Nofunk's BAT Thread

[ilikehotdogsalot 308]

NICE! Thanks a lot nofunk, and Merry Christmas!

[DavidG 0]

Hi, I didn't realize how many of your wonderful buildings I was already using in my game!  Thanks for sharing your talents.  Dave

[nofunk 1,933]

Thanks for all your great comments!

UPDATE

I have no fewer than five ongoing projects at the moment, but what did I do this weekend? I started a new one! I truly have no self control.

I was looking at some old postcards of Detroit and came across the Wolverine Hotel. It was demolished a few years ago so people could park close to the baseball stadium. I figured it deserved a second chance in SimCity.

There's still some modeling that needs to be done: elevator penthouse, roof junk, a canopy over the entrance (you won't see the doors, which is why I didn't bother modifying the windows that are currently there). Texturing of course. But what do you all think?

Don't worry: I'll be finishing up my other projects eventually. I'll also be starting a Portland, Oregon building soon. I'm just afraid that with graduate school, things will move a little more slowly these days.

Hope everyone is doing well!

[T Wrecks 10,209]

They demolished this for a parking lot??

Well, so far it's looking great as usual. I don't really have any critique or suggestion at this stage.

[spa 968]

Hey Nofunk. This new one looks great. Very stately. I went and looked it up online and I can't believe Detroit allowed such a beauty to come down for a parking lot!

That's a crime to take it down but it's an even bigger crime to turn the site into this

[Simfan34 11]

Thank you for BATing this! I made the wiki page on this.

[Odainsaker 2,134]

Definitely on its way to becoming another wonderful mid-rise building. I'm still loving the three Art Deco towers!

Seeing Wolverine Hotel's real-world fate reminds us all of how tragically backwards the development market can be. Somewhere I have postcard images of San Antonio's old Blue Bonnet Hotel, a charming 1920s Spanish Revival mid-rise of brick and terra-cotta which in its heydey was a nexus for early country, folk, blues, jazz, and tejano music. The place where young starting bands and upcoming live music entertainers made their first recordings. Yet the thoughtless City, ignoring the preservationist realities underlying the success of its tourism, still imploded the building in the 1980s. Today we got a parking garage...a nice, sleek, modern parking garage that has won numerous awards for how it is dressed up to resemble a non-descript postmodern building that could exist just about anywhere. History and culture erased for banality...you know, perhaps we need a new thread in the architecture forums called "Show Us Your City's Lost Gems Demolished and Replaced by Ugly Rubbish or Parking Lots!"

(Oops, hehe, this is where you kick the soapbox out from under me!)

[bbfan02 23]

Great start to this building! I like the bright red color.

[bixel 1,223]

waddya mean? Parking Lots are the future!! I mean they are so cool!! I mean, like, have you ever just went to a parking lot and rolled around on the concrete like a cat?? Its awesome! Besides super intelligent business men use parking lots to make tuns of $$ per car by the hour!! I mean it more lucrative than a hotel and it hardly has any upkeep!!

no but seriously, the city does make some incredibly stupid decisions sometimes.

[Sim shady 12]

We should make a thread on "Show Us Your City's Lost Gems Demolished and Replaced by Ugly Rubbish or Parking Lots!"

idk, it might be really depressing to look at.

awesome building Nofunk

[jacqulina 162]

wonderfull work

[crazyarchitect 7]

I love your art deco and classical buildings, and this one is no exception, keep up the great work

[ardecila 124]

I think the building was U-shaped, not H-shaped. I really don't care, since it looks dynamite as-is, but if you're going for realism, there's a little difference there.

Are you going to do the big neon sign on the top?

[nofunk 1,933]

T Wrecks: You would be amazed at the things Detroit has demolished for parking. The beautiful old Michigan Theater was gutted for a parking structure; people now park under frescoed ceilings and ornamentation. It's tragic.

spa: Wow! Thank you for that demolition shot! Now I can see how the back should look. The real shame about the Wolverine Hotel is that the developer claimed Comerica Park would be built on it, only to leave it as a parking lot. While I hated to see it go at all, I think it's even more a slap in the face that the lot wasn't used for anything.

Simfan34: No problem! I checked out your wiki page on it!

Odainsaker: Thank you! You know, I was an economics major in college, so I understand costs and benefits. But I would think that most people would prefer to live in old buildings with character, than dull new construction. So I've never understood the speed at which developers tear these structures down. Even more, I am amazed at the disinterest city officials have in preserving these gems, integral pieces of urban history that they are. While I think most cities are moving towards a preservationist mindset, I fear it's already too late in many cases. Downtown Detroit has right now at least a dozen buildings of historic significance standing empty; I can only hope some conscientious developer finds them before a wrecking ball does.

bbfan02: Thanks! The building will be red brick.

bixel: Rolling around on the concrete is about all you can do anymore, since they've banned skateboarding in parking structures.

Sim shady: I would say a thread like that would be sobering. But it might also inspire some great new buildings for the game!

jacqulina: Thank you! Hope you are doing well, Jacky.

crazyarchitect: Thank you!

ardecila: Yeah, I noticed that in spa's comment. I've been working off an old postcard of the building, and I assumed the back was like the front. I'll probably fix this for realism.

