How to Build an Architectural Model

This model is part of the Pink Apartment Project
Once upon a time, high up in an under-construction skyscraper the half-finished walls were dreaming of the apartments that would soon fill their rooms. One particular apartment started as a hand-drawn sketch.
To learn more about this sketch, visit the Modern Feminine Apartment post.

  And was born when a girl, armed with lots of foam core and hot glue, couldn't stand the torture of the apartment being two dimensional for its entire life. With her grandfather's advice she quickly devised the floorplan and went to work.

The computer floorplan.

The model floorplan.
The scale is 1/2"=1'.



An overview of the apartment.
The first step in creating this model was to cut the walls and floors out of foam core. I covered the walls in cardstock paper. I covered the bathroom floor in glossy paper that I traced a tile pattern onto. I covered the building hallway floor in felt. I covered the main room, entry hallway, and closet floors in white paper that I painted to look like woodgrain and cut into strips.

The model from the back.
Next, I made the windows. I cut out the main window shape from the foam core wall. Then, I cut a piece of clear plastic the same size as the wall and added a strip of white tape to match the design in the drawing. I made a frame from white cardstock, and glued the layers together.


The entry hallway, as seen from the main room.
To make the entry and bathroom doors, I cut out two pieces of foam core and painted them red and cream. To make the closet doors, I painted a section of the wall cream. I used BBs that I got from my dad as handles on all of the doors.
The kitchen as seen from outside.
Next, I made cabinets and shelves out of thick paper, added doors made of chipboard, and painted them cream. I painted the island cabinet red-orange and added black shiny cardstock countertops.



Welcome to Apartment 527!
The front of the model is decorated to look like the hallway of an apartment complex. This apartment is number 527.

Kitchen:

The kitchen is basic, yet stylish with a double oven, breakfast bar, and pink backsplash tile.
The chairs at the breakfast bar are made of foam core and painted pink.

Fridge and Oven.
To make the fridge, I used white chipboard. I added the stick of a Q-tip as the handle. To make the oven, I cut windows out of black paper. Then I cut clear plastic to fit behind the windows. I painted the cabinet behind the windows grey. I punched straight pins through the paper to make knobs. 

Kitchen island and main countertop.
To make the backsplash I copied graph paper onto pink cardstock. To make the cooktop I laced wire through a piece of cardboard in a star shape and colored the cardboard black. To make the hood I folded a piece of white cardstock and painted it grey. 

Kitchen sink.
To make the kitchen sink, I cut a rectangle out of the countertop. Then I made a box out of white cardstock to fit in the cut-out. I made the faucet out of earring wire and added a drain with black sharpie.

Bathroom:

Bathroom.
The bathroom wasn't pictured in the original sketch, so I got to make it up. I chose to put it in the front corner, near the bedroom. The light blue walls define the bathroom, but touches of pink (the soap bottle, the towel, the shower tile) tie it into the rest of the apartment.

The vanity in the bathroom
I made the vanity the same way that I made the rest of the cabinetry for the apartment: made the main shape out of thick paper, added chipboard doors and painted it cream. The vanity is the bottom part of a ping-pong ball that my grandpa cut out. The faucet is earring wire. I found the soap bottle in a bin of old Polly Pocket dolls. I found the mirror in my scrapbooking stuff.

The shower and toilet in the bathroom.
My grandpa and I thought forever on how we were going to make a toilet. In the end, he cut the lid out of foam core and I added a paper cylinder under it and a rectangle behind it. The shower base is made out of foam core, and the walls are made of thick paper. The tile is graph paper that I printed on pink and white paper. I made the shower head by attaching a small punched out circle to jewelry wire. The shower curtain was my dad's genius idea. I took a piece of sheer fabric, soaked it in glue, pinned it in a curved shape, and let it dry. The curtain rod is a piece of a metal clothes hangar.

Desk:

Desk.
The desk is to the left of the kitchen. The chair is made of foam core that I painted brown and has a foam core pillow covered in floral fabric. The desk is made of chipboard with a black cardstock top. The shelves above are made of chipboard painted cream.

Closet:
The closet is at your left when you first walk in. The rod is made from a metal clothes hangar. I found the purple hangars in a bin of old Polly Pockets.

Bedroom:
Bedroom.
The bed is in the main room of the apartment. It is a Murphy bed, so if you have guests over you can fold it away and set up a dinner table. In the original sketch, the nightstand was built into the cabinet, but there wasn't enough room for it in the model. The bed is made of foam and covered in pink fabric that was soaked in glue and pinned into the shape of sheets. The headboard is a piece of foam core covered in floral fabric. The red pillow is a piece of foam covered in fabric and the brown pillow is the soft side of a Velcro square covered in fabric.

Living Room:
Living Room.
The cabinet unit above the bed continues into the living room.
The armchair in the living room.
To make the armchair and couch, I first made the main part out of foam core and painted it brown. Then I made cushions out of foam core and covered them in fabric. I made the side table out of a piece of foam core on top of four pieces of bobby pins. The lamp is a toothpick with a cardstock shade and base.

Art and Accessories:
The personalized accessories are what makes this model an apartment and not just a large hotel room.


I found shoes in a bin of old Polly Pocket stuff and set them next to the bed.

The sculptures in the corner of the kitchen.
I made sculptures out of Popsicle sticks and put them in the corner of the kitchen. I painted them two shades of pink with brown bases. 

A painting in the bedroom.
I painted light and dark pink stripes onto a piece of white cardstock and framed it in dark pink chipboard. 

A painting in the living room.
This painting was an important part of the original sketch, and recreating it for the model was fun. First, I painted the sunset backdrop. Then, I drew the Eiffel Tower and surrounding skyline. Last, I painted the buildings and framed it in a purple chipboard frame.
Shelves above the desk.
To fill the many shelves around the apartment, I made mini books out of chipboard, copied photos of my family and friends really small and mounted them on white paper, and found little beads or Lego's that look like vases and boxes.
To make the laptop that is on the desk, I folded a piece of grey paper and drew a keyboard on the bottom half. Then I printed out a screenshot of my computer and glued it to the top half.
In the bathroom I made a towel rod from a piece I found in a Lego bin and hung a piece of fabric from it. In the kitchen there is a mini pitcher and wine glass.


I also made light switches and electrical outlets. Can you find all THREE light switches and SIX electrical outlets?
You can see my model at the Nevada County Fair from Wednesday August 10 2011 to Sunday August 14 2011. It will be in the Northern Mines Building. It is entered in the Junior Models Department.
If walls could dream... they'd dream of this design becoming a real apartment one day.