Visualizing Pachacamac: Mamacona

I created this model as part of a summer research project under Dr. Norman Badler and Dr. Clark Erickson. The goal of this project was to parameterize crowd simulations in Unreal Game Engine based on archaeological site of Pachacamac in Peru. While I also experimented with crowd simulations in Houdini, my biggest contribution to the project was the construction of the following detailed building model:

The Mamacona, also known as Acllahuasi, meaning "House of the Chosen Women" in Quechua, was an important religious building on the Pachacamac site. I studied current photos of the site, overhead maps, and diagrams from the original site excavation in order to accurately reconstruct the entire building, paying attention to all the rooms, doorways, stairs, and passageways.

The following are all closer up shots of various portions of the building:

The following two images show a similar portion of the building, but the second has two roof pieces hidden so the inside of the building can be seen.

For more details on the actual research project, please see the research poster below: