says "The Ivory Tower Library of Primitives" and for a description, "99 44/100% Pure--It Floats!"

I often look over books on architecture and get ideas on how to wrangle prims to do some of the things that are traditionally done in real life. I'm strongly influenced by...um...almost everything. Islamic architecture, Chinese and Japanese styles, modern buildings, etc. Our local half price book stores offer a tremendious resource for this. Not to mention the Internet.

The thing I find myself thinking about the most these days is what are the builders trying to say? What is the spiritual meaning behind such and such a structure? Very little of what humans make is done the way it is for entirely pragmatic reasons. When something is done in a certain manner you can be sure there must be an intent or a message behind it. Buildings are hard to make. Stone must be cut, laborers must build it. Arch gardens in Islamic architecture in Spain for instance...why so many arches? They can't possibly need so many arches for structural reasons, there has to be a spiritual significance behind them.

Now when we move from Firstlife building considerations to Secondlife building considerations, how much of that holds true? It fascinates me that some people build stairs, bathrooms and kitchens. Pete Fats has a wonderful home, and I loved the halls, framed pictures and spiral staircases in his build. I got lost and noted the presence of a well crafted toilet somewhere. All the virtual creature comforts.

Peter Blanc, a great friend from There.com came to visit me at the Ivory Tower last night and I felt chagrined that I hadn't built any chairs to offer him a place to sit down on, and that the tower is such a "form follows function to the nth degree" sort of place that there was no comfy spot available to talk things over in. Peter didn't care, but I was the host and wanted to make sure his needs were met. But...he had no physical needs to meet and neither did I.

What spiritual content do our buildings in SL have where there is no true need for shelter, and for the most part, we may safely thumb our noses at gravity? Beyond the mastery of the prim, and learning to deal with shape and prim capacity limitations, what meaningful structures do we produce here. Is it all an homage to real life gravity, rain and wind?

Or are we all striving for verisimilitude? Whew! I'm quiet most of the time, but when I get going, I can talk a lot of rubbish!

Lumi

I have a very similar mode of building, using the shift-drag to copy prims. My favorite building block is the cylinder. Why? Because the buildings you see every day are squares. Very few are built as cylinders or curved shapes.

I also try to create views with my structures. I try to keep them as inoffensive as possible to the surroundings. I really dislike giant empty boxes, or 8 story tall buildings that have nothing inside except a few things on the floor.

I wish more people would give thought to adding plants or gardens on their property.

It all depends on what your building. I tend to start with a basic shape ( I design weapons, so if you dont care about them, stop reading) and then, as I progress, add more and more detail to that shape (and modify that shape) until I am atleast 90% satisfied (Some things you just CANT do in SL and make it look good).

Excellent points. This thread has really got me going and I'm happy to have this place to hash out some ideas. This will help me organize the Ivory Tower self-guided building tutorials I'm making for one. For another, few things interest me more than art and creating. This is why this game currently has me so hooked.

I think when you come down to it, with VERY few exceptions, everything mankind makes is a container. And most of those containers are boxes. Houses, buildings, books, clothes, computers...nearly everything. Tools, musical instruments and knicknacks are the main exceptions to this theory, and even knicknacks contain, like books, ideas and memories. I guess the Mona Lisa and Michaelangelo's David occupy the realm of the knicknack in this view.

I like what you say about boxes and trying to use cylinders to get outside of the box. I realize that the cube is the most space efficient form, but cubes are cubes!

This last week I've been working with the prism, more properly called the tetrahedron. It's a difficult shape to work with, and its application is limited, but it yields some fantastic, ornamental forms. Maybe once I get more proficient at aligning it, I'll be better able to sing its praises. It's just hard to rhyme very much with tetrahedron!

Lumi

I build very...traditionally most of the time...exception in Stinson...though I like mixing....forms....and materials....it gives the objects life

I tend to build from an initial idea, and let that idea evolve as I work with it. Sometimes I end up with something that gathers dust in my inventory, but most of the time I'm pleased with the way they work out, and evolve. Now and then I even build a structure that sticks to the original plan!

I'm inspired by RL architecture, nature... pretty much anything i see that has an interesting form. Inspiration is everywhere.

I dont like corners. There's too many square strutures in SL (some of which are beautiful, mind). I love working with curves... it can be a real challenge and very rewarding.

I hear what you say about comfy spots and seating, lumiere. I think thats an important aspect of the buildings I make (most anyway - some, like the avalon apartments are unfurnished). I want people to feel comfortable, and alot of people I know like to sit and chat, rather than stand. Make it comfy and interesting and they will come!

