And when we go crashing down, we come back every time.

I don't even know how to feel about writing this... I'm sad and happy. Anyway. When planning out my folly I kept in mind that the key feature of Palladian architecture is the symmetry based on roman and greek architecture. Due to this I decided to construct my folly in modular elements a bit like lego. 

The main problem as stated before was with my Corinthian pillar which went from 17k to 700 polys so I bared in mind that due to the smaller pieces being repeated MANY times (22 Pillars!!!!!!  and countless stair rails) and tried to make everything as low poly as possible, simplifying the silhouettes where possible and adding detail through normal maps.

Below is my own 'spare parts graveyard'. Throughout the process I had to re-make new bits or modify old ones to get the model as efficient as possible. 

high poly roof around 3k

low poly roof around 700

Although this may seem like a small reduction the supports for the railings went from around 300 verts (right) to 150 verts (left) and then to 180 (below). This soon added up with around 50 railings in the model. The railings totaled together the greatest proportion of the polycount. 

I began texturing each modular element individually however I was concerned that when I went to put it together that it would look off and not match up. I continued the texturing after assembling my model again this time a lot cleaner and more precise than the mock up. Altogether there were only 8 organic elements to the model. 

With the diffuse maps I went for a grungy stone look. Palladian architecture has a very plain exterior so I wanted to add some interesting details by adding lots of wear to the stone. I tried to emphasize mold growth around the bottom of the bridge where the water would pass. I added a lot of the iconic Palladian details through my hand painted textures such as the extrusions around the edges of the roof. 

The only non hand painted element to the textures is the floor tiles but I gave them a good grungy paintover.

To be continued....