[Video] Student spends 300 hours creating 3D virtual model of Amsterdam

26-year-old Sebastien Reinik set himself a rather unique and time-consuming challenge for the coronavirus lockdown: he wanted to recreate the city of Amsterdam on a one to one scale in the video game, Cities: Skylines. 

A digital 3D model of Amsterdam

The game is used by architecture enthusiasts to create their own buildings and cities, proving the player with complete control over road placements, public transport services, and even taxes! But where many youngster’s use the game to design and build a house, Reinik took it one step further. 

Last spring, when he was still an urban design student at TU Delft, Reinik decided to make the most of all the time he suddenly had on his hands. He wanted to “recreate Amsterdam as closely as possible in the game,” as he painstakingly rebuilt all the tourist attractions and parks. Take a look at the digital Amsterdam he created in the video below!

So what’s next on the cards for Reinik? Since graduating from Delft, he has started working as an urban planner for the province of North Holland, and is now looking forward to starting work on creating a completely new Dutch city.