Twisted tower with curved podium

Learn intermediate modeling techniques and how to work with subdivision modeling

Learn How to use Blender as  Professional

Course Overview

In this course, you will learn how to use Blender for architectural design. We will be designing a small twisting tower that sits on a podium with retail and a glass storefront. You will learn techniques and workflows that I use daily in my professional practice so you can utilise the best that Blender has to offer for architecture and design.

You will learn about the optimal settings, addons, modelling workflows, and UI tweaks to get you started. By completing this course you will feel comfortable to take on any concept design from initial sketch to generating design images that portray the design fast!

This course covers specific editing techniques in edit mode that are highly useful for architectural design. Additionally, you will learn different ways of positioning facades and the basics of subdivision modeling for architectural design. 

At a glance: An in-depth course on using Blender for architecture concept design
Type: video Course, 3.5 hours long, 7 Chapters, files included
Topics: modeling to scale with references, design modeling techniques - subdivision and poly editing, viewport sketching, 3d sections, Eevee white renders, Krita post processing, useful addons, optimal UI configuration
Experience: intermediate, with at basic knowledge of how Blender works, and some experience modeling

Who is this course for?

Architects, designers, and anyone else who would like to learn how to use Blender for architectural design. The course content would be incredibly useful for professionals and students who wish to be able to translate design ideas into 3d as quickly as possible.

The course would also be useful for 3d artists who want to understand how to think like an architect when doing environmental and architectural design artworks.

Experience level

This course will be most beneficial for users with at least basic knowledge of using Blender. Some prior experience with Blender would be beneficial. If you are completely new to Blender, the Blender Architectre Masterclass is the preferred first course to take. Alternatively you can purchase a bundle containing both that includes a discount. 

"Thanks to this Blender course, my architectural designs have undergone a remarkable transformation! With practical, hands-on guidance, I've unlocked the power of Blender, bringing my visions to life with confidence and precision. It's been a game-changer for my career as an aspiring architect!"

Nathaniel Lee
Architect

Course structure - 7 Parts

The content has been designed to be accessible to wide user experience level, displaying a typical design exercise of sketching and realising a design idea. The process is typical to most design exercises. Each lesson talks about optimal workflows to produce the desired result, attentively walking you through achieving the same result.

By the end you will have learned techniques to allow you to use Blender for your architectural designs and present them as diagrams.

Part 1 - Set up and context

In this part, we will look at ways to optimize our project by generating a set up file and enabling and/or downloading relevant addons. I will show you my typical set up, including default addons that I always like to keep.
 
We will also start generating the context for the project, consisting of a simple road junction, pavement, and buildings sitting within the immediate context. The aim is to generate and set up everything typically needed to then be able to focus exclusively on designing within blender. You will learn how to generate a tricky road intersections in a modular fashion, highly applicable to many scenarios.

Part 2 - Cameras and Podium massing

In this part, we will set up important view angles that will be continuously considered for the design process. We will then set up the user interface so we can always reference these views. Blender's flexible UI is incredibly powerful, yet rarely talked-about element that is highly useful for architectural design, with customisation that helps ground architectural proposals in their important contextual view references.

We will continue to use the annotation tool to sketch directly in 3d our design concept from eye perspective.

 We will then model the podium from the sketch to 3d, starting with a simple plane, that we then extrude, add loop cuts, and work with modifiers to produce geometry for the podium. The podium will be modelled in such a way that we get instant feedback in a reference 3d view displays the sketch and the constantly updated geometry.

Part 3 - Twisting tower

In this part, we will generate a small tower on top of the podium. You will learn how to model to scale with having correct floor heights in mind, quickly building up ideas. The tower is designed with Blender's mesh modeling toolset and additional tools covered by built-in or free external addons.

 We will quickly evolve a simple cube to more intricate geometry and into the twisting tower. While we are designing, we will constantly be assessing our reference views to understand how the tower sits within the context. We will explore ways of creating even facade subdivisions that are useful with consistent panels sizes for the glass curtain wall.

You will learn how work with bevel and even mesh subdivisions and how to generate precise floorplates. 

Part 4 - Podium refinements

Once we've generated the tower, we will go back and refine the podium further. We will look at how we can create a glass storefront for the podium's facade as a derivative of the initial podium design model, We will also look at how to generate tricky internal walls with beveled junctions and irregular height profile, anchoring to the podium's ceiling, Lastly, we will generate a the front column seen in the massing that is independent subdiv based, yet ties into the geometry of the podium.

