Washington State Capitol, viewed from a dock (Hannah Forbes)
Downtown Olympia screenshot from Google Earth
City block by the park (Hannah Forbes)
Street corner viewed from across an intersection (Susan Perish)
A sidewalk lined with restaurants, hanging jellyfish lights (Hannah Forbes)
City street after midnight (Hannah Forbes)
So many boats. So important to Olympia (Jim Nieland)
Screenshot of building development in tinkercad
How can someone experience Olympia even without being there?
Olympia is a beautiful city. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to see that from an aerial view or a map. To experience the beauty and to feel the vibes of the city it is important to be within it—to be able to view surroundings from many different angles. Capturing Olympia’s essence in photography is a step in the right direction, but imagine viewing the city by means of a 3D physical model. It would be like a miniature Olympia that you can hold in your hands or set up on your desk.
Digital representation can be great. It can document and enhance scenes. I think a digital version of this 3D rendering of Olympia would maybe be more practical. It could be used as an app on a cell phone to be pulled up and used anytime. Especially if the rendering is very realistic and can be moved around in all different angles, it would be just as useful as the physical version, most likely. But I think that it is worth bringing this idea into physical existence because there’s something about being able to touch and move what you’re looking at. I believe people would be more interested in viewing the model for a decent amount of time if it was a physically present model. It wouldn’t necessarily be more useful, and definitely not more practical than the digital version, but I believe it would be more enjoyable and exciting.
This idea has always been really interesting to me. Your pictures captured Olympia very well. I’ve seen 3D maps in museums and on display, but I’ve never seen the making of one. This is an awesome, ambitious project, and I really hope that it’s able to be manifested into a physical form. Awesome job!
I really enjoy the idea of this three dimensional model of a section of Olympia. I really enjoy the thought of being able to hold a piece of Olympia in my hand, representational or not. I thought the pictures you choose and took yourself pertained very well to the Idea of your project. I really enjoyed the gorgeous shot of ‘City street after midnight’ you took. I hope you will be able to capture some of the beauty of Olympia in your project. Good luck 🙂
I didn’t realize the ambition of your idea until now. I didn’t think about how difficult it would be and how long it would take to create an accurate model of Olympia. Seeing your screenshot of the buildings in Tinkercad, I can only imagine how long it took to create those. Then looking at the map of downtown and see how many buildings there actually are, its crazy.
I’m interested to hear more about your look at the physical versus the digital. I’m glad to hear you still think its worth creating because physical objects still have that “something.” I think I would argue that that “something” adds some practicality to the physical that is absent in the digital.
Hey! I really like the ideas in your project, and this is a field that is intensely growing. I think creating 3d maps is interesting, and almost a little scary. The refining of map making is really interesting, and I wonder how close we are to virtually mapping the entire earth. Great project!
Love, Yarden