The architect’s intention for this study model was to ‘wow’ the marketing and developer clients with details, without getting into the time and expense of a true marketing model.  The clients were so impressed that they asked us to immediately start work on a highly detailed and highly realistic version for their sales office.

What started as a concept for a ‘simple’ model to present to the City of Oakland, turned into a complex model that had all of the essential architectural elements for a sales center presentation, except internal lights.  One could easily be misled by the small 9″ x 8″  footprint translating to simplicity.  In this case, with every floor being represented and every part being transparent, the size was not an advantage, but a challenge.  This client got a lot of bang for their buck, for sure!

What started as a concept for a ‘simple’ model to present to the City of Oakland, turned into a complex model that had all of the essential architectural elements for a sales center presentation, except internal lights.  One could easily be misled by the small 9″ x 8″  footprint translating to simplicity.  In this case, with every floor being represented and every part being transparent, the size was not an advantage, but a challenge.  This client got a lot of bang for their buck, for sure!

This is a good example of how a quality presentation of a residence can be made with sufficient detail from simple study model materials and professional processes.  Really good trees help!

Various materials and model making processes were used to produce the right ‘soft’ look and feel for presentation to the City of Oakland.  They now have a suitable long-term promotion piece as the project is further designed and developed toward final approvals and construction.  The context was made of basswood, and included an existing building on the site that showed a higher level of detail by layering architectural elements in its facade.  It also included a simple representation of the new proposed ‘green’ roof.  The feature building was primarily constructed of laser cut, scored acrylic which was then back-painted and tinted.  We used custom-made painted brass etchings for the long vertical windmill element and the horizontal eyebrows, since they needed to be rigid and remain stable at this small scale.

In order to emphasize their unique design, the architects at Gensler requested that we create a more transparent effect for the windows than our usual back-painted technique.  The mid-rise building design also required that we model a detailed perforated screen structure on the outside of the building, which we accomplished by painting metal-etched supports that securely tab into the building, with woven strips of plastic representing the screen panels.  The perforations were simulated with over-sprays in just the right density to give the structure the see-through look the architects intended.

You never know if chipboard will conform properly to a particular shape until you try it.  This aquarium’s design structure is smart, conjuring up the look and feel of waves.  That same effect had to work on our model, and in very short order.  Luckily, chipboard does bend, at least as much as we needed it to in this case, and we were able to produce a simple, study-style model that had enough detail to be an effective presentation tool.

Large scale models are all about experiencing a place well before it actually exists.  This scale affords us the opportunity to simulate colors and textures of materials in a highly realistic way that is often not practical at smaller scales.  At Gemmiti Model Art, one of our mantras is “if you are going to do it, do it right!” Wood elements have to be made of wood (as opposed to painted acrylic), stone must have just the right number of over-sprays to get the proper depth, and details, such as railings and grates, have to be rigid, straight, and perfectly duplicated.  Not only is the right tint on the windows important; the right degree of transparency is key to the overall effect of the model.

We rushed, then waited to hear how this model was received by the Prime Minister of Bahrain.  Upon the architects’ return, they were happy to report that he “liked it so much that he replaced a model of a mosque on his desk with it.”

Set in one of the most beautiful parts of South Carolina, the gorgeous homes at Cliffs at Keowee Springs are nestled in pristine woods with a country club at the top of a hill!  This first model shows the overall property, for orientation and sales purposes, and features: the layout of the road system, the size of the lots, topography, views, and, of course, the lake.  With a site model, landscape, tones, and textures are everything.  In preparation for construction, we make the extra effort to research and match vegetation, water hues, and ground surfaces of the region.  Ideally, the potential buyer doesn’t just look at a model but gets a little excited about the possibility of actually living there.

When the Exploratorium Observatory relocated from the Palace of Fine Arts to Piers 15 & 17, the best approach (in practical, visual, tactile, and scientific terms) to thoroughly plan ahead its move was through the use of a scale model.  This was a study model made from laser cut museum board (no pun intended) with open roofs and full access to the museum spaces.  What started out as a simple all-white space and volume study evolved into an intricate color study, as well.

