2026 Re: Novation - ArchViz 3D Challenge

There is one publication that stands out from my childhood. Popular Science. I was fascinated by all the cool new tech that they would showcase. What intrigued most was the cover, and there would always be an audacious if not outrageous illustration of a wacky idea. So I thought this would be a good theme to explore.

My idea for this challenge is to combine blimps and zeppelins from the late 19th and early 20th century with the house model we have. A floating house, free to soar through the clouds and travel anywhere. Using this, i am going to create a cover page for Poplar Science in the style of a Retro-Futurism. I am excited and cannot wait to see this idea take shape. 🙂

Here is a block out for this WIP along with a reference of where I'd like it to reach.

Continuing with the block out, the goal is to now make an aerodynamic house that can sustain high altitude winds. For this I am tweaking the shape of the front of the house to have a conical structure to allow easier air flow. I am also adding fins and other attachments to guide the wind around the house.

Slow and steady. I added some support beams which will connect wires and cables to the air ship. 

I hope to get more free time to make more improvements. So today I redid the roof, added a curved front window and some side panels.

Going forward, the next step will be to finish the windows and add more aero elements like wings.

I redid the front side of the house. Since it is an aerial vehicle, I shaped it like the fuselage of an airplane. There's one large cargo door to fit where the barn doors were and a smaller door for people.

Finished the front door today. I did some research on airplane doors and used a lever system for the lock.

So I tweaked the front / barn to be a little more modern. This is a test clay render to see if the glass elements have a nice composition. Next step is going to be more refinements and the blimp.

Been busy with work, but I as able to get back to it. I'm almost done with the model. I added some harness and ropes to it. Now all that's left is the blimp. I am deciding between a traditional blimp and a hot air balloon. It will depend on the composition. I took a test render with a basic city model. I am excited to see how it will look with clouds.

I was looking at the base and thought it looked quite ordinary. It needed a bit more detail so I re-worked it to add some support structures. From a design point of view, this reinforces the cable attachments to the parapet.