Broken Links...

    There are some posts dating back that have broken picture links and even broken website links that I noticed.  A lot of these include my older Today's ArchiPic posts that have pictures from Architectural Digest.  For some reason, Architectural Digest has moved the links, and now they are broken on my site.  I have a solution though that will fix this in the future.  (I just have to upload them differently to fix the problem.)  But I will either have to totally take out the posts with the corrupt pictures or leave a notice where the pictures were saying the links were broken.  Sorry for the inconvienence.  I'll make sure that this never happens again.



Skyrim Architecture | Windhelm

Welcome to the next installment of my Skyrim Architecture series, where I scout the Skyrim world in search of the most beautiful structures and landmarks Bethesda's award-winning franchise has to offer.

    This beautiful city is on the northeast corner of Skyrim and sits along the White River that flows into the sea.  In this area of Skyrim, it is very cold and you often see the port's waters frozen solid with ice.  There is a massive ice and snow-covered bridge that goes over the river that greets the stone walls of the city. 



    As you can see in this picture, Windhelm sits in between two large mountain ranges and its architecture has a "fortress" like look to it.  The Palace of the Kings, one of the oldest structures in the city and the home of the Jarl or "king", is on top of a hill that overlooks the city.  And you can easily see it as a striking figure in the picture above.

    Basically, the city is divided up into three "quarters" or districts as I would call them.  This is the Stone Quarter.  It is the first district you see when you enter through the city's gates.

     One of the most iconic buildings in Windhelm is the Candlehearth Hall. It is a very famous and ancient inn where visitors to the city often stay.

    The Gray Quarter, or Snow Quarter as it was once called, is mostly made up of residential buildings.  Although there are mostly homes in this area of the city, there are also some really neat shops.

    The last of the three Quarters is Valunstrad.  It is home to the cities largest and most majestic houses.  Most people that live here are very wealthy and have a high ranking in the city.  (Some of these homes remind me of structures from RCT3 that were part of the "spooky" theme.  They are very spooky.)

    The last, but certainly not least, is the Palace of the Kings.  It is the most iconic figure in the city and towers over everything beside it.  Basically, it is divided into four sections that join with the main hall.  As you walk into the massive bronze doors, you are greeted with a long dining table in the center of the hall.  The Jarl's throne sits in the back of the main hall, with rooms that go out from the sides.  In the Palace of the Kings, there are all kinds of rooms, including dungeons, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, and a labyrinth-type basement.

References:

>> The Elder Scrolls Wiki | Windhelm

>> Previous Skyrim Architecture Post

Minecraft Architecture Update

    We should be getting back to the Minecraft Architecture soon.  We haven't done anything with the city since the last update on the bridge.  The past week we have been playing on a new survival world on the server, so things are not going to speed up for awhile.  What I'm trying to say is that my normal, weekly Minecraft Architecture posts won't be resuming anytime soon.  But when they do, I'm positive we will get back to the town of Sidka and finish what we started.

References:
>> Previous Minecraft Architecture Post

Today's ArchiPic #108

L'Opera Restaurant; all photos from Architectural Record by Roland Halbe

    Today's ArchiPic is the L'Opera Restaurant in Paris, France.  This building is not new by any means.  It was first built in 1875, but its old features didn't deter the architect from renovating the inside space and turning it into a beautiful, modern, and Opera-filled restaurant.  Renovated by Odile Decq Benoit Cornette Architects, the inside has, obviously, a defined contrast from the exterior.  "Because of the building's heritage, Decq could not touch its stone surfaces or block the view of the ornate pendant suspended from the domed ceiling. And to enable the space to revert to its original state, every new element had to be removable at the end of the restaurant's limited term," says Architectural Record.

>> Read the full story here.

