Maxis References

[plasticboy 36]

The two RL buildings you showed are beautiful, Maxis, meh, not so much, because it seems that most of the delicate embellishments on those buildings were either simplified or talen away completely. What a shame!

[plasticboy 36]

http://www.chiefengineer.org/article.cfm?seqnum1=525

The Old Colony Building - If These Walls Could Talk...

Do you remember when Lincoln was shot in 1866? Or Houdini was commanding crowds on Wabash in 1888? Or how about Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid robbing banks? While we may have never witnessed this part of history, one building still standing today can boast of being around while all these events occurred. Standing stately and proud at the corner of Dearborn and Van Buren Streets, the 106 year Old Colony Building reminds us of an era gone by.

The beginning of the Old Colony Building goes back to 1884 when the land was purchased by Francis Bartlett for $126,000. While not expensive by today's standards, many people considered him to be foolish to pay that price for a worthless piece of property. When it became apparent that the city was considering restrictions on future building plans, Bartlett began construction on what would be the highest structure at that time. Finished in 1894, the first five floors were rented out to Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad before the building was even finished. The Old Colony went on to gain landmark status in July of 1978 when it was declared an historic building in the Illinois Register of Historic Places.

As one of the first buildings to be built after the Chicago fire, architects Holabird & Roche developed a style of steel frame design that came to be known as the "Chicago School" style, and was considered to be the forerunner of today's modern skyscraper. Typical features of these buildings included not only the steel frame construction but also masonry cladding with terra cotta, distinctive 3-part windows and a minimal use of ornamentation. Such described the Old Colony. But perhaps the most exquisite feature of the building was the use of rounded windows on the corner bays. Known as oriel windows, they were commonly used in hotels during this time. Holabird & Roche incorporated them to provide as much openness as possible to increase the natural light available to office space. These windows are encased in wooden frames and stand 5.5' x 7' and are custom made.

t the time of its completion the Old Colony was the highest building in Chicago, standing at approximately 215 feet. The base of the building is distinguished by display windows. The second floor features large fixed windows with double hung windows on either side. The rest of the floors carry pairs of double hung windows. Encasing these windows on the first three stories and the top story, the building is faced with Bedford limestone. Stories 4 through 6 are surfaced with cream-colored roman brick and, although used sparingly, the ornamental trim is done in white terra cotta.

While being admired for its beauty on the outside, the Old Colony is equally remarkable on the inside. Three steel arches on the west side and three steel arches on the east side of the building hold up each floor. There are no load bearing walls. Wrought iron Phoenix columns constructed of four to eight vertical pieces bolted together form the vertical parts of the framework. Horizontal girders and floor beams are constructed of steel.

Surrounding this steel frame and providing what was to be considered the latest in fire prevention at that time is a cover of pyroblock.

Originally three entrances allowed access to the building. Two of them have since been closed. Upon entering the building one immediately notices the elegance of the original lobby. Crests mounted on each elevator door signify the people who came over on the Mayflower. Italian marble and quarter-sawed oak wood throughout lend an air of richness to an already luxurious surrounding. While marveling at interior corridors of marble and granite it is hard to believe that all the "working parts" of the building a

[Glenni 1,444]

And yet maxis made it for poor people.. That's a bit disrespectful, no?

[Jasoncw 11,840]

It looks like the Beurau of Beurocracy and the Chicago City Hall Building are one in the same.

[ardecila 124]

Yes, they're quite similar.  But City Hall in real life is 4 TIMES bigger than the Bureau.  It has mind-blowing scale for a Beaux-Arts building.

[ardecila 124]

Yes, they're quite similar.  But City Hall in real life is 4 TIMES bigger than the Bureau.  It has mind-blowing scale for a Beaux-Arts building.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I found some more in this book I just got from the library.  I'll try to scan images later this week.

Dennis Department Store = May Co.

Mace co. = Stewart and Company

Zvenigorodsky Inc. = Hoover Factory (canteen)

They're actually nice buildings in real life, lol

[Jasoncw 11,840]

ok, here are some (huge) pictures.  I think I might have found another (Palais Pictures, Melbourne) too.

The book I found these in is called "Art Deco Architecture" by Patricia Bayer.  It has a SC4 building every few pages, but the ones I've noticed have already been posted in this thread.  I'm guessing Maxis bought this book and BATed from it.

[Deever 23]

Keep them discoveries coming!

Here's some Maxis references from SimCity 3000. I knew about this for a long time now but since this thread is up again...

Notice the buildings in the boxes:

Chicago

New York

I don't know the real names of the buildings but they have their SC3K counterparts as Kate Foundation and Corporate Ground Zero Plaza, respectively.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

I think the one in NY is 500 Fifth Avenue, one of my absolute favourite Art Deco skyscrapers.

[maikeli.1 12]

There is two more the one and two new york plaza in sck3000 and a list of

of others Quigley insurance Woolworth building

sliver tower two new york plaza and justin brown plaza on new york

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Roberts Apartments is based on a building from San Fransisco.

[BlackDragonAJ89 21]

A very interesting thread; I guess they didn't just go to San Francisco, Sacramento, and LA only after all to do the research.

