8 June 2011

Modeling Menander

At the moment, I’m in the middle of constructing a Sketchup model of the atrium and peristyle in the Casa del Menandro, and it’s proving to be a task far more daunting than I had anticipated. Because many of the 3D models built to represent houses at Pompeii have fallen into the trap of excluding doors and partitions from the doorways (this seems to be a universal oversight), I’m trying to put together a model that will more accurately represent the functionality of these features in domestic space. But, being a bit of a perfectionist, I’ve found myself attempting to recreate the architectural design of the house in ridiculous detail (one should only spend so many hours crafting dentils on the pediment of a lararium); it’s a bit hard to know where to stop. Nonetheless, even in this early phase, the model is starting to look pretty cool. And though I haven’t constructed any of the doors yet, it appears that this could prove to be a useful tool for reassessing the importance of boundaries in the “public” parts of the house. Here are some  screenshots of the model in progress:

Atrium

Peristyle

Fauces and beyond