Biomimicry
Monteliusvägen
Client
Self Initiated |Somewhere Studio
My Role
Concept | 3D | Generative AI
The Design: A biomimetic urban intervention for Monteliusvägen on Stockholm’s waterfront.
This project explores how organic superstructures can be vertically integrated into the Södermalm ridgeline. By merging 3D layouts with real-world map data in Unreal Engine, the visuals show exactly how the structure sits and looks within its actual environment.
WORKFLOW
Ideation
I rendered a page from my sketchbook using nano-banana. A prompt and a series of reference images steer the architectural style. The rendered image was not quite right but as I was going to proceed with a 3D approach, it didn't matter.
2D Asset Library | Visual language
The concept is broken down into a series of 2D elements and additional component designs are sketched and then rendered. This allows me to build a quick 2D asset library where style iteration is also quick and easy, helping lock down the visual language.
3D Asset Library
The selected 2D assets are transformed into 3D assets using AI.
City Integration | Look Dev
The architecture asset is imported into Unreal Engine where I have Google Earth running. This is where we can explore the architecture, choose camera angles, create previs animations and set the lighting, which will then be uniform across all shots. We can also tweak the 3D if required.
Render and Enhance
Merging 3D layouts with real-world map data produces a precise visualisation where scale, lighting, and perspective align perfectly with the existing cityscape.
The selected camera angles are rendered out from Unreal Engine. Photo realism is achieved using handcrafted VFX techniques enhanced with new AI tools.
Video | Camera animation
These images are then used to create video clips using AI image-to-video models. For precise, controlled camera moves, it would be possible to set up camera animation in Unreal Engine first.