Of course, I'm trying to find some reference pictures of the Justin Brown Plaza, Silver Tower, Kong Tower, Wilkson Tower, and the Arbor Plaza from SC3K (and some from Unlimited) so that I could make BATs of them as part of my project.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Are you looking for screenshots from the game, or would you like to know what buildings they're based off? If you'd like to know what buildings they're based off, I don't remember all of the names, but if you post SC3K screenshots of the buildings I can try to find what they're based off.

[alj 38]

Bumping a sleeping thread. But I have a new one for the collection. And so many have commented something like "interesting thread, keep them coming".

Here it is: Dreideck-Eigentumswohnungen is the name in the German version of the game (don't know the name in the English version): it looks too similar to "Am Beethovenpark" condominium in Cologne-Sülz, though Maxis stretched the building to 8 floors, to justify its classification in the medium density category. Maxis made it a R$$$ which is slightly flattering. A $$+0.5$ would have been perfect.

                                                                                           

[simmytu 605]

Lol!!!

[Francis90b 748]

I'm wondering about the reference buildings they did use for modelling the SC4 single family homes (especially the ones in the NY tileset)....i know about many types and styles of american single family homes, but none of them is close or similar to the ones i can find in SC4...

[Shy Dude 149]

Long time lurker.

Don't mean to necro post but I recently found this topic and love it. Heres one I don't think has been found yet:

825 Fifth Avenue, New York

is the Bell Towers.

And besides SC4's Cinema House being based of the Palias Theatre, the marque and window design is of the Fox Theatre in Detriot.

Oh, and Cameron Cameras has details similar to the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles.

  Edited May 4, 2012 by Shy Dude  

[Shy Dude 149]

edit: another one I just remembered: Martin Apartments

The Colosseum in Manhattan.

The game also has Buechner Apartments which is just a more accurately colored version with a different back design and the Chandler which is just a flat version of the Buechner Apartments.

edit: aw crap double post. I meant to edit.

  Edited May 6, 2012 by Shy Dude  

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Keep 'em coming!

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Great finds! This was the best bump I've seen in a while.

[Shy Dude 149]

Thanks, here's a couple more:

Manning Condos

Rockefeller Apartments, Manhattan

The MacVicar Building

Frank Thomas House, Oak Park, Illinois

edit:

Butts Condos

The Dakota, Manhattan

  Edited May 8, 2012 by Shy Dude  

[Francis90b 748]

Lol, i don't know if i'm more pleased to see your post, Shy Dude, or that cute kitten, TWrecks.

Well, this is really going to be the nicest "sleeping" thread i've seen in a while .

[MandelSoft 2,769]

These three are from San Fransisco, and I think they've all been mentioned, but here are photos with screen shots for them.

Alas, the RL picture reference link is broken. So I tried to find them with Google Maps SV.

#1: 400 Sutter Street: http://maps.google.nl/maps?q=San+Francisco,+Californi%C3%AB,+Verenigde+Staten&hl=nl&ie=UTF8&ll=37.78937,-122.408077&spn=0.001526,0.002401&sll=51.44716,-7.558594&sspn=4.903363,9.832764&oq=s&t=h&hnear=San+Francisco,+Californi%C3%AB,+Verenigde+Staten&z=19

#2: 100 Bush Street: http://maps.google.nl/maps?q=San+Francisco,+Californi%C3%AB,+Verenigde+Staten&hl=nl&ie=UTF8&ll=37.791064,-122.399095&spn=0.000002,0.0012&sll=51.44716,-7.558594&sspn=4.903363,9.832764&oq=s&t=h&hnear=San+Francisco,+Californi%C3%AB,+Verenigde+Staten&z=20&layer=c&cbll=37.791093,-122.399239&panoid=ca2fnKa6z5Kyo67VnA2gwg&cbp=12,309.81,,0,-28.86

#3: 145 New Montgomery Street: http://maps.google.nl/maps?q=San+Francisco,+Californi%C3%AB,+Verenigde+Staten&hl=nl&ie=UTF8&ll=37.786792,-122.399827&spn=0.000763,0.0012&sll=51.44716,-7.558594&sspn=4.903363,9.832764&oq=s&t=h&hnear=San+Francisco,+Californi%C3%AB,+Verenigde+Staten&z=20

[Sgt Pepper 864]

I believe one of the Chicago Mansions in SC4 actually comes from a building of a plantation house in my hometown Alexandria Louisiana. However, I can't remember the name of the Chicago Mansion in game nor can I remember the name of the mansion in Alexandria, but I just remember seeing it on a drive.

[gutterclub 2,729]

Love this thread, although it really goes to show the difference in both quality and scale of different BAT's. Compare quality of Tri Deck condos and Bells Towers to Butt condos.

[madhatter106 3,903]

I would heart this thread even moar if it were pinned....

[zahrul3 471]

I believe one of the Chicago Mansions in SC4 actually comes from a building of a plantation house in my hometown Alexandria Louisiana. However, I can't remember the name of the Chicago Mansion in game nor can I remember the name of the mansion in Alexandria, but I just remember seeing it on a drive.

Catalina Mansion or Gray Mansion maybe?

Both appear to be built in plantation style.

[Roger51 381]

I would heart this thread even moar if it were pinned....

Should be pinned purely on T Wrecks' pic

[Shy Dude 149]

The university is loosely based on Washington University. Fun to look for these.

http://binged.it/JnV9jd

  Edited May 11, 2012 by Shy Dude