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A Dutch graphic artist reconstructed Tenochtitlan in 3D
- ferfumarma 3y agoThis is incredible; thanks for posting it.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoGreat stuff, it looks incredibly well rendered! I'm surprised the original city centre square was preserved, but all the original pyramids were knocked down, was it really worth the effort just to get those stones?
- defrost 3y agoGiven they'd been already cut and shaped to a portable size it was easier to take those stones than to cut and craft new ones. The casing stones from the much larger Egyptian pyramids were all scavenged several centuries ago: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/09/06/the-great-pyramid-of-giza-was-once-covered-in-highly-polished-white-limestone-before-it-was-removed-to-build-mosques-and-fortresses/ https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/09/06/the-great-pyramid-...
- usrusr 3y agoA nice illustration of how the ubiquity of cheap fossil-based transport and manufacturing has completely skewed our perception. Of course it's easier to pick stones from a convenient pile that's already where you need it, even if it perhaps requires some banging at them to get them loose. Most convenient quarry on the continent, likely the exact reason why you started building in the vicinity in the first place. But I'm certainly not immune to perception through those petrol-colored sunglasses myself, please don't read this as "look at that fool!"
- avar 3y ago> was it really worth the effort just to get those stones? It wasn't just to get building materials. You don't want a giant monument to gods that demanded human sacrifice as a prominent part of the skyline when you're trying to convert the local heathens to Christianity.
- wombatpm 3y agoVery cool. Back in the late 90’s when VRML was a thing there was a website demo that did a rendering. It still survives as http://www.dellerae.com/tenoch/ http://www.dellerae.com/tenoch/
- perilunar 3y agoI remember that site! Unfortunately the VR files now longer work without the VRML plugins, which are no longer available or supported (AFAIK). It could be made to work again with the X_ITE 3D Javascript viewer though, which I tried recently to view some old VRML files.
- ChrisMarshallNY 3y agoNicely done! Reminds me a bit of the 3D Starry Night. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Dt9ziemYA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Dt9ziemYA
- thomasfl 3y agoWhat a great project. I wonder how it was done. Blender and photoshop?
- mischa_u 3y agoMade using open-source software. Blender, Gimp and Darktable.
- jacquesm 3y agoThat's an amazing piece of work. Assuming accuracy: what strikes me is that certain features of the ancient city apparently carry over into the modern day and how ecologically balanced the older city looks compared to the new one. Another interesting feature seems to be that 'places of power' back then are still places of power today but different kinds of power.
- ThomasKole 3y agoHey all, author here! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. The question I always get from tech people - yes, all open source software. 90% Blender, 9% Gimp, 1% Darktable or so.
- asimpletune 3y agoWhat made you interested in doing this region? How did you find source material? Also, are you planning on doing more? I imagine that some nations would even give out grants for an open source and fully immersive, 3d version of some historical region. Like parts of classical or hellenic Greece for example, or Carthage, Cairo, Syracuse, Judea, etc... Thanks for making this btw, great work!
- ThomasKole 3y agoI can't really say why I got interested, it just happened. History in general is fascinating, and I find Meoamerican history extra special. I don't have any concrete plants for more, but who knows!
- yoyopa 3y agois there evidence of that many street trees, or was that artistic license
- ThomasKole 3y agoA bit of artistic license, but the trees play a crucial role. They are Ahuejotes, and they keep together the plots of farmland called Chinampas. You can see some of this today in Xochimilco. We don't know if that was what it was like in Tenochtitlan, but it is likely. What adds to this is the fact that the houses are all one story, so the trees look taller and more numerous than they are.
- PierreProstata 3y agoIn the same vein, many of today's boulevards and highways line up with old streets in your renders, is that a historical coincidence or is the Mexico City layout a direct result of Tenochtitlan remains despite its destruction?
- atombender 3y agoThis is fantastic. I'm curious what the sources are. I know there are some maps, books written by Spanish conquistadors, and so on. How much do we know about the city beyond the sites of significant historical events?
- akiselev 3y agoA surprising amount! They were mostly pictorial but the Aztecs and their vassal cities were very meticulous about keeping government records of all kinds and even though almost all of Tenochtitlan's documents were destroyed during the battle, some of them were backed up in other cities. Since the conquistadors spent some time in the city as guests of Montezuma, we've also got first hand accounts from the soldiers and friars.
- npsomaratna 3y agoThis is fantastic. One thought that came to my mind is: would mosquito borne diseases have been a problem in city surrounded by so much water?
- ThomasKole 3y agoI don't know much about that, but one of the districts was called "Moyotlan", or "place of the mosquitos" or "place of the gnats".
- npsomaratna 3y agoInteresting, thank you. I wonder if that that area had stagnant water, allowing mosquito growth.
- aegypti 3y agoMosquito borne disease didn’t exist in the Americas prior to contact, both the viruses and species that transmit them come from the old world. Cortes landed at Veracruz the next year, in 1519. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Acuna-Soto_EID-v8n4p360_Fig1.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Acuna-So...
- npsomaratna 3y agoUnderstood, thank you. That makes sense.
- aegypti 3y agoIt was a great question, and a great reason to make an HN account too!
- hvis 3y agoI guess when the aliens finally arrive, the important part will be to avoid hugging them.
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- h0l0cube 3y agoFor those who don't follow the Fall of Civilizations podcast, this is worth a listen/watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8JVdpWCKeM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8JVdpWCKeM
- jdmoreira 3y ago+1 for this! One of my favourite podcast episodes ever
- aa_is_op 3y agoThe only YouTube channel I've ever sponsored. They are just out of this world!
- e40 3y agoThis is incredible. Thanks!
- pests 3y agoI love his videos over the podcast despite being the same audio. The imagery he puts up is spot on and in no way filler. I find it aids my understanding of the topics.
