Academic · NWTC

The Slate

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Original design and visualization by Ian Alkajami · Image enhanced using generative AI

AI enhancement adds materials, lighting, and landscape; it is not a construction record.

I designed a compact lakeside cabin around a simple form and floor-to-ceiling glazing, then built the original visualization by hand in Photoshop. Plans and sections record the spatial proposal.

My contribution: Original design, documentation & Photoshop visualization
Tools used here: AutoCAD · Photoshop

Academic · Unbuilt · Submitted drawings retain the title “The Grand Slate”

Open 8-sheet drawing set

01 · Form & setting

Keep the form
simple.

The design uses a clear geometric form and floor-to-ceiling windows to give the small interior a strong relationship with its setting. The glazing makes the lake part of the experience of the cabin while the compact scale preserves the feeling of a retreat.

I built this original visualization by hand in Photoshop, layer by layer and brushstroke by brushstroke. The comparison at the top of this page pairs that original image with its AI-enhanced interpretation, while the original remains visible here on its own.

The Slate visualized in a wooded lakeside setting — Original Photoshop visualization · Hand-composited

02 · Drawings

Read the design
in plan and section.

The floor plan shows how the cabin’s spaces fit within a modest footprint. Selected elevations and a section provide another way to understand its proportions, openings, and overall form.

The visualization establishes the atmosphere; the academic drawing set records the design in more detail. Keeping both together makes the cabin legible as a spatial proposal as well as an image.