"Do You Know of Pålsundsparken?" is Sanning Arkitekter's entry to Architects Sweden's (Swedish union organization for architects) and Oyster's (a landscape architecture sub-committee of theirs) student contest Inside Out – the purpose of the contest was to strengthen the identity of any location perceivably lacking of it, and to do so with a focus on the theme of nostalgia. We identified a neglected urban park in the south-west of central Stockholm, and found traces of an old playground from the '50s, with only a single sculpture remaining. Our aim was to rebuild the lost playground, not as it was, but as it clearly isn't.
Below follows a series of images depicting the contest process, and furthest down is the final representation of the entry. All contest entries are found via this link (in Swedish).
Every project begins with a concept. The cornerstone is placed with the drawing of a playful sketch.
The concept is interpreted in 3D space as a mesh.
When we are satisfied with the silhouette and general topology, we move on to texturing the mesh. In an initial session, we texture with base materials, to make sure that the materiality of the concept is not lost through cutting corners.
Then we paint the surface finish...
...and add wear and tear, grunge and the like, to show visible signs of use, namely footsteps fram children's shoes and grains of sand they bring along.
The main attraction of the playground is the fly amanita towers, but we additionally endow the playground with more props to play with.
We revisit the location at an appropriate time and capture a photograph which will serve as the background for the visualization.
By using an HDRI with captured lighting conditions corresponding well with the captured background, the compositing of the render onto the background becomes a pleasing task. For this image, HDRI – Neglected Urban Park (Summer; Evening Twilight) has been used, conveniently produced in conjuction with the contest for this specific purpose.
The final representation of the contest entry, which was handed over to the jury.
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