Kenwood: virtual sunroom - first renders.

With the 43rd anniversary of June 29, 1967 been and gone, what better time to "remplenish thou thy cravie, with all that bodes within" (as a former resident once wrote)?
And why not? After all, when most people don't think about Kenwood, it's the sunroom that doesn't come to mind.
Per contra, for anyone round these parts, the sunroom is a familiar place, from lo-res Polaroids and foggy fifth-generation copies of fan photos; each one thick with atmosphere, yet the detail remains tantalisingly out of reach. Even the professional pictures from June 1967 and December 1968 are somewhat lacking in clarity by modern standards.
Which is precisely what lends these new images a pleasantly weird quality upon first viewing - pin-sharp, hi-res renderings of something from a lo-res age; the sunroom, dismantled, demolished and forgotten long before the era of the megapixel, lives again! (Or something like that.)


Examine the pics for a few minutes, and, if you know the auld mock-Tudor hole, you'll find your mind does double-takes. (Click on them for the bigger picture, as usual.) The product of over a year's work by 3D artist Christopher Sileo, each component had to be modelled individually, a painstaking process requiring initial research, an acute eye for detail, infinite patience and self evident skill.
The results are exquisite.


Needs must, certain elements had to be guessed, or substituted, due to the limitations of the source images; but everything is in keeping with the spirit of the place, as was, and the whole hangs together wonderfully well.
What's more, this is only the beginning; it's a work in progress, and much further detail is to follow, in and around the sunroom, and then deeper on into the rest of the house. Ultimately, the entire place, from attic to den, will stand "virtually" restored to its prime. The beauty of it is that once the scene is set, an almost unlimited number of perspectives becomes possible.
Panoramic QuickTime tours are also in the works; until (probably unhinged) boffins invent immersive virtual reality (or time travel), these will be as close as anyone can get in the here-and-now to paying the high Lennon-era Kenwood a visit...which beats a whack in the face with a shit-covered stick, as my great-granny used to say.
More views of the virtual house can soon be found on Mr Sileo's site The Beatles In 3D. If you haven't done so already, I invite you to bookmark it, and check back regularly for further goodies; the link is under Friends & Neighbours on the right.