CITYBLOCKS: GENESIS

Charles Umemoto David Umemoto230/230

On desktop, open project in live view and click “S” to download STL file (printable / experimental)
Rotate and zoom with the mouse to explore the model

Cityblocks: Genesis

In the Cityblocks series, urban ensembles are generated with a simple click. With each iteration appears a new densely built city block. Graced with impeccable geometrical lines, devoid of any human presence, these buildings remind us of brutalist utopias like Le Corbusier’s Cité radieuse or Niemeyer’s Brasilia. But despite their clearly modernist feel, there is something hauntingly primitive about them. They could be either New Mexican adobe pueblos, Minoan palaces, or Turkish troglodyte dwellings. Both carved and sculpted, these Ghormenghasts of concrete float in a realm out of time, like in some architect’s dream.

The purpose of this creative work is to generate 3D architectural projects that could be implemented in the real world. The accelerating lives that we live, complicated by growing and unpredictable environmental crises, call for an enhanced capacity to come up quickly with new architectural solutions adapted to different contexts. From computer assisted design to 3D printing, from augmented reality to real-life housing, from sculpture to architecture, this work aims at bridging the gap between the virtual and the tangible.

Working as a visual artist, David Umemoto draws inspiration from his training as an architect. He has been using low-tech methods for a long time, refining his talent for elegant simple shapes and combinatory constructions. Now, poured concrete and home-made moulds are giving way to zero-gravity rotating models. The skills he developed while working with real objects find a new playground in the virtual realm.