Whether as a piece of public art (communicating the importance of renewable energy) or as a functional device, the wind turbine is, I think, a strangely appealing and attractive object due to its sleek design and mesmerising whirring. Though they are often a subject of controversy, I think that by modelling one and showing it represented in a real-life environment through Google Earth, I can communicate its strong visual impact in relation to its surroundings. The scale is striking, but its form in contrast to the vast, organic surroundings can show how nature has such an impact on civilisation and (to a sometimes devastating extent) vice-versa. I hope that by placing this structure in these surroundings, I can communicate humanity and nature coexisting. We are after all using nature (here in the form of wind) to power our homes and cities.
The location I’ve chosen is near John O'Groats, significant because it is the northernmost place in mainland Britain; I feel this is a fitting place to situate a turbine as a sculpture/monument because it is a popular travelling destination with beautiful surroundings, and the area I've chosen isn't hugely residential... and of course because it's pretty windy.
Much of the construction of the model came down to trial and error, which was time consuming and often frustrating, but has allowed me to learn a great deal. If I were to start again, I would plan in more depth; breaking the model down into its constituent parts and considering how they will look individually for ease when it comes to modelling.
I need to work on further iterations of the model to refine it, and I'd like to amend the blades by curving/twisting them slightly more to make them more realistic and 'functional.' Additionally, I'd like to consider how I could develop the texturing and add to the small amount of UV mapping I have (some of which has not translated into Sketchup)
Another next step might be to animate the blades rotating to give a more comprehensive sense of its function. I’ve constructed the turbine such that the rotor blades pivot around a central axis, so this should be simple.
Overall though, I'm happy with the model and know that it’s instantly recognisable and I’ve managed to incorporate some irregular and interesting shapes that I wasn’t confident I could build.
When introduced to 3Ds Max a few weeks ago, I had no prior knowledge and have found the software difficult to navigate given the numerous operations and menus available; I find it unintuitive in comparison to software I'm familiar with, such as the Adobe Suite. Sketchup has seemed far less complicated, but I appreciate the preciseness and complexity of what can be achieved with 3Ds Max.I recognise that it will take practise to become competent, but I’ll be able to transfer the knowledge of the interface and combinations of commands that I’ve gained from constructing this turbine to the next thing I make.
UPDATE: I have since rectified the problem I had with texturing, and updated sketchup and kmz files now include the fully textured model.
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