Pacific Gallery
 

The Pacific Gallery (formerly the Island Steel Factory) was built in 1889 when the country grew at the fastest rate in it's history almost doubling in size from 5 to 9.8 million. Isla Maria Cleofas was the only island where large factories were aloud and an American company founded the Island Steel Factory to supply the growing demands of the country. The huge clock in the front is the largest in the Western Hemisphere and rung at 7:00 a.m. to call hundreds of poor people to start their jobs as steel makers.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ifico/PdF7.png

The building ran from 1889-1948 when America Metal closed down due to bankruptcy. Since the factory was in great condition, the government bought the property and turned it into the National Steel Factory. It was open for 21 years (closed in 1969) until one day a machine exploded in the North wing of the building creating a huge gap in the tower, releasing tons of harmful chemicals into the air, and creating a huge decrease of steel during the late 60's boom.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ifico/PdF8.png

In 1998 the building was chosen to be demolished and make way for a new, large, and ugly museum which would become the countries largest museum. The plan was never approved and instead the old building was remodeled and finally open in 2006.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...fico/PdF11.png

The huge hole in the North wing was covered in a glass atrium which turned the building into a huge attraction, bringing people from Europe, Asia, and all over the Americas for the grand opening. Three unknown presidents attended the grand opening as well as the U.S, Mexican, and Brazilian president. Of course the Islas Marias president bought the first ticket ever sold.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ifico/PdF9.png

The large patio between the North & South wing used to be a shipping center where truckloads of steel and metals would leave the factory everyday. Now, it is a huge public patio where people can take a lunch break, appreciate the beautiful architecture of the building, or just relax in the 80 degree weather.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...fico/PdF10.png
There are 3 main floors in the building. Since the building was originally a steel & metal factory, the roofs were high and needed almost no change when the building was turned into the museum.

Wow! Very nice! Very creative and i like the glass opening and the window detail is niiiiice!:tup:

Interesting concept, and I like what you did with the smoke-stacks.

I loved that history! The windows are nice, but would you ever consider pushing/pulling in your windows to make them 3D?

Yeah I did. But if pull the windows, that will add 40 more faces and 40 lines, and those are only the ones you can see. The curved part would have 12 hidden edges and those still count for some reason and it makes the file size bigger.

Thanks, I wanted to make the history seem realistic and fitting into the history of the city. After all, I did add real historical facts to the countries history. But at the same time I wanted the building to go through a lot of harsh times. My computer screen is huge so my stories don't seem to long to me. Should I make my histories shorter or is it O.k. to make them a little long?

i suppose that would be a lot of faces and lines. I do admit, in my city it is really slow to work with so ijust hide everything except what I'm working on.



The way you did the history in the last update was the perfect amount and you did it good putting the pictures in between sections of the history. I find that it's the best way to keep the viewers from becoming bored. If someone comes to the thread for the first time and see a big huge story at first glance they may skim over the great history.

I think history makes the city's funner to do. It just gives what we model have some meaning. Keep it up!

Yeah, I'm trying to make the city as detailed as I can but I have to sacrifice most of the details so I can make the island bigger with more structures.

I space my history most of the time. And if you compare the paragraph with the picture below and/or above, most of the time they are related. I want to show two buildings in my next update but it would be too long so I'll just show a building across the street from the museum (the khaki colored building with a green roof, you can see it in the pictures above).

Tri-Update
 

So I said I was going to update on another building but I'll do these instead. It's a little repetitive since they're all near each other but what the heck.

Ferraro & Daco was built in 1958 becoming the cities first skyscraper at 505 feet tall with 36 floors. The building was built to house the Ferraro & Daco shipping company which at the time was the largest in Latin America. It was used until 1976 when Ferraro & Daco went bankrupt and the building was abandoned for 9 months until another shipping company, Globe-Shipping Inc. bought the building. Globe Inc wanted to tear the building down and create a new 856 foot tall, iconic tower which would become the cities tallest. Fortunately the building was added to the National Historic Structures list. Globe Shipping instead chose to use this tower as it's new headquarters along with a new tower a block away.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...fico/PdF12.png

On April 5th 1979, Globe Shipping Inc. filed bankruptcy which hauled the construction of the nearby Globe Tower 2. It wasn't until the end of 1986 that the company had grown enough to finish the Globe Tower 2 which had it's foundation finished but nothing above ground had been even started. The tower was finally finished in 1991 with a 1970's looks being called "The Lost in Time Tower."

