by ArchitectureWeek

"...The Ministry of Truth was startlingly different from any other object in sight. It was an enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete, soaring up, terrace after terrace, 300 meters into the air."

Anyone reading this chilling description of the building that housed the government's propaganda machine in George Orwell's novel 1984 will instantly form a mental picture of the edifice. Now some designers have gone beyond this imagining and actually built computer models of it.

This is one of a dozen imaginary places that Graphisoft has used in its seventh annual international competition. Entrants were required to use ArchiCAD, Graphisoft's object-based 3D modeler, to recreate their vision of the Ministry of Truth or the Sunken Island of Atlantis, the Cotton Club, Hilde's Dream Castle from Henrik Ibsen's play The Master Builder, or other locations from our literary and cultural heritage.

Using ArchiCAD as a design and visualization tool, entrants were challenged to create virtual representations of these imaginary places. Graphisoft recently announced the winners for 2000; the top three projects are shown here.

Although far removed from concrete architecture, these are vivid examples of how computer software can help express abstract imagination when it's unencumbered by real building requirements.

Graphisoft awarded its first prize to Sam Rajamanickam from Design Collective Inc. of the United States. Image: Sam Rajamanickam Rajamanickam's design was inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's movie, Cotton Club. Image: Sam Rajamanickam   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.