AARON LIM | MODELMAKING 2002–2010Portfolio Submission for Network Modelmakers

Aaron Lim 20102

CONCEPT MODEL

“Auction House,” 2005The Bartlett , London

piano wire, brass, canvas, linen, foam, chip board, acetate, buttons10x36x24”

This model was executed while a study abroad student at The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment in London. The model is constructed of a hand-soldered piano wire frame onto which miniature canvas and wire furniture pieces are hung.

In order to achieve a weathered, antique look, I experiemented with a variety of ma-terials and fi nishing techniques. The variety of materials used and the level of detail achieved attempt to show a level of playfulness to the design. For example, wood buttons were used as whleels, miniature furniture pieces were composed to piano wire and canvas fabric. The model is intended to be mobile, as if a child’s toy.

Aaron Lim 2010 3

CONCEPT MODEL

Aaron Lim 20104

CONCEPT MODEL

“School of Journalism,” 2006The Cooper Union, New York

plywood, basswood36 x 36”

This model was built while a 4th year architecture student at The Cooper Union in New York. In order to achieve a variety of formal expressions of landscape and topography in using a single material, I used a variety of woodcutting tools and tech-niques such as dato saw, table saw, routers, chisels, and circular sanders.

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CONCEPT MODEL

Aaron Lim 20106

PROTOTYPE MODEL

“Osborn Dollhouse,” 2007–2008Kathy Osborn Illustrator, New York

piano wire, brass, canvas, linen, foam, chip board, acetate, wood buttons12 x 36 x 12”

As a freelance modelmaker, I managed the design and fabrication of the Osborn Dollhouse conceived and produced by Kathy Osborn. My duties included providing construction drawings of plans, sections, elevations, details, and axonometrics as well as designing the assembly of the pieces.

The Osborn Dollhouse is conceived as a kit-of-parts. It is built around a simplifi ed structural logic and separated into architectonic elements: the base, windows, ledge, roof, free-standing interior partitions, and the chimney. These elements are stacked one on top of the other and are assembled without the use of familiar dollhouse conventions such as plugs or key-in-hole connections. Window frames embed into channels set into the base. Window panes slide into frames and are capped off by the roof and ledge. The model was designed to achieve both simplicity and ease of use with an understanding of architectural construction.

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PROTOTYPE MODEL

Aaron Lim 20108

SITE & SCHEMATIC MODELS

untitled, 2010WRT | Solomon E.T.C. , San Francisco

museum board20 x 30”, 8 x 10”

For the site model, I was the sole modelmaker responsible for modeling the exist-ing topography, massing, and infrastructure. The site model was created for client presentations and community meetings and was designed to be taken apart and can be divided up into sections.

Working with CAD drawings and 3D models as the team leader, we produced this series of 3 schematic models for client presentations and executed within a few days. Using a single material (museum board) with varying thicknesses, we were able to show just the right amount of detail without being overly fussy and intricate.

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SITE & SCHEMATIC MODELS

Aaron Lim 201010

PRESENTATION MODELS

various untitled, 2003–2005Bone/Levine Architects, New York

wood, acetate, paper, plasticdimensions vary

As part of a team of modelmakers, six fi nished models for a real estaet developer were produced over a period of two years. Working in a woodshop environment, these models were built entirely by hand without the aid of CAD and by develop-ing unique modelmaking techniques. Details include handcrafted mouldings, window frames, hand textured and colored paper facades. These models were a team-led effort. Scale is 1/8” = 1’-0”.

My role as a team member included all aspects of the modelmaking process from constructing and designing the core out of plywood, fabricating basswood facades, mouldings, and window frames, applying pigment to textured paper to achieve the right amount of grain and variety without sacrifi cing visual scale legibility, and hand sanding acetate amongst other duties. As a result of this experience, I became com-fortable working in a woodshop environment and am experienced using a table saw, table and circular sanders, planars, scroll saws, etc.

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PRESENTATION MODELS

Aaron Lim 201012

MUSEUM MODEL

“Urbaneering Brooklyn,” 2010TerreformONE, Brooklyn

EVA foam, wood, piano wire, plastic, foam core10x15’ (height varies)

*photos courtesy TerreformONE, Brooklyn 2010

Over the course of the summer as part of a team of modelmakers, we designed and constructed this 10 x 15’ model of Brooklyn one-hundred years in the future for the “Future of the Future” exhibition at the DOX Contemporary Museum of Art in Prague. Given the scale of the project, this model was constructed in a series of layers, and in order to achieve a level of complexity layers are interwoven with one another. The model consists of (20) 20 x 20” tiles that sit in wood frames.

As a team member, my role in this project involved a number of major aspects of the design of the model. These include constructing the existing infrastructure such as existing highways and bridges as well as the “saddle,” the main centerpiece of the model, which is composed of a plastic child’s toy. I also managed the alignment of the tiles and coordinated the legibility of architectonic elements from one frame to the next.

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MUSEUM MODEL