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...fico/PdF14.png

The next building is the Leaf Industries Building. Leaf Industries focuses on reusable, energy saving, housing, house appliances and common household items. The company was founded in 1997 when many politicians were complaining about the increasing cost of shipping waste products to the near by country of Mexico. Leaf Industries was founded by a local business man who used to repair washing machines in his late teens. With the help of the government, the business man started a new company which increased the lifespan of houses, created green house appliances, wood saving furniture, and many other house products that would've been thrown away in a couple of years.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...fico/PdF13.png

Leaf Industries is now the largest green house products company in the country and in 2005 finished their new headquarters which decreased water usage by 45% and energy usage by 49%.


Closing Shot:
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...fico/PdF15.png

Boring reading. :slob:

Great designs as always Alek, and good history as well. That circular building really does a lot of justice to your city.

Definately not boring reading Aleks. It's very interesting. My favorite is the Leaf Industries building. I like the green color, but it's the design that wins me. The two sides have that sort of invert point inward that makes it look like it's curving out.

No I love the history on the buildings, keep doing that Everything is great, but I just cant warm up to those lights on the hotel!

Aleks your imagination is pretty cool :cool:

1010 First Ave.
 

The newest addition to the condo crazed city of Port Pacific is also the most expensive condominium tower in the city. With three condo's per floor, it also has the most square footage for 2 and 3 bedrooms in the whole island. The building was designed by AMAA and incorporates curves into the building so that every condo has a view of the waterfront.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...fico/PdF19.png
The tower has two main arched walls. One on the South side and one on the North side. The corners have a smaller angle so that all condos have views of the Pacific Ocean.

The company who built the tower bought nearly 3/4 of the block so that no future development would block the vies of the condo owners. Although the tower is not the tallest residential tower in the city, it is the most expensive even though it has a height of 480 feet. The last section at the top is 2 stories and includes 2 penthouses. The penthouses are divided so that both can have the same value. Since penthouse 1 has a large outdoor deck, it was decided that the penthouses were going to be divided vertically instead of each condo getting1 whole floor.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...fico/PdF22.jpg
The top 5 sections of the tower facing the Nestin and Globe Tower 2.

The North Penthouse has the large outdoor patio and is 2 stories tall. The South Penthouse has no outdoor deck but it faces the North where no building block the view. The square footage is also different to balance out the price.

A local photographer shot this photo and Photoshoped the picture so that only his favorite buildings would show:
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...fico/PdF21.jpg
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I know, my Kerk skills suck but I'm learning. I hope that later on I can make the water actually look like water and the shadows, glass, and sun look better. And I still write those long stories gees.

Incredible how the city just comes alive once you render!

The new condo is very innovative. I'd actually like to see some more shots of it if possible, perhaps an aerial.

The Nestin tower looks so nice rendered! They all do! Nestin is probably your finest so far, and it's the one my eyes are drawn to the most, even though it's not your tallest. The lowrises on the waterferont also look quite stunning with the glass being reflective. The rendering sure brings the beauty out of your buildings!

OMGOMGOMG. Aleks! I hate you! Your city looks GREAT! Especially rendered, 1010 First Avenue looks so great and so realalistic. I wish I could say I had a favorite building in your city, but its just too hard! If I had to i'd be a Tie between the Globe Tower 2 and Leaf Industries Building. THEYY BEE HAWT.

Please continue writing the stories, any info on the Gold/Brown tower yet?

Thanks! I actually think of the Nestin as a nuclear launch button because of the big red roof at the top. I actually took the design from a building called 1521 here in Seattle. It's gonna become the cities tallest residential building at 445' tall but it won't last long since another building called Olive 8 and that will last for some years until the Heron Pagoda Twin Towers are built.

I'll render more shots tomorrow after school since Spring Break is over. Well, I have some shots but I wanna finish this page before I post more renders.

Patrick: Yeah, I have a plan for the gold and brown towers but I'm not sure about the colors yet. And they're turning out to be a pain in the ass since they won't connect, or extra faces will pop up. I will say that they have a big role in the cities economy though, But that's all for now.

Fantastic! I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Nestin is one of the best buildings I've ever seen in sketch-up. Your city is coming along well.

:previous: Agree!

This city is awesome rendered!! Keep it up:tup: :worship:

This is kind of odd to mention, but I noticed the lights of the Nestin in the normal SU shot compared to the rendered shot look different. They are more a regular yellow in SU and more a green in the render. My guess is that the reflective blue sky is mixing with the regular yellow to give us a yellow-green color.

The yellow-green looks cooler!

Delete post. sorry:P