Today's ArchiPic #107

The Atrium from ArchDaily by Sama J. Canzian

    Today's ArchiPic is the Atrium in Victoria, Canada.  Designed by D' Ambrosio Architecture + Urbanism, it is a massive office/multi-purpose building that integrates the green environment with a robust architectural design.  On the ground level, the building hosts cafes and restaurants.  The outer edge on the ground level is "transparent", allowing people to easily look in and see what's going on.  Used as an office building on the higher floors, the Atrium's design has large, spacious areas to work with offices in the most interesting places.  There are also many mosaic and sculpture designs in the public area, providing an even better experience. 

>> Read the whole story here.

Today's ArchiPic #106

Bubble Hotel from inhabitat.com by Attrap'Reves

    Today's ArchiPic is the Bubble Hotel in near Marseille, France.  Built by Bubbletree's, these transparent spheres are made out of (what looks like) plastic.  Attrap'Reves Hotel is not a regular hotel.  It's a bubble hotel that immerses the guest outdoors without really putting them "outdoors".  Designed by Pierre Stephane, he wanted to create an "exciting camping adventure" that included the campers with nature and doesn't have a bad affect on the environment.  At 109 Euros per night, the rooms are not cheap.  But if you are a kind of person that loves the outdoors but cannot stand camping outside in the open, this is for you.  You are totally surrounded by nature without actually being there. 

>> Read more about the Bubble Hotel at inhabitat.com

Minecraft | FyreUK's Fallen Kingdom

    FyreUK has been at it again and created another piece of spectacular architecture!  Their most recent work is called the Fallen Kingdom.  It was a set made for a Minecraft parody music video by CaptainSparklez.  This "fallen kingdom" is set inside a massive valley with tall mountains surrounding it.  The Medieval style build had a castle in the middle where the king lives and commercial and residential districts around it. 

    After they were done, they even destroyed parts of the city to make it looked "ruined" for the music video called "Fallen Kingdom".  FyreUK said, "We were asked to build a kingdom within a small area surrounded by sheer mountain walls, the result is a town built around a castle that towers over the world. We tried to condense the usual FyreUK aesthetic and epic scale build into a smaller area...You even get a glimpse at the destroyed version of the build that we 'wrecked' for the music video too."
 

Here is the timelapse video of the Fallen Kingdom build:

Here is the music video by Captain Sparklez that shows even a closer look at the structures inside the city wall:

References:

>> FyreUK YouTube Channel

>> Captain Sparklez



Today's ArchiPic #105

Mirror House from Architectural Record by Laura Stamer

    Today's ArchiPic is the Mirror House in Copenhagen.  It sits in the city's central park and is obviously very reflective.  Architects Mads Lund and Robert Paulsen of MLRP designed the "house."  This, very reflective, structure used to be an old shed covered with graffiti.  It is now used as the park's restrooms and storage, which is a lot better than an old shed.

>> Read More about the Mirror House at Architectural Record 

SOPA NOT in Your Eyes?

Visit this post first if you haven't heard of the bills SOPA and PIPA:
Info on SOPA - The Art of Architecture

As of January 19, the Congress bills SOPA and PIPA are not finished.  They still have somewhat of an edge with lots of friends in Washington.  Here are some sites I found that throughouly explain what the status of the SOPA and PIPA bills are.

>> http://blogs.computerworld.com/19594/sopa_pipa_down_but_not_out_yet
>> http://mashable.com/2012/01/17/sopa-pipa/
>> http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/government/232500050

Minecraft | FyreUK Adventure Map

    Recently, the FyreUK members started making a new adventure map on their server for Hat Films to play on.  Over the past few weeks, they have worked on the spawn and the first massive city.  The first city they made is called Red Rock City.  Basically, the whole area is made up of red rock.  (obviously)  The scenery and shape of the landscape are based off of Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia and Petra, Jordan.

Here is the timelapse of Red Rock City:

Here is the second video that includes the timelapse of the spawn and road out into a cave:

 

    As always, there work is an amazing piece of architecture.  Everything is intricate and massive.  Go check them out at their YouTube channel here.

References:

>> FyreUK

>> Hat Films