The use of cork is a low-tech approach to the construction of models that will never completely go out of fashion.  It’s natural earthy quality, consistent texture, and size variety make it a tried and true material for site models.  Since laser cutting burns cork black, each of these fine layers (.050″ or 2′ high contours at this scale) was hand-cut and bonded to complete the 45′ of vertical rise.  Usually, it is more practical to machine a smooth topo out of foam, especially when the number of contour layers would make it very labor intensive to hand cut out of cork.  On site models of this size and complexity, however, it is still a viable option.  An added benefit of using cork is the ability to pin elements to its surface—it supports the rigors of design and retains its pristine quality.

With currently available technologies, we are able to produce a higher level of accuracy and detail in tiny buildings.  Those topping out at a miniscule 1/2″ height, are now able to include overhangs, chimneys, and all of the complex intersecting gable elements that can be designed in 3D CAD.  It is a common misconception that the use of one tool or technology will get it all done in one shot.  In fact, as is demonstrated in this one small section of the model, our use of CNC machining, laser cutting, model landscaping, finishing and painting techniques, and dozens of hand tools (as well as good old-fashion know-how) helped produce a model that truly gives the viewer a sense of being there.

This model was primarily made to orient a potential buyer of a luxury home to a golf course community located in an idyllic setting in Northern California.  Our intention was to capture the color and textural qualities of natural California grasses and provide just enough detail in the tiny buildings (accurate roof shapes, etc.) to get a feel for the character of the homes.  Separate roof colors also reduce the optical illusion of single masses of buildings, thus producing a more realistic experience than a single tone could.  Overall, the effect was meant to be less like looking at a mere “model” and more like flying over the site in a helicopter.

These days, it is more work to build a ‘stepped contour’ topo model than one in it’s natural smooth state.  The reason being that preparing the file for machining involves many hours of CAD time to add contour lines at each and every inside corner and outside or ‘top’ corner of a step.  Thirty years ago, we would trace a map with a router on a sliding tripod.  Today, we create a 3D surface file and translate that into program code, which controls the x, y, and z axes of our huge 5-axis CNC router.  The result is very clean and precise—even when machining a piece of foam.

This model is one of many that we’ve inserted into the all-encompassing Stanford Planning Model over the last 30 years.  Our guess is that the model was originally made in the late 60s or early 70s.  It’s just part of the fabric of Stanford Planning and is continually updated whenever a new project is in construction or recently completed.  The only reason we could figure for the odd 25 scale (1″=25′) was that is was twice as big as 50 scale (1″=50′.)  This building was a nice addition in terms of the level of detail we were able to achieve on both the multi-layered window frames and the trellis, in particular.

When the quarry is finished digging at great depth, the plan is to make it an inlet with waterfront property.  With this model, our clients were able to demonstrate the before and after with model puzzle pieces.  Seeing the actual relationship between the neighborhood and the quarry, and having the benefit of this tool to present the plan, leaves very little to the imagination.  Therein lies the value of a model in the presentation of a long term plan.  And, yes… San Rafael and the San Francisco bay do look this beautiful from above!

When Donald Fisher met opposition in building his first proposal of the Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio, this second design option was presented.  Neither option worked, so his art collection was ultimately housed at SF MOMA.  As is evident in the seams around three areas featuring ‘removable plugs,’ this model was used for more extensive study development options in the Presidio.  Both the topo and the buildings were CNC machined (we have a small one for small parts, such as buildings and a huge one for large parts, such as topographic bases.)  It takes a little extra effort to machine a stepped topo , but the result is sculptural and informative.  We also thought the color pallet was very elegant.

This model was scheduled to be on a plane to Abu Dhabi with no time to spare, so the best we could do photo-wise was this detailed shot of a single sun shade or ‘trumpet.’  The design of this piece was tricky, but once resolved, it was fairly straight-forward to duplicate with a high level of consistency and quality.  There were many sunshades surrounding the pool which cast really interesting shadow patterns across the expansive podium space.

