Sneak Peak

Here's a sneak peak of the dollhouse building process! Click on the photo above to see an enlarged image. The great folks at Classic Exhibits Inc have sent over some photos of the CNC machine being set up with our AutoCad drawing and the piece of 4'x8' plywood that the house will be cut from. Check back for more photos (and possibly some video!) of the fabrication process.

With one month until the auction, we are feeling pretty good about the progress of the design. From the first design charrette with the kids to now, a lot has been accomplished and everyone involved has had a great time.

Be sure to get your tickets to the fundraiser, which are available on the Friends of the Children website.

Sketch Model of Updated Design

We are really happy with the overall design of the dollhouse and now are focusing on the detailing. Some of the important detail elements include the stair treads and the openings. As always, we are striving to keep our original design intentions evident in the dollhouse. Those intentions include keeping true to the ideas that the kids from our design charette came up with (see post from February 2nd), as well as some rules that we set for ourselves, like only using one 4'x8' sheet of plywood for the dollhouse building material.

Everyone involved is getting excited to see the final built design. After building about a dozen sketch models, it will be fun to see the wooden version.

"How To" Instructions

We're so excited to be working with Classic Exhibits on the construction of the dollhouse!

As the time gets closer to assemble and auction the dollhouse, we've been thinking about how to create a set of drawings that will come with the house, including "how to" diagrams for assembling your own at home. Our goal is to have plans available to purchase from us after the auction, so if you didn't get to buy the house, you could still buy the plans and construct your own at home. It would also include some simple diagrams for assembly. To get inspiration for these diagrams, we started looking at Lego instruction manuals, where simple graphics are used to explain the assembly process.

The Design is Coming Together!

After a great progress meeting on Monday, the dollhouse design is really coming together. We have been mocking it up in the office with paper and cardboard to see what works and what doesn't. The entire design fits on a 4'x8' sheet of wood, so anyone who wants to buy the plans for the house will be able to buy a sheet and cut it out at home.

We have another meeting today to go over the design one last time before we start pitching it to local builders.

Process Drawings

Here are great process sketches from the past couple of weeks. We're trying to figure out not only how to bring the kids' point of view into this dollhouse, but also how to stay true to our design aesthetic. And of course, there is the question of how this thing goes together. We've had some great conversations in the office about this project and it's been a great learning experience.
We are still talking with a few different people about collaborating with us on the construction of the house. More on that later!

Friends of the Children Portland - I Believe

Design Progress

The dollhouse design is coming together! Here's a photo of some process work from over the weekend. We're also starting to think about who to collaborate with to actually build the house, so if you know of a skilled woodworker who would like to volunteer for a great cause, let us know!

As we work toward the final design for the dollhouse, we are reminding ourselves that the kids are the ultimate client. Having the design charette early on with the kids has directly informed what the design should be and its really exciting seeing their ideas expressed through the dollhouse.