 Here, you will learn how you can add detail where needed without refining the whole project further. This approach is useful, as in architecture, designs constantly evolve.

Part 5 - Presentation

In this part, we will work with materials, and setting up the scene for doing concept renders with Eevee. We will go through rendering settings, enabling options that guarantee a good looking view hidden-line view. We will also explore material settings necessary to produce proper views from Eevee. Then, we will focus on understanding the composition of the views to make sure that we have the correct elements and that we are highlighting parts of the image that we wish to be more visible.

Part 6 - 3d Section

In this part, we will generate a 3d section view with boolean modifiers. We will also look at common pitfalls for not having solid geometry when cutting with booleans and show how we can adjust parts of the model so geometry generates a solid cut. Materials based on normal direction will also be explored go create a different colour when the object is cut.

Part 7 - Post processing with Krita

In this part, we will use the open source painting app Krita's vector tools to add graphics to the 3d section. Krita has extensive non-destructive editing capabilities for architectural images. We will be working with vector layers to create outlines for the context and the building, and internal fills representing the different programmatic elements. We will also add text and use non-destructive transform layers to add perspective to the text annotation.

"As someone with limited experience in 3D design, I was initially hesitant, but the instructor's clear explanations and step-by-step guidance made all the difference. Now, I'm amazed at how far my skills have come, and I'm excited to incorporate Blender into my architectural projects, adding a whole new dimension to my designs!"

Mia Rivera
Aspiring architect

Course Outline

Course Pricing

Lifetime access

€65

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30 day access

€32

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Meet your instructor

Dimitar presenting at Blender Conference in Amsterdam.

Sketching design ideas in his studio for this course.

Mixed use project for which Dimitar was responsible currently under construction.

Dimitar Pouchnikov

Dimitar is an experienced architect, designer, and educator with over 13 years professional experience. He is driven by the desire to create beautiful spaces, buildings, and cities that work excellently for all users. His design philosophy is based on creating beautiful architecture through the intersection of design, creating a sense of place, and technology. This philosophy drives both his professional and academic research.  

With most of his experience gained while working at distinguished architecture offices in London, Dimitar understands the architectural design process wholeheartedly. Having led teams as a project designer, he is aware how to communicate to both professionals and to clients successfully. He has and continues to communicate design visions confidently that manifest into beautiful and functional projects.

Dimitar knows that the proper architectural design process is demanding and rigorous, necessitating many revisions and parallel design explorations. He is grateful to have worked in teams that have taught him and enabled him to execute this proper design process - balancing beauty, function, user requirements, buildability, vision, and giving back.

Over the years, Dimitar has developed a balanced concept-driven design approach with industry-leading parametric design skills. Having the ability to move from a simple sketch to a complex 3d model quickly and effectively is an essential skill to move through design ideas efficiently. In this manner, finding the right mix of design ideas is achieved as quickly as possible, without wasting time redrawing or re-modelling unnecessary and repetitive steps. At the same time, parametric design enables inserting greater design intelligence into projects while reducing the effort required to document project parameters for construction. 

Dimitar aims to work as much as possible with free, open-source, and non-subscription tools like Blender, Rhino, Grasshopper, and Affinity that allow professionals to have access to their drawings and designs without the need to rent their software just to access previous designs. 

Blender is an essential part of Dimitar’s software design toolkit and he is on a mission to show as many architects and designers its key strategic advantages. He shows various use cases on the UH Studio Design Academy youtube channel, teaches numerous courses through UHSDA, and frequently collaborates with the industry’s leading education platforms like PA Academy, Futurly, Dezact and others. Dimitar also speaks at international conferences about the advantages of using Blender as a design tool.

Professionally, Dimitar has worked on many typologies, ranging from Cultural, Commercial, Residential, Urban Design, Sport, Entertainment, Masterplanning, and High-rise/mega-tall buildings. Among others, he has worked at HOK and Adjaye Associates in London. 

Dimitar holds a postgraduate M.Arch degree from the Architectural Association, Design Research Lab Programme and a 5 year professional B.Arch degree from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, in Philadelphia.

Dimitar learned Maya at the DRL programme at the AA and realised that everything that Zaha designers were teaching us with Maya can be done with Blender, and even more! After graduating, he transferred over his newly acquired Maya design skills to Blender and has been further expanding them since.


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