Sometimes the style of a model is completely sculptural, as with a wood model or an all-white model.  Other times, the style is highly realistic as in Hacienda Cabo, where we captured the foam of the waves on the beach perfectly.  Every once in a while, as with this model of Stanford FCTR School of Medicine, the style takes on a character of its own.  The site was simple and clean.  The color pallet was muted, yet bold, and the building included every architectural detail—a very compelling presentation with an equally deliberate focus.

Sometimes the style of a model is completely sculptural, as with a wood model or an all-white model.  Other times, the style is highly realistic as in Hacienda Cabo, where we captured the foam of the waves on the beach perfectly.  Every once in a while, as with this model of Stanford FCTR School of Medicine, the style takes on a character of its own.  The site was simple and clean.  The color pallet was muted, yet bold, and the building included every architectural detail—a very compelling presentation with an equally deliberate focus.

The architects came to us with the requirement that this gift of Model Art™ be presented in a ‘bento box’ motif, as it would be presented to someone who had a particular affinity for all things Japanese.  Since we did not want to take away from the delicate surface detail showing the layout of this very special location, we took a more subtle approach to the presentation and allowed the focus to be on the plan for the Peninsula Humane Society Habitat.  A facility for education stands at the entrance, but most of this property is off limits to humans; the exception being specialists like Jane Goodall who treat the animals and help them get back to their natural environment.  This is such a cool place.  We love our jobs!

The topography of Murphy Winery was CNC machined out of solid basswood.  The hardscape was shown as a tint and the buildings included laser-scored details to communicate just the right amount of detail for presentation.

This model was made to study a fairly intricate architectural revision and update.  To keep the presentation simple yet informative, we constructed the model from chipboard.  Gray chipboard is a nice alternative to its more common brown counterpart, though the latter is better at hiding laser cutting burn marks.  As you can see, the courtyard was incomplete. The construction of a model out of paper products allows for revision.  The architect will typically use this type of model as a design tool to study various solutions until they are ready to present once again.  At that point in time, the model is returned to us for rebuilding to the latest scheme.  A high quality scale model, whether made of paper, wood, or plastic, is always more effective and less distracting in a design presentation.  Luckily for us, most architects leave that job to the professionals!

Not all models are made with intricate detail and realism.  However, all models produced at Gemmiti Model Art are made to serve a purpose.  In this case, the owner needed to able to visualize and study the shape of the house and the adjoining driveway access.  There is something simple and sweet about this little study model.  We had to include it as an example of how we proudly work the other end of the complexity and detail spectrum.  It is purpose that gives this and any other model its value.

This model is a perfect example of a single family residence made for design review, sales presentation, and approval purposes.  We combined high technology (laser cutting and scoring) and low cost materials (chipboard) to achieve enough detail to communicate the design of the proposed home without the added labor and cost associated with producing a highly realistic model.  The result enabled the owner to provide full and clear disclosure to the city, who likely required a model.

This beautiful piece of property is located on San Francisco Bay.  The proposed development included a marina, an entire road system, and several future parcels, along with one commercial property that is in the conceptual development phase.  We had enough information to build this model with intricate detail on the two commercial buildings, tiny palms, rip rap, boats, and the bay, which featured excellent color presentation.  An interplay of depth and surface texture made this model truly compelling.

University of California, San Francisco held a design competition for a parking garage destined for its Mission Bay campus.  The architect thoughtfully matched the character of the building with the garage design, conveniently and beautifully sidestepping the less becoming ‘open-slab’ effect.  Due, in no small part, to its cost effectiveness, this was the winning design!

Imagine what it would be like to not only own a piece of  property on a hill in beautiful Sonoma wine country, but also have the resources to really study its land, and plan and create a vision for how the property would best be experienced and enjoyed.  Dream became reality with the construction of this model.  The light over-spaying of the tree line is there as a subtle guideline of available space.  Sometimes, you can’t just dream something up and expect it to work; you need to see it, experience it, and live with it to know for sure.

