Fear and Loathing in Babble/On

I ended yesterday's post by throwing up a couple of screenshots of the building that I just started working on, the first building that I've ever worked on, in fact. I'm not going to be too hard on myself for that very reason, but I'm going to list some of the things that are wrong with it.

• The colors are hideous because I haven't started to learn how to give a model a realistic (or even plausible) texture
• The footprint is too small, I think, as are the rooms. I think I did a 30'x30' floorplan, which doesn't really allow for an elevator and stairs
• I didn't make any allowances for Mechanicals/Electricals/Plumbing, mostly because I am largely ignorant of these things
• There are no windows or doors
• The roof looks awful and is open on the sides, because I have been having trouble creating a surface between the roof line and the rest of the building

Anyway, I could go on, but you get the idea. As I've thought about the problems of pulling this whole project off, I have a tendency to divide the problems into two categories -- problems of skill The first category is problems of a technical nature, like figuring out how to put in a window, or make a solid wall under the curve of the roof. The second has more to do with aesthetics. Will what I design be any good?

The first category doesn’t keep me up at night (other than staying up till 2:30 to write the blog about it) because it’s basically just problem-solving, and I’ve always been a good at figuring things out. I mean, after all, the software was designed for people to use, so aside from hardware limitations, I’m confident that I’ll be able to become an expert 3D modeler. The second category seems trickier. It seems to require that the stuff that’s in my head is somehow interesting enough, or that my design sensibilities are keen enough that the product I create is of interest to people.

The reason I’m so unsure of being able to design interesting buildings is because that seems like something artists do, and I’ve just never thought of myself as an artist. I think it might have something to do with my awful freehand drawing skills, but I think most of it is a result of the kind of clicquish determinism that we all settle into a bit in our childhood. Kids start developing their identities and look for ways in which they’re different from others, and I think it’s easy (even as an adult) to be drawn to a simple ‘type’ that they can emulate.

But now that I’m older, and I know some people who do art for a living (and done a little myself), it seems to me that design works the way a lot of others things work. You can have a knack for it, but a lot of it seems to be learning technique and gaining proficiency through experience. Instead of turning on the faucet and letting your inner Buddha nature shine onto the page, design seems more about using rules of thumb and problem-solving skills as much as anything else. And I’m a good problem-solver.