April 4, 2024
Year
2024
Client
Personal Project
Category
3D // Animation // Arcviz
Project Duration
3 - 4 Weeks
The Western City Gate (1977), also known as the Genex Tower, exemplifies brutalist architecture at its most compelling—monumental, uncompromising, almost hostile in scale, yet functionally honest and structurally pure. This duality fascinated me: architecture that overwhelms while maintaining clarity of purpose. I researched the building's history, studied reference photography from multiple angles, and analyzed how light interacts with concrete surfaces throughout the day. The goal was to capture both the imposing presence and the subtle beauty of brutalist design.
Modeling required strategic simplification—both towers were built from repeating modular elements to maintain efficiency without sacrificing detail. The ground floor is unique, while upper floors repeat with variation introduced through window textures, AC units, and decals applied in Unreal Engine 5. The model was created in Blender, textured in Substance Painter for concrete weathering and material authenticity, then imported into Unreal Engine 5 where the environment came together. Realistic surroundings, dynamic natural and artificial lighting, cloth simulation for the advertising banner, and animated elements—birds, insects, fog, clouds—brought life to the monumental structure.
Modeling required strategic simplification—both towers were built from repeating modular elements to maintain efficiency without sacrificing detail. The ground floor is unique, while upper floors repeat with variation introduced through window textures, AC units, and decals applied in Unreal Engine 5. The model was created in Blender and textured in Substance Painter for concrete weathering and material authenticity. In Unreal Engine 5, the focus shifted to bringing the monumental structure to life: realistic environment design, dynamic lighting combining natural and artificial sources, cloth simulation for the advertising banner, and animated elements—birds, insects, fog, and clouds—that add atmosphere and scale.
Final animation was edited and color-graded in DaVinci Resolve, with pacing designed to let viewers absorb the scale and detail of the architecture. Music and sound design were integrated to enhance the atmospheric mood—ambient urban sounds, subtle tonal score that matches the building's imposing yet contemplative character. The piece functions as both architectural visualization and cinematic study, demonstrating how real-time rendering technology can capture the essence of brutalist architecture while adding narrative dimension through motion and sound.