Did it have a neon sign on top? I haven't seen any photos of it.

UPDATE

Spa's demolition photo reveals the building was U-shaped and not H-shaped like my version. The question now is: do I go for true realism and fix the back, or do I leave it as an H-shaped building? Me being a lazy git, I'm leaning towards the latter, but I'd also like to honor this structure, so I should probably amend the back.

Thoughts?

In the mean time, here is a neat picture I took last night downtown, looking east towards Woodward. If the Wolverine Hotel were still standing today, you would see it in the background near the center of the photo.

[patriots_1228 51]

why are awesome buildings always destroyed for parking lots?! it makes no sense.

As for the shape, i don't care, it would look fantastic either way. However, there are a couple maxis H shaped buildings similar to this, but no U shaped ones, so maybe you want to do the U.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

It's looking good so far.  Have you been able to find any good photos of it?  I haven't been able to.  Postcards are frequently inaccurate as you know.

Yeah, it's too bad the building (and also the YMCA) were demolished.  Hopefully someday something worthwhile will be built there.

[Glenni 1,444]

Originally posted by: nofunk T Wrecks: You would be amazed at the things Detroit has demolished for parking. The beautiful old Michigan Theater was gutted for a parking structure; people now park under frescoed ceilings and ornamentation. It's tragic.

quote>

That is even worse than tearing down the building completely, atleast then it's gone, not mistreated and suffering like this. 

Anyway, back on topic, i really like the new building you're working on, i've always admired you guys in BSP for your painstraking effort to recreate what Detroit has lost, is about to lose , or still has.

[wolverine 12]

^ What? No. You must understand Tony Peoria's plans for this building He's trying to operate a viable office building. There was no other choice or else the whole building would be demoed. So you are telling me they should tear down a perfectly functioning historic office building just to save theater portion? Do realize the theater may be eventually converted back into performance space?

Photos of Wolverine Hotel

Signs breaks on top of the hotel.

[nofunk 1,933]

Ugh! Wolverine, look at all those details I've missed! This is one instance I wish I didn't have reference shots lol!

Do I put the huge sign on top or not?

[bixel 1,223]

hrmmm.....nope! XD

[Jasoncw 11,840]

ahh, those are good photos.

Yeah, I wouldn't go with the sign.  Some of those signs are really cool, and some of them, well, aren't.

[ardecila 124]

You could do the neon sign as a prop, and anybody who doesn't want the sign can choose not to install the model file for the prop.

[nofunk 1,933]

bixel, Jasoncw, ardecila: I'll consider offering the sign as an optional prop. Of course, that all depends on how much effort I feel like putting into it!

UPDATE

Here's the final update for the night. I've been working through some of the details that wolverine's reference photos have revealed. I still need to amend the cornice, but once that is done (and roof junk, and elevator housing), I think this'll be ready for texturing!

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Sad story about the Wolverine, but if anyone can do it justice, it's you, nofunk.

I can't believe they could demolish something that amazing for a parking lot. Who even builds parking lots downtown? It's called a parkade, folks, and it means you don't have to demolish hotels and gut theatres for parking!

[wolverine 12]

Wolverine Hotel was demoed for a lousy reason. The owner of Comerica Park baseball stadium wanted the Fox theater (shown in photos above) visible from the stadium His solution was even more pathetic making it a parking lot. I mean, not even a park for crying out loud.

[josefmayor 8]

You should see what Tampa has destroyed for the sake of parking.

The Old Courthouse (Moorish Revival with a Dome Minaret)

The Tampa Terrace Hotel (Cuban with Moorish Revival)

Just beautiful buildings demolished for no reason.

[WillG_75 19]

It's a shame that a beautiful building like that was destroyed for a slab of pavement!!

You've done a masterful job recreating it though!!

As for the sign, I say you man a version with it, and a version without it. I would personally like the sign on there because it really breaks up the skyline, which can get boring sometimes.

[Fledgeling 1]

I missed this, but dude, i dont think its ready for texturing, because i really like the bay windows on the inside portion of the U seen in the reference photos. That its 3 and not 4 windows wide as in the real building is a bit irrelevant, but i think the bay windows should be on there too.

[Swiss_Canadian 2]

This is a lovely ode to more lost architecture, great work. Since it seems as though Windsor's Heritage Planners seemed to have, um, gained some courage (to put it politely) having saved two significantly historic structures in 2007, hopefully that will spread on to Detroit - it's a fever everyone should catch! Some people just disgust me, wanting to have a view of the Fox from Comerica! I can't believe this was right on Woodward; I just walked down there a few weeks ago, and it looked miserable aside from the Theater and the Hockeytown shop that were down there. Now every passing soul on Woodward can see that gawd awful giant papier-mache tiger wearing a jacket! What a world we live in!

P.S. I'm also really getting a kick out of that little burger joint in the bottom-right of Wolverine's first black and white pic!

[wolverine 12]

^ That still exists today, but the entire building was moved 2 blocks over right by the stadiums giving them lots of business. There's photos out on the web of the building being moved down the street.