This
medieval house has never existed yet its model has a long story...
partly thanks to Sketchup.
partly thanks to Sketchup.
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| Conception J. Fredet - Modélisation O. Netter |
Initially, this model was made to test Sketchup, but in fact it has radically and deeply changed my professional practice.
Before
being one of my first 3D model, this building was developped by Pr.
Jacques FREDET who taught me at the Ecole d'Architecture de Paris
Belleville. A remarkable expert in Pre-industrial ordinary Parisian
buildings, he gathered together his in situ observations and
surveys on hundreds of similar constructions and made some examples. He also managed to produce an example of a typical house
for each major period, he described all their elements and
their make ups. These were initialy hand drawn and then done with Autocad. His plans, sections and
elevations were published in the annexes of his texts1.
As an architect
specialized in ancient buildings and urban design, I have principally worked as
project manager in particular for the construction of the Parisian tramway. I have always had a particular interest in the tools and
methods employed in the design production.
After the birth of my son, I decided to slow down and work part time. This
situation (and the economy after 2008) gave me the “opportunity”,
after all the years spent with CAD 2D (and before that, those on the
“board”), to start thinking differently, and move to 3D.
My
first 10 day training allowed me to discover the modeling proceedings
enforced by Revit 2010 and the so called B.I.M. concept...
I must emphasise that, in my opinion, testing a software means evaluating the possible transgressive practices allowed. These transgressions are necessary in the creation and conception process...
I must emphasise that, in my opinion, testing a software means evaluating the possible transgressive practices allowed. These transgressions are necessary in the creation and conception process...
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| Conception J. Fredet - Modélisation O. Netter |
Generally
in CAD softwares, tools are over-specific, with no space for
“alternative” practices. The hand is "successful" in human evolution because it allows many practices... Paradoxically, Autocad, that
was originally made for to mechanics has success in many different contexts because it is just dedicated to drawings.
A few
weeks after that B.I.M. experience I was introduced to Sketchup PRO
7 during a 5 day training with the architect Christophe Hébert, one of the French beta testers with excellent teaching methods.
I found direct solutions for my non-typical concerns such as placing a window in a distorted wall or studying a tramway platform.
I really enjoyed using the U.I. thanks to its
ergonomy and I value the open spirit that seems to have led to its development. I was therefore convinced that I had found the tool I was looking
for as a complement to hand drawing.
The
enthusiasm shared by the trainees and Christophe Hébert himself transmitting his knowledge made me realise the joy of teaching and sharing knowledge...
So I took the decision myself to train people.
So I took the decision myself to train people.
After my training with Christohe I had to test Sketchup in more depth according to my specific
requirements. In order to do that properly I
had to find something complete, something complex to model.
Moreover I had to think about something far beyond the routine of
tri-dimentional representation confined to image production.
It is here that we meet again our medieval Parisian house. Indeed the precision
and the completeness of the examples J. FREDET described in his book (it could be considered as the first architctural treaty of the
21st century) were essential criteria for a strong test.
So
I modeled the house in Sketchup with the informations from Jacques FREDET 's studies, descriptions
and original drawings elaborated for the “late Gothic type; 1520”
of the Parisian house.
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Jacques FREDET - LES MAISONS DE PARIS
Types courants de l'architecture mineure parisienne de la fin de l'époque médiévale à nos jours, avec l'anatomie de leur construction, éditions de l'encyclopédie des nuisances, Paris 2003. |
I
only had the free Sketchup 7 version, and its flexibility allowed me to
model “as text goes by”. By this I mean, following the order of construction and according to the author's category of analysis without any
conflicting process imposed by Sketchup developers and always with
great pleasure.
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|
It was a convincing test far beyond from my hopes. I used groups, components and layers to classify the building elements in order to show them according to J. Fredet's purpose in his book.
Meanwhile
I was contacted by the “Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture
de Paris Belleville” to teach CAD and DTP, Sketchup was one of the
programs in the curriculum.
My
model was completed and structured in scenes and I thought about using
it guide my courses about Sketchup. It could be used
to explain how to produce scenes as a basis for the export animations.
Out of courtesy I decided to ask J. Fredet's permission to use in public one of his examples, seeing as it was a real labour of love.
Out of courtesy I decided to ask J. Fredet's permission to use in public one of his examples, seeing as it was a real labour of love.
Upon viewing
my animation J. Fredet told me about his contribution to an upcoming
exhibition about the medieval Parisian Home in the “Archives
Nationales”. He told me about the request from the Scientific
Commission for tridimensional representation of his work. I simply had to work on a better export format and add a voice over for the
visitors in post production.
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| Poster of the exhibition at Archives Nationales |
During
the exhibition everybody recognized the didactic and educational
potential of Sketchup. A tool that is perfectly adapted for use in education for to represent object and techniques from the past that are dying out or that in fact have totally disappeared.
Objects and techniques that sometimes can be of interest for
very current and real problems.
When
I showed this animation to an archeologist I was in ask to
make an another model for the “Institut de Recherche sur
l'Architecture Antique”. It is a 3D analytic model of the existing
ruins of the Apollo’s oracle Temple in Klaros Turkey.
Temple de l'oracle d'Apollon
Mission archéologique de Klaros
CNRS-IRAA
Synthèse documentaire sous la direction de J.C. Moretti.
Modélisation Olivier Netter
In addition an architect requested me to carry out a training on Sketchup 8 Pro for him and his team after the seeing of the animation of the medieval house. After the 3x4 hours of training they produced a model that convinced their client to go ahead on a project to construct residential buildings near Paris.
This
is how this exceptional tool modified my professional practice
allowing me to extend the scope of my job always with the pleasure
of drawing, and a new one that is to share and teach this information with students,
researchers and architects as well to the non specialized public.
Indeed
it is the “3D for everyone”.
(1) Jacques FREDET - LES MAISONS DE PARIS
Types courants de l'architecture mineure parisienne
de la fin de l'époque médiévale à nos jours,
avec l'anatomie de leur construction,
éditions de l'encyclopédie des nuisances, Paris 2003.
Types courants de l'architecture mineure parisienne
de la fin de l'époque médiévale à nos jours,
avec l'anatomie de leur construction,
éditions de l'encyclopédie des nuisances, Paris 2003.