Here, it was important to interpret the screen, which largely covers the garage façade, creatively rather than literally.  The holes in the perforated panels are very small and the overall pattern is essentially a flattened graphic of the hole pattern of a tree, or lots of trees.  Instead of using a fine screen to get the right scaled effect and risking an important design concept being missed, we went with an exaggerated etched pattern that greatly enhanced the designer’s intent.

An otherwise overlooked aspect within larger projects, we absolutely love public-space requirements in San Francisco developments!

In order for this model to read right, the tinting of the windows and the selection of the color pallet (which included copper and green) were crucial.  Our interpretation of the actual materials at this scale really made the difference.  It was eventually incorporated into the bigger Mission Bay East model, which is featured elsewhere in our portfolio.

As tiny as the details of this model are, it was very important that the delicate features were properly communicated in our material and color selection, as well as our interpretation of how certain features should be modeled at this scale.  It would have been easier to reduce the number of patterns and setbacks in the surface and back-paint the windows.  Making the extra effort to provide a bit more realism and accuracy by showing depth behind the windows and every little score line really contributed towards achieving a certain “wow” factor with the architects.

Multi-family housing models are more complex to build than some satellites!  This project had over 600 individual wall pieces to design, organize, laser cut, assemble, and paint (in multiple colors.)  Additionally, as is the case with intricate housing projects, the architecture was in the design development phase.  It required focus to reach the end of the process of building a model with a myriad of parts fitting together as planned.  That said, the intricacies, color variations, and layering of the architecture all contribute to the reason why people would ultimately want to live here.

Twenty-five years ago, we made ‘planning models’ that projected the growth of San Francisco over the following few decades.  The development and growth seemed a bit unreal, given the population and activity of the city at the time.  Today, however, Mission Bay—once a vast empty space in the southern section of San Francisco—is a growing community that supports science, technology, housing, and a university.  We’ve had the opportunity to build several projects for San Francisco Mission Bay, as seen throughout our portfolio.  Thinking back to a time when only vast, empty space lay before a downtown high-rise, it is still intriguing how a group of people can embrace an idea that will shape the fabric of a community and work together for decades to come.  It has been an honor to be part of that group.

Twenty-five years ago, we made ‘planning models’ that projected the growth of San Francisco over the following few decades.  The development and growth seemed a bit unreal, given the population and activity of the city at the time.  Today, however, Mission Bay—once a vast empty space in the southern section of San Francisco—is a growing community that supports science, technology, housing, and a university.  We’ve had the opportunity to build several projects for San Francisco Mission Bay, as seen throughout our portfolio.  Thinking back to a time when only vast, empty space lay before a downtown high-rise, it is still intriguing how a group of people can embrace an idea that will shape the fabric of a community and work together for decades to come.  It has been an honor to be part of that group.

This is a fine example of an unusual use of material and color that really works.  The tower was made of milk acrylic.  Each floor was represented (as can be subtly observed) and the entire skin was made flush.  It, along with the black acrylic base, was left in it’s natural glossy finish for a shiny reflective surface.  This was an architectural model that really came off as a piece of modern art, or as we like to say, Model Art™!

Our contact at the City of Palo Alto originally wanted simple building shapes that would sit loosely on an aerial photograph of downtown Palo Alto’s South of Forest Area.  Our first thought was, “who is going to be the one to sit there and realign over 100 loose buildings when someone bumps the table or wants to move the model?”  Because we wanted the most useful presentation tool, we proposed mounting sheet metal to the underside of the aerial photo and embedding magnets in each of the buildings.  The city planners loved the idea!  We also glued the trees into doughnut shaped magnets so they could be scattered throughout or concentrated in the proposed development areas.  We used high-strength magnets so that the model could be displayed vertically without fear of the heavier buildings falling off.  As a bonus, we added boundary graphics and street names before printing the aerial, and applied a dry-erase laminate to the surface to protect the photograph and allow the city planners to draw directly on the model.  The planners were able to have discussions around a table, then present the ideas to an audience, while holding the model totally vertical!  We accomplish Model Art™ whenever we produce purposeful presentations.

