About the Project

“Sun Garden” is a 3D model and set of renderings of a speculative garden and sitting area. The garden would theoretically be placed within a park or open space in a city. Each element of the garden is inspired by natural objects and celestial bodies in order to give people a calm and grounding place to connect with nature and take a break from the bustling busyness of modern life. The sitting area utilizes a mix of materials, including wood, metal, and concrete. 

The garden’s centerpiece is a large sculpture of two interlocking suns, sat atop four stilts that affix the sculpture to the ground. The sculpture is designed as such so that it will create interesting shadows over the course of a day, similar to a sundial. The sculpture is surrounded by four bench segments that form a circle when viewed from above, providing people with a place to sit, read, or enjoy the nature around them. The sitting area is surrounded by a wavy ring of hedges. The hedges are both horizontally and vertically curved, designed as such to evoke the path of a winding river. The entryways in the hedges on either end of the sitting area connect it to the greater park/natural space around it.  

The 3D model for this project was built in Fusion 360 and then exported as an .FBX file to be rendered in Unreal Engine 5. Unreal Engine was used to render the surface materials on the model, as well as to create the surrounding environment and add in people to display the garden’s intended function.