SUNY Purchase: A 3D Endeavor

Digital computing is increasingly dominating the modern world. This research project examines the methods and processes in constructing virtual models of large objects. The objects in question are the buildings and landscape of the SUNY Purchase campus. The first phase of this project is to construct virtual models, while the second phase is to transfer these virtual objects into the physical realm. To accomplish this construction, the project will examine and use the relatively new world of 3D printing. An important aspect of this project is the appropriate use of scale. The end goal is an accurate scale model of the Purchase Campus made by a 3D printer. Creating this model involves reviewing and analyzing building archive documents and rendering this information into the three-dimensional world of computer assisted design. Mathematical formulas and functions are necessary to generate the various shapes of the objects in question. The program used to render the buildings and landscape of the campus plaza is OpenScad. This work can be used to display the process for converting an environment into an accurate virtual and physical representation.