Another aspect of (most) of my designs, is 'swoopiness'(tm) - a phrase coined by my good friend Malachi Petunia. Basically, a structure should be easy to get into & out of and navigate around, have plenty of camera room, and yet retain its architectural ideal. My buildings in SL may contain stairs for walking between floors, but people like to fly... and that is always a prime aspect of my builds. Make them swoopy, guys!

I rez a load of randomly shaped prims up at 700m, turn them physical and see where they fall. Usually turns out alright.

ha ha!

KM
xxxxx
Mars Japanese Gardens, Albion (99,131)

<imagines Kris crashing a sim by attempting to build a hollow-cut-tori house with this method>

Pah! Don't forget the twist and advance cuts. And it was only a torus after it had variously been manipulated as a sphere and cylinder.


Um.. so as not to have completely hijacked this thread, I'll try and be sensible for a moment.

Most of my builds are inspired by either RL or fantasy equivalents. I work well from photographs or even models I've mocked up outside of SL. I think I know what can and can't be done with a prim pretty well, so from that point on its simply a case of 'seeing' the prim shapes in the picture you're working from. I hardly ever work with math... I prefer the 'hand made' look. Everything is done by eye.

Where possible, I try not to alter the land in any way. After all, part of the challenge, for me, is to work with what I have. Often it's the land I have to work with that inspires the build.

My buildings have definitely gone all curvy on me, but on a scale larger than that of a single cylinder prim. My old apartment tower in Olive was an example, but my new building in the City, Miramare (45,225) neighborhood, takes it further. I welcome comments and criticisms on the design.

This one will be a furnished extended stay hotel / apartments that will be free for the landless, and a small weekly charge for those with land.

Whew! Excellent work, Tiger! The only thing of yours I've seen so far is the Time Plunge, it's very nice to see another aspect of what you do.

The second (or third?) module of the Ivory Tower I'm buidling will be all of spheres, and I'm looking for ways to use them. I'll be by to check out your build!

Lumi

My builds so far have been trying to emulate reality as best as possible. I guess that's why I like Az's builds so much - his devotion to realism. I wonder what that says about me as opposed to those who create more fantastic structures, which I also love.

I guess my very favourite build that I've seen so far is the Kazenojin complex in Gray, which is delightfully fantastic but has a whiff of reality about it. A close second is the wonderful wooden dirigible in the sky off Seacliff. Wow!

I think most of all, I build places that I feel I would like to spend time, hence my first completed build is a Japanese Garden which reminds me of my childhood. From that perspective verisimilitude was very important to me... to capture a sense of place... to use SL to let me preserve a nostalgia of something that may no longer necessarily exist?

I dunno. I like building things though. I do know that!

KM
xxxxx
Mars Japanese Gardens, Albion (99,131)

I'm a total work-with-the-land builder also. The first structure I made was my lookout in Rodeo above the bay. Prims were scarce and the space was very vertical. Also, I am a sucker for things that look old. So that's what I tend to gravitate towards when I build. I like making it look like there might be a history behind the build.

Some of the time I work with scale models of things I am thinking of doing so I can develop them in private and not reveal in public something until it is just the way I want it. For some reason I really like working at my little work bench in the Rodeo lookout. Other times I rough stuff out at full scale to get an idea of the space it will occupy when it's finished (like the brownstones I'm doing in Grignano). Again a build that I hope will look like there is some history behind it.

As much as I love sci-fi I haven't ventured into builds with a futuristic nature yet. Perhaps down the road.

I appreciate the comments about making builds with "swoopiness." Participating in Lordfly Diggeridoo's recent contest to build a Second Life friendly house made me really consider what is important for SL structures. The house I entered is currently high above the forest in Rodeo. Right about dead center in the sim. Plenty of places to park a car, helicopter, fly or walk in. Lots of blank walls for hanging art. Big open spaces inside so the camera doesn't freak too much while walking around.

Now to make sure those brownstones don't just remain empty gray boxes, i better get a move on!

Salazar

And the Zen Garden, which is curiously appropriate given Az's original thread title.

KM
xxxxx
Mars Japanese Gardens, Albion (99,131)

hiya all,

Well most have seen my builds, I guess I would have to say I have no rhyme or reason to what I build. I build what is in my mind to create at the time. Hense the reason most of my builds don't last very long. I build it, leave it up for a bit so people can come and see it, then realize I want to build something else and opps I have filled all my available land so down it comes so I can make something totally differnet. My current build and enchanted castle in Gerstle is one I hope to have around a long time.

It has helped me that my building style is beginning to get people to want me to build for them. Maybe it will save the castle this time. Who knows, I just love to build so you never know what you might see me working on next.

