Fallingwater

Fallingwater - Real-Time Environment (Unreal Engine)

I’m proud to present this fully realized recreation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, developed in Maya and brought to life in Unreal Engine. This project represents several weeks of focused work, aiming to deliver a high-quality point of interest and a richly detailed scene that strives for architectural and environmental accuracy and cinematic presentation.

The structure was carefully rebuilt based on historical reference imagery, fully re-textured, and integrated into a hand-sculpted terrain designed to reflect the natural topography of western Pennsylvania. Using Unreal Engine’s Landscape and Foliage tools, I populated the environment with regionally accurate vegetation—including maple, beech, and rhododendron—to reinforce a strong sense of place and historical authenticity.

All interior props were custom-modeled in Maya, including key furniture pieces like vintage sofas, tables, chairs, and zabutons. Each asset was UV-mapped and textured using a PBR workflow in Substance Painter and Photoshop, then imported into Unreal Engine to populate the home’s multiple levels based on photo reference.

To enhance the cinematic and narrative potential of the scene, I created two distinct lighting setups using the Ultra Dynamic Sky plugin. The first captures a warm Golden Hour, with sunlight aligned to emphasize both natural and architectural focal points, particularly the creek that cuts through the composition. The second lighting scenario shifts into a moonlit night atmosphere
that creates a more atmospheric and immersive night scene. Inspired by personal experience growing up in rural Pennsylvania, I added animated fireflies to heighten realism and evoke a sense of place, suitable for both game environments and cinematic scenes.

All aspects of the project—including planning, modeling, texturing, material creation, lighting, shaders, environment design, and rendering—were completed solely by me.