Initial thought
One day the idea jumped to me when I was looking through my reference photo library. It was a photo of cactus Saguaro. The cactus was big and tall, what if it was big enough for people to live in? Then the idea changed to what if we have a building that looks like a giant cactus? That would be interesting since I’ve seen many strange shaped buildings in the past. Inspired by this, I envisioned a cactus apartment fantasy oil painting that captures the imagination.
So I started my digital concept.
Digital concept
First of all, the bottom part of the cactus building has to be large. This part could be the parking lot. All branches are layered with different appartments. Some are big and some are small. Some apartments are connected between branches.
The outside facing wall of every apartment is huge window for the view. The inside facing wall of every apartment is small ventilation windows for bathroom maybe. There will be a room for utility or all the gears that are needed to sustain such big building.
I add the red warning light on top of one branch. And I also add some spikes. I am not sure how the spikes work, maybe antenna or lightning rod.
I choose the night time because it is easy to imagine how people lives in there. Some warm lights, some cool lights, someone close the blind and someone hasn’t came back yet.
The contour neon light for whole building isn’t there in the beginning. I put it on because otherwise it would be hard to recognise the shape of a cactus.
Summary
Half way of painting this piece I realized that it didn’t have to be round and organic feeling. For a man made building, it can also be a geometry shape that close to circle, such as octagon. So generally speaking, each layer of apartment can be octagon shape in different sizes. That way the constraction maybe more practical.
There should be some elevator shaft inside the building. And the central joint area right above the parking lot could be a courtyard with some gardens, gym equipments, playground and so on.
How cool is it just to think about if we have groups of these big cactus apartment in the field. From far they blend in the surroundings, but they are fully functioned community within.
I hope you enjoy this concept~