Funny, I have found my best work by MISTAKE mostly. I don't think I have ever built what I intended when I began. That original formative idea gets me to begin the "skeleton"... but a slip of the mouse and I find myself saying "hhheeeyyy... that looks cool"... and running with it!

Thats the way the attached building happened! I was working on a simple "sky platform", and in duping the rounded-square floor, I offset it and said... "hhheeeyyy a slanted building would be cool"... and went with it.

But that's me, Short Attention Span Theatre.

Thanks for thinking of me Az I am quite honored!

I have seen several of your builds and for the most part I will have to give you a great deal of credit, for your creativity, and detailed builds... however your last few builds seem to have been built by a demented individual... I am sorry for feeling that way and you can bash me, hate me all you want, my opinion will not change.

When I approach a new build I start by getting inspiration from any number of sources then I sketch until I have the design to a satisfactory point. I plan it out to be as prim-efficient as possible, to prevent overlapping flashing prims, to choose a limited texture set and plan alignment. Then I build, being careful to set the material of each prim appropriately to its place in the build (yeah, obsessive). When I'm done I link, take a copy for archiving, and move on. I always plan my builds so they are linkable in logical, easily aligned modules.

There it is. Not very zen after all but I like to think it's effective.

actually its a very good way of building Julian....sometimes wish I could work as disciplined

ON theme of Zen of Building, i build, as some will know, japanese inspired houses, aritfacts and landcsapes, especially gardens and water features, My home SIm Tehama bears much sign of how I work, and is one of the rare Sims not privately owned where a lot of integrated surround landscape all fits together, in natural style across much of a SIM. I am also an SL Sim Park and support natural landscaping but also bring a little of the Sl ' magic' this world allows.

My main thought when making is to see that objects look ' real', which means detail, either in texture or in prim numbers to make parts. My parasols as example have struts, clips, handles, my lamps and objects are textured inside and out, shaded, balanced for where light may or may not be on them. I work many times from real objects either at home or in pictures, and use my own digi fotos of real objects, fabrics, surfaces, land, plants and rocks as my textures.

To make lands and gardens i work the japanese way. One of the first things that occur to western eyes viewing a Japanese garden is the “emptiness” of portions of the garden, often what u leave out is as good as what is put in. This space, or 'ma', defines all round it, and is also defined by all surrounding it. I build gardens to suit the land in the SIM and use land forming as a tool to help. The result must look to me real and rewarding, not some plants stuck on a bit of earth. I see forms and shapes in land making as part of the ' being there ' immersion' , it must feel like ur really there, with sight, sound, distances, space, .

I get into every angle when i make landscapes. No two plants in my lands are same size, shade, angle, height, or no two rocks the same shape, texture, shade or rotation or pattern rotate. Lately Ive used my new skills in making ' faux land' changing land by using prims not terraform, with result in some cases so blended that no one yet spots this has been done. ( Tehama is full of secret places now..)

I am never sure how much this level of detail is liked or wanted or used by anyone else. I often plan my lands with many walk routes, places to sit, I'd like to think people treat them as real places to come back to. With objects, I guess I judge by how well things sell and how people react to my mesages on their purchases.

Some house ideas I have literal dreamed up and are my new ' fantasy home' builds for others, natural ideas taken to fantasy level, the beautiful Ice Palace made in Tehama and the Mountain Garden home made in Marunogere, these I have made by just having a vision of these houses in my head. I have a few more ' visions' if anyone wants a custom unique build home.

I think I like to create beautiful things, and one day will tackle entire Sims, I have tried where I live to create beautiful public use land, with places to sit, view, immerse, experience and live, for anyone to drop into. Thats why I support Higbee and his wonderful parks. I would like to add more landscapes which actually fit together, sometimes in SL one can fly so far over bare land then all of a sudden its multi color platforms and prim shell unfinished things left to rot... then back to unused bare land. I do admire those who make their creations fit well with land, and dont just forget about the lands around houses and creations also...

The lindens themslves are becoming much better at new landscapes, with roads, underwater areas and much more detailed creations now as standard in new Sims, admirable. If only they culd get some sense in to parcel shapes now!

I like unusual textures, blends, and not just to drop the predictable linden tree/bush and rock and call it garden.. I do like the great tree makers we now have in SL. I cannot make clothes but admire those who do it well with unique styles.

i try also stick to things i know very well like japan, chinese, eastern themes, and natural japanese gardening and all its techniques. The challenge to make things in SL is something that I find always keeps me total interested. For me its a very Zen things yea, i use many ideas to make what I make.

My way of building goes something like this:
-Create random prim
-Make it large enough to be of some use
-Sit and think for a bit
-Add more slightly less random prims until the building is complete.

Its worked for me so far