Destiny USA conducted an extensive search for “the best model makers in the country” to build the models for its visionary green project in Syracuse, NY.  After introductions, phone interviews, a portfolio submission, months of waiting, and a cross-country interview, Gemmiti Model Art was selected to join the design and development team.  It’s been a privilege to work with a group that values our input and years of experience in designing and producing presentation models.  The model pictured was the first model constructed, and it was used in an early presentation to give an overview of the project.  We managed to move from early conceptual information to a finished project in 10 days (and nights!)  They were thrilled with the results, and a second model of the Destiny Fashion District followed.  We look forward to our continued involvement with the Destiny team.

This competition model was challenging and unique because the clients were still finalizing their designs four days before the presentation due date.  In the end, we produced a model with 20 individual, interchangeable parts; half of these parts made in the final two days of construction.

The competition brief for an addition to the existing SFMOMA building called for entries made of raw, simple materials rather than detailed, elaborate marketing models. Judges were looking for models that gave a clean, unadorned feel of the proposed work. Our clients, Jensen & Macy Architects, came to us and selected a raw material that had the look and feel they wanted. We were happy to show them different options, and they were happy with a model that won the competition!

The best platform for selling hundreds of units is a sales center featuring a detailed marketing model as its centerpiece, showing all the colors, textures, and amenities of the project.  It was an arduous process to achieve the proper green, brown, gold, and tan tones on this model.  The design was exceptionally intricate and challenging to build to our quality standards, but the payoff was in the finished product: an interesting and inviting model of a multi-family development.

The scale of this model allows us to show all architectural features, from decorative brackets to shingle siding, detailed trim, wall-mounted lamps, café tables, and interior lighting.  By randomly blocking windows we create a more realistic appearance than a light-box style model.  Regardless of the degree of detail or realism required, a Gemmiti Model Art marketing model facilitates the viewer experience by eliminating the distractions characteristic of low-quality models.  We are committed to producing the highest quality work as it represents not only the quality of the project itself but that of the design, designers, and development company, as well.

Developers often have to decide whether they want a simple “topo table” (the term commonly used for a flat plan with “monopoly” houses) or a model that is more realistically colored and textured so that one can experience the layout of the lots, changes in grade, and natural vegetation of the site.  An accurately rendered topography model is an actual experience that enables your sales prospect to orient themselves to the finished project while bulldozers are pushing around the dirt outside.  Models are the centerpiece in the sales office because they answer the question, “What is this place actually going to feel like?”

What better, more effective way to sell property that is still under construction than to present the end result in full realism and detail?  Prospective buyers can experience the building in its three-dimensional, finished form—something that even a well done two-dimensional rendering can never achieve.  At this scale, we are able to capture small differences in the depths of surface planes.  We accurately simulated stone with multiple colors of over-sprays, lit the interiors, and added the rows of bamboo for the intended look and feel of the environment.  With scale references such as cars, doors, and trees, one is able to imagine oneself within the model and understand the spatial relationships of various components of the project.

This was the first of two design options and locations proposed for Donald Fisher’s extensive modern art collection.  This model was made to be an intricate puzzle with lift-off sections revealing all interior art gallery spaces.  We loved duplicating the priceless sculptures in miniature and were intrigued by the unique aspect of the exterior wall stone pattern.  We managed to manipulate it with laser score lines, of varying weights, to create the optical illusion of a 3D effect.  It simply worked, no matter how closely, or from which angle, one looked.

There are so many layers of detail packed into this tiny-scale competition model that we relished the look on the architect’s face at first sight of the finished product—a design they likely agonized over day and night to perfect.  This little model had it all and felt fully detailed.  For us, being able to produce it with such high quality results was a proud accomplishment.  We loved the cooling system solar panel airfoil roof design.  In order reduce cooling costs and the environment impact of the design (its actual location being two degrees from the equator), we came up with an elegant solution to circulate the air through the roof.  We laser-scored and heat formed super thin material to be as true to scale as possible.  The top curved up and the bottom curved down.  The trick was in the finish and assembly: it had to be light, while still reading like solar panels, and with very few places to attach parts to each other and to the building.