- phist_mcgee 3y agoFallen Civilizations puts every other history podcast to shame. Dan Carlin's series is great, but even he can't hold a candle to amazing work that the Fallen Civilizations team put in.
- phist_mcgee 3y agoFallen Civilizations puts every other history podcast to shame. Dan Carlin's series is great, but even he can't hold a candle to the amazing work that Paul and the team put in.
- andsmedeiros 3y agoIt must have been such a beautiful city...
- rewsiffer 3y agoHow did the ancient city deal with sewage and waste?
- akiselev 3y agoTenochtitlan had a sophisticated system of urban planning with zoned public bathrooms (latrines, really) that were cleaned at night by a large labor force dedicated to keeping the city clean. The waste was collected by canoe from these bathrooms and dumped into the canal system where it decomposed and was later dredged up to fertilize and replenish the topsoil on the chinampas. Fresh drinking water was provided by mountain spring connected to the city by several aqueducts built in the 15th century.
- Springtime 3y agoOne day I hope there's a city building game that looks like this. Lovely work.
- moffkalast 3y agoReminds me of that Pharaoh remake that was out recently, but I suppose that one is Egypt only.
- ftyers 3y agoVery cool that you have the site translated in Nahuatl! Was the translator a native speaker? If so, of which variety?
- ThomasKole 3y agoAs far as I know, his family did speak it never passed it on, so he learn it afterwards. So semi-native, I guess. The variant is a central one, relatively close to the variant that would have been spoken by the Mexica.
- pwillia7 3y agoThis is so incredibly cool. Something about the first few shots with the pyramid in the distance and the rest of the land gave me goosebumps! It really feels like a secret photograph from 600 years ago
- pjs_ 3y agoIncredible work. Love the fog and rain, as well as the one outstanding shot with a simulated wide-angle lens (https://tenochtitlan.thomaskole.nl/image_dest/precinct_panorama_hd.jpg https://tenochtitlan.thomaskole.nl/image_dest/precinct_panor...).
- datameta 3y agoThe chinampas are a super neat example of agroforestry. The soil is extremely dark (like Ukrainian chernozem or better) and has a very low depletion per cycle. Some still exist and are being stewarded toward renewal and proliferation! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinampa?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinampa?wprov=sfla1 https://youtu.be/86gyW0vUmVs?si=zz61OacembAksi76 https://youtu.be/86gyW0vUmVs?si=zz61OacembAksi76
- Solvency 3y agoBuddy Levy's book on the Aztecs and Cortez is one of my favorites of all time. https://www.amazon.com/Conquistador-Hernan-Cortes-Montezuma-Aztecs/dp/0553384716 https://www.amazon.com/Conquistador-Hernan-Cortes-Montezuma-... It would be amazing if you created an interactive history experience based on this. I'd love to be able to jump around to see where all of the historical tentpole moments happened throughout the city, such as the mass slaughter that happened while Cortez was away, and other historically significant moments.
- vessenes 3y agoThomas, this is beautiful. If we found you a UE5 expert, would you be open to the assets being used to deliver some sort of experience with it? I feel like this is just too good not to try and deploy towards some street-level experiences.
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- pcl 3y agoThis is great, and really helps tie together the pre-Colombian history I've read about to the here-and-now. How feasible would it be to build some sort of AR component? In particular, I'd love to be able to see your rendering for my current position, as I wander around Mexico City.
- indie_rok 3y agoAs mexican (from Mexico City), seeing your house in the pictures and then the same area around a lake is just amazing! Kudos to this artist
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- aws-user 3y agoI like the detailed blood stained steps of the temples
- EugenioPerea 3y agoMexican Twitter went insane when this went viral a couple of months ago. Everyone loved it. Awesome work, Thomas. Thank you.
- rangerelf 3y agoThis is beautiful, thank you so much for sharing it.
- bborud 3y agoThe first thing that comes to mind when looking at this is the fragility of seemingly robust civilizations. We can only imagine a lifetime, or fractions thereof. Much of the world seems unchanging and we assume that our society is robust. Constant. It cannot perish. Yet every great civilization on before us has perished. It isn't that I think our cities will disappear, and with them, the people who live in them. But we take our stability and robustness for granted. We take democracy for granted. Even as it is eroding before our very eyes. In the entire world, democracy is in retreat. Totalitarianism is on the rise. New generations of politicians join politics, not to accomplish results, but to have polarising arguments, spout ideology and division, and to take selfies in front of the resulting chaos. All the best bits of the world I grew up in are lesser now.
- javier_e06 3y agoThis is amazing! I grew up in Coyoacán and until now I had to imagine a Venice like city surrounded by volcanoes. I imagined closely to reconstruction here. I am grateful.
- mlinksva 3y agoMesmerizing! Also thanks for sharing under CC-BY-4.0. Reminds me a bit of https://newpalmyra.org/ https://newpalmyra.org/ in spirit, though way more comprehensive. Love it in any case. I can't wait to be able to zoom around earth at any point in time and see a reasonable guess at what it looked like (presumably largely AI-generated). Or does this already exist?
- adwi 3y agoIncredible work. Even just aesthetically these images are beautiful. Perhaps consider selling prints of some of these? Dozens of companies can white-label and turnkey sales and fulfillment from your site (if you’re interested, many of these companies position themselves toward wedding photographers), and I’m sure people would like to support you and your work.
- phist_mcgee 3y agoI've always wondered how the lake was slowly filled in. Was it just a continuation of dumping rubble over time until the whole lake was displaced?
- bboygravity 3y agoCortez would NOT be happy right now. It was pretty much one of his life goals to remove all traces of the city from future reference if I understand correctly. Mission failed. Good.