Practice Handmade models

Room (Firt model)

The first attempt of the model used only cardboard, draft paper and wooden boards as the basis. As shown below, this is a room with full furniture, a sofa, a table, two chairs, a small table and a bookcase. The windows are open on one side of the desk, so when people work or study in the morning, sunlight will flow through the stained glass to the desk to provide natural light.

The second attempt of this model was based on the first model. The settings are the same as before, but more elements are added. In this model, the bookcase changes from a large closed cabinet to two two-story open bookcases hanging on the wall. The sofa also became larger with a small coffee table in the middle. In addition, in order to enhance the beauty of the space, the walls were changed to floor-to-ceiling windows with a bumpy texture. In the middle of the French window is a triangular door. There is a ladder next to a small loft where people can store their stuff.

Whole view

Top view

Following picture shows room with different light condition.

Light 1

Light 2

Light 3

Light 4

Light 5

House (Second Model)

day 1

Because of the lack of materials, the bottom of the 

house is made of snack boxes. 

I cut the box and re-pasted it into a two-layer space.

I decided to make a curved roof

As  you can seen that the roof structure is very unstable and leans to one side. 

I tried a few time to fix the structure with more glue but it doesn't work.

day 2

I paste the entire roof with white paper to make it look better.

This is a small room and its path

Although the back of the house is closed, I added another layer 

so that when the sunlight penetrates the room, the light will form stripes.

At the same time I opened the skylight above the room so that the

 sunlight can be reflected to different angles.

That's what I got after a day's work.

Day 3

I changed my mind. Compared to the second floor, 

I decided to make the first floor vertical to 

make it become the wall of the house. I think the more height 

of the house is conducive to the change of light and 

gives a greater sense of space and freedom.

At the same time, I did not give up the idea of ​​the second floor, 

I added a layer of foam board and made a spiral staircase

Added a wall to my path

This is the finished product for today

Day 4

I paste white paper on the entire wall and floor and
cut the path and reshaped to the the entrance
 with a cross window. The entrance window was sealed
with tracing paper therefore the light penetration is higher.

I added a small table and two small chairs in the room

Day 5 

I remade a staircase with the cardboard with each step 
only connect with its upper and bottom step in the 
middle to form more convenient and interesting path. 
At the same time, I also added a small sofa at the bottom. 
This semi-enclosed space allows people to rest and relax.




For the wall, I used foam board on one side and
tracing paper on the other to make the hollow windows.
In this case, the sunlight will form beautiful shadow on the floor.




Second floor is the bedrooms and I made two small bed and one lamp.



Finally, my house is done.

Room with light

Roof

Structure Space (Third Model)

It can be seen that my first few models were all made of paper and whiteboard, but none of these models can give me the thickness, texture, and a clean feeling that I want. The flexibility of these material allows me to conduct further study on folding technique as it allows stress-free bends, curves and inclinations. However, at this fourth attempt, I want a more aesthetically-peasing model with a neat and tidy appearance. The softness and the thinnes of the paper make the model difficult to stand and the structure alway deformed by external influences. In this case, I started to consider the wood model which will provide higher resitatnce and a greater level of detail. However because of the coronavirus, the wood I purchased online could not be delivered on time, so I thought of ice cream sticks. I started thinking about how the ice cream sticks can interweave or align with each other and form a space.  I tried to arrange ice-cream sticks in a variety of different spatial structures, and observe the shadows formed by them. These are several structures that I prefer.

Based on these structures, I started to build my space. I kept on arranging these structures to try to find a solution that can perfectly blend these structures together. Finally, I found some interesting arrangement that form space. (I made a small stick person to shows the proportion of the model)

I rendered some pictures to make the shadow clearer. 

The shadow looks very ethereal.

And I found that when the hue is blue, this model looks futuristic technology.

Lodge (Fourth Model)

The second model produced was inspired by materials. Wood reminded me of a log cabin, which was small but full of nature. I began to arrange the ice cream sticks neatly together the wall, the floor, the roof. This is a long and boring process and to be honest, I would say the construction is desperate. One reason for that is the lack of effective and quick-drying glue. Each time I paste the sticks together, I need to fix the model by hand for a period of time and you found that you spent whole morning just finished one side of the wall. At the same time, as the glue I used is not suitable for the wood, parts of the model may collapse next day which is very frustrating. For this reason, I have tried four different glues to find the best one for my model. The second diffculty is the lack of sharp tools for cuting the ice cream stick. It is too hard to cut with the utility knife. Even though I have tried to grind it slowly, almost no effect is seen. Finally I can only use the cleaver to cut the stick. 

In this model, I designed two different types of the roof, one with three separate layers which is the first picture and the second one is the largest rood lean to the wall where the wall separates the space into private and public area.

Three-layer roofs

One large roof with a wall separate the space into two parts

From the picture, It can be seen that I have tried different ways to construct the wall and the window therefore when the light come through, the pattern will be more interesting. 

                                                  

Window 1

Window 2

Window 3





Wall 1

Wall 2

Wall 3

Close view

Sleep on the bed

Then I tried to render my model into some different things by using photoshop. The first idea come into my mind is to change the material of the model. I use different patterns and combine them all together to makes the following picture and I call it Random space becuase it looks like a chaotic and strange space between 2D and 3D.

Random space

Then I extracted the model from the original background and then changed the background and combined different elements to make it looks like a real estate picture in the newspaper.

Property infomation in newspaper

As my model is made of wood, the first suitable background came into my mind was the bamboo forest. I found a bamboo forest picture and then readjusted my model to fit the enviroment. After that I use the "find edge" to make the picture looks more quiet and clean.This reminds me of a happy and peaceful country life.

Bamboo lodge


Then I began to think about how the model would look if different filteres were applied and that is how the model picture collection showing below is formed

Set of models with different filters

When I finished the model, I started to think about how the model would be destroyed and how it would look, which gave me the inspiration for this ‘Broken model’.

Broken model

Finally, I tested the performance of shadows in the model. I really like the shadow of the model when it is displayed on the wall and that reminds me of Japan house. It clearly shows the structure of the model and looks super cool. I recorded two videos for the shadow outside and then I made a close record in the model. It shows how the light changes with the sunset and shows its shape.

Model presentation