Belgravia Apartment - Rejected

[fairycake89]

I had this lot (an apartment) rejected yesterday on the grounds that it was too boxy. Sadly the essential design of these former London mansions *is* boxy and there is little, I feel, I can do about it, or at least I am blind to what can be done. I have to state for fairness that the moderator who dealt with my upload was very nice about it and said that it was a hard call to actually reject it. And even the moderator admitted that very little could be done externally due to space constraints.

Naturally I have to change the apartment if I want it uploaded, but how? I don't really want to alter the essential exterior of the place which was inspired by Belgravia (http://lavieboheme2010.blogspot.com/2010/12/belgravia-por-que.html) or maybe this style of building doesn't translate well to Sims? I think that is the reality of it, to be honest.

I appreciate that the sides and rear of the apartment arent that exciting, but what can I do to beef it up without making up architectural features for these houses which don't exist! lol! And if I was being pedantic I would say that this is no more boxy than some 'modern' houses we see uploaded - however, I do have to agree with the boxiness part which is part of the essential design which is why I went to town on the interiors, but what to do? I think first thing I'd have to do is move to a larger lot. At present it's on a 30x30.

Pondering my options and possibly rambling .... :faceslap:

[TVRdesigns]

Well.. Its definitely boxy, but.. its a workable boxy. :)

The thing that I usually do when I create an apartment is I create a really interesting shape.. sometimes I even base the actual building around the apartment inside it.

In your case, you already have a shape so all we can really do is alter it. I think if you take some 1x2 and 1x3 sections out of the actual building itself. With buildings like this, generally, even the more experienced builders, including Q, Armiel and myself (just thought I'd shove me in there.. self-ego boost FTW!) have a hard time converting buildings that are literally squares in real life faithfully without losing the whole.. feel of the place. But if you DO want it to be accepted here, you can slightly alter the shape a little without losing that feeling.. :)

I also kinda feel like you have a few conflicting styles to your building. You have some more greek style arches, asian decor, a bit of a french influence and a more British/regal look in regards to the dining area.. as in.. solid gold fireplace. I think for a place like this, you'd be better off trying to stick to a more complimenting style. Maybe French or British.

[rian90]

A lot of apartments are boxy!! I wish some of these folks would look at architecture. Ever been to Venice or other parts of Italy? Russia? Boxy buildings, boxy houses and apartments. It was the style back then.

I personally love your apartment!! It looks very realistic. I hope you will offer it for download elsewhere rather than totally change the shape.

As for conflicting styles, that is realistic too on older buildings. Architecture changes through history and buildings are upgraded and changed.

[Jaylo]

Maybe try having everywhere there is a window, the wall pops out one square. see if that works

[armiel]

Here is one example on how you can make a boxy lot more appealing, they are the town apartments from my upcoming world.

http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af300/armielsims/CAW/Town/09082011/Screenshot-37.jpg

As you can see, all of them are basically boxes, but I have added some extensions as TVRdesigns suggested you to do, and tadaa, are not that boxy anymore.

/me is not sure if they are good :P But at least are not boxes ;)

Other useful methods in addition to adding more shape, is use of multiple textures instead of just one wall paint on the exterior. Landscaping can also do wonders (my lots are still wip, so no landscaping there yet :P).

[Volvenom]

Awesims have some free cornice and windows that could perhaps give the house more carachter? http://awesims.sixty-ten.net/2010/12/10/miscellaneous-bits-for-the-sims-3/

also i think you need another texture on the outside. I'm not even sure I can see what you're using. Something that makes more of a statement, perhaps bricks.

On the inside I would make more rooms. Have smaller rooms to fill almost the same functions, but have different carachter instead of 1 big livingroom. That's the way they usually did in the old days. Have smaller rooms, you walked from one rooms to the other. Just straight through. You can make the interiour more interesting that way. Also the kitchen would usually have some uninteresting place in the middle or in the basement. Since they had servants. The kitchen would be a room not to be seen. They would probably also have a butler, so perhaps make a small bedroom close to the kitchen?

As a side note, they also had bedrooms as walk-throughs, so a woman would give birth with spectators. Sounds terrible to us of cause lol.

[fairycake89]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I can see how it could be workable to alter the shape (go in and out a bit) that could work and maybe a subtle change in the exterior walls texture, however it will have to be in white 'stucco' or it won't resemble the original buildings at all. So thanks for all those tips! Much appreciated. Also thanks Volvenom for the linkie for cornice, very interesting, very appropriate and exactly what I was looking for and failed to find!! So all that is excellent food for thought!

[Volvenom]

If you want stucco walls, perhaps use something with a top and bottom decorative border ... or what it's called, and then a more modest stucco texture?

[rian90]

The creator is going for a specific style and while the suggested samples are lovely, they are a different style. Again, look at older buildings in Europe..they are boxy. They are beautiful!