Blake Baer Posted April 5, 2012 Posted April 5, 2012 (edited) Hello all! I present to you my latest work, Matsumoto Castle, for the EB Architecture contest. After looking through hundreds of pictures for inspiration, I decided upon Matsumoto Castle as my model for a variety of reasons. In the true spirit of the contest, I was trying to supplement Adam Tucker's wonderful architecture series by building something not as mainstream and modern/minimalistic. I also didn't want this to be just another "cool" skyscraper, no matter how well I might be able to pull it off. At a first glance, I was repulsed by the prospect of building a castle but as I considered the architectural styles and flairs that the Japanese castle brought, I thought it would be worth looking into. As I said before, I was trying to make this as true to the Architectural line as possible. Things like the base, the colors and the presentation were all factored in. But ultimately, I wanted this to be unique and to stand alone from the normal approaches. Matsumoto Castle Location...................Matsumoto, Japan Built........................1593-94 Type........................Flatland Castle Owner......................23+ Daimyos Architect..................Yasunaga This is built for the Landmark series. Many people recognize the oriental architecture strictly based off of the roof style. I was trying to capture the familiar roof structure which was very difficult at this scale and with the chosen color palette. I also incorporated geographical aspects into the build by using water, terrain, trees and paths. While I wanted these to be detailed and to add to the build, I also didn't want them to detract from the architectural impetus of this contest. The coloring was a supreme issue in this creation. The castle takes a very bland gray-scale which is boring and uninteresting to the eye. I therefore chose to add dark tan and red to the build while accenting it with blues and greens in the landscape around the castle. Altogether, it ties in very well with the essence. Ultimately, I am quite happy with the end product. Architecture is one of my many interests, so this contest was quite fun. Thank you Rufus (and other behind the scenes admins) for hosting and running. I quite enjoyed it! More info on Matsumoto castle can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsumoto_Castle More pics can be found on the MOCpage: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/317551 Or on Flickr: Otherwise, please enjoy! I appreciate your feedback. -Blake Matsumoto Castle by Blake's Baericks, on Flickr Matsumoto Castle by Blake's Baericks, on Flickr Matsumoto Castle by Blake's Baericks, on Flickr Edited April 5, 2012 by Rufus Indexed Quote
Sess Posted April 5, 2012 Posted April 5, 2012 It's really good looking! Good luck in the contest! Quote
Brickmaestro Posted April 5, 2012 Posted April 5, 2012 Nice work - and a clever interpretation. It's just about impossible to get those curving oriental roof lines at such a small scale, but kudos to you for taking it on. Good luck. Quote
Masked Builder Posted April 5, 2012 Posted April 5, 2012 Very nice Blake, I didn't realize there were so many angles in the MOC when I first saw it, you chose a challenging building and executed it perfectly! Quote
Vindicare Posted April 6, 2012 Posted April 6, 2012 Wow, great job! When I saw the real thing I was thinking there's no way to get that roofing. But, I was quite mistaken. You did a really nice job recreating the roof, as well as the rest of building. Quote
Si-MOCs Posted April 6, 2012 Posted April 6, 2012 Wowza! Impressive build - you've managed to build in a lot of the details that I would have thought would have been lost ... such as the white trims .... really nicely done! Quote
Blake Baer Posted April 9, 2012 Author Posted April 9, 2012 Thanks guys, I appreciate your responses! Impressive build - you've managed to build in a lot of the details that I would have thought would have been lost ... such as the white trims .... Thank you for noticing! I made a specific effort to include the white trims on the roof. Quote
K-Nut Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 Wowza! I couldn't say it better myself. Great work! The angles are nice and crisp. Good luck in the contest! Quote
prateek Posted April 12, 2012 Posted April 12, 2012 Congrats on having this on TBB! Fully deserved exposure if you ask me Quote
viracocha Posted April 12, 2012 Posted April 12, 2012 It seems to me a little bit higher than it should be. And the roofs lost their curved shape I think it is hard to find right solution for this. Anyway you have done good work! Quote
kris kelvin Posted April 12, 2012 Posted April 12, 2012 This is one fantastic entry. Clean, japanese look :) Far much better than most of official architecture sets. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.