With the "Clipper" ship concept, I explored the idea of a colossal VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) craft that surveys planetary systems around the galaxy. This portfolio piece considered the hypothetical scenario of building a deep-space exploration vessel. While some of the "rules" of spaceship building were considered (i.e. Alcubierre Drive), the purpose of the project was to work on an attractive design and cohesive look-and-feel.

From very rough sketches, a 3D model (Gooogle SketchUp) was built considering the ship's two main components: The Lander and The WarpDrive. Both pieces of the ship were modeled in accordance with the desired scale. Later the model underwent certain detailing, in order to make the final render more credible.

The warp engine is based on Miguel Alcubierre's proposal for a method to achieve "faster-than-light" travel. The Warp Drive consists of a ringed structure that creates a bubble in the fabric of space-time. The bubble allows the ship to "slip" faster than conventional propulsion methods would allow.

The Clipper Surveyor Vessel stands about as tall as the Eiffel Tower, and its interior mimics the multistory layout of skyscrapers. A gravity drive, held at the widest part of the ship, accounts for crew function while in deep space.

Clipper. Landed and secured to the ground.

To achieve the final look and feel, I extracted images from the 3D model and processed them using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Painting and correctly rendering the ascension protocols proved a challenge, as they had to include lighting and particle effects to account for the Clipper's thrust.

Ascension protocol. All of the Clipper's engines are used to escape the planet's gravity well.

While the ship itself was never used in any proyect, the shape of the Clipper served as a primary morphological inspiration for my 2015 Fairy Tales Architecture competition entry.

Medium: Google SketchUp, Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator.