Personal

Project
2020-2021

<<<<
3D Architecture Model
Personal and cultural expressions
Word count: 3,486
>>>>

 Table of contents
Criterion A - investigating 3-6
My Goal 3
Personal interests 3
My idea 3
Global context 4
Inquiry question 4
Prior knowledge 4
Research skills 5
Sources evaluation 5-6

Criterion B - planning 7 - 10
Initial plan 7
Criteria/access fm 8
Development of the process 9
Self-management skills 10

Criterion C - taking action 11 - 12

Product in response to goal, Global context & criteria 11
Thinking skills 11
Communication & social skills 12

Criterion D - reflecting 13 - 16
Evaluation against criteria 13-14
Extended knowledge about topic & global context 14
Development of IB learner profiles 15
Conclusion 16

Bibliography 17
Appendix A 18 - 19
Appendix B 20
Appendix C 21
Appendix D 22 - 24
Appendix E 25
Appendix F 26

 Criterion A / Investigating

1. What are my personal interests?

Since I was a child, I have always been interested in drawing and coloring, building legos and
making shapes with play dough, arts and crafts have always been a passion. Since the age of 4 or
5, I always found peace and joy with pens, papers, crayons, water colors and all sorts of artistic
material. Growing up as a teenager, this continued to be my main area of interest and passion, I
used to take art lessons to learn it in the right way. My favorite time is when I visit the stationery
shops, and walk around the aisles with my dad, who is an architect and is so talented with arts and
crafts, choosing with him sketches, different sorts of colors, brushes, and all art tools. That is why
our house has all sorts of this material which has always encouraged me to use them and create a
lot of art work.

2. What is my idea and why I chose it?

My idea is to create a 3D model for the design of our new family house, and specifically designing
the model of my bedroom in reality. We have been planning for moving couple of years back, and
assisting my dad and my mother with choosing the finishing materials, flooring, lighting, paints,
decoration, and every single piece around the house has inspired me to choose my personal
project idea. As I saw it in reality, and was very interested with the concepts. I was so encouraged
to choose this idea because it very much linked to my personal interests and passion, designing
and artwork. I want to use all the skills I have learned and what I have experienced in real life with
my parents in our future home to create the model which will be focusing on my own bedroom
design and decoration.

3. What is my goal and how is it highly challenging?

My goal is to test and experiment my skills and capabilities in the design and art domain in order
to support me to make up my mind regarding my future career path, and take a firm decision
about whether to join applied arts or interior design faculties or find my passion and suitable
career path else where. I find this is a very good chance as we are in the middle of our house
finishing and this will give me the required tools and life experience to support me with my
personal project idea and goal.

I do believe that this goal is somehow challenging because I have never designed models or
created my ideas on such a bigger scale. It has always been on paper, and I did it as a hobby
nothing more. But shifting this to show something that looks more professional and help take a
very important lifetime decision is definitely much more challenging. Also, doing this in such a
short period along with the normal studying, exams and so on, adds more pressure on me to
deliver a perfect end product.

4. What my global context is and it's relation to my goal?

As my idea is related to arts, design and crafts, I decided that;

“Personal and Cultural Expressions”

Is the perfect fit for my personal project idea. It definitely relates to the project’s goals and
expected final outcome/product. Using my talent, gained knowledge and skills in art and
designing to design a 3D interior model for my house and my bedroom and also designing and
furnishing my real bedroom from A to Z. It will help to show how I can transform my ideas, design
and drawing/sketching into an actual presentable model, how ideas and perspectives can turn
into real life modeling. I believe that the choice of this project covers all the strands of this global
context as it discusses creativity, and it is my main area of interest and will help me to express my
skills really well in this project.

5. Prior knowledge:

Before starting my personal project, I did not have prior knowledge in the field of interior design
and 3D modeling. Yet, throughout the years I have gained knowledge in a number of areas that I
will surely make use of, to help me deliver the project and final product. At school, I have learned
a lot about art basics and colors and this will help me to create my design and the model with
matching color schemes. My mathematics background and what I have learned will help me to
create a model to the correct scale and dimensions including the furniture. The art classes I used
to take as a child have taught me how to draw and create 3D perspectives in a limited scope yet
useful. I have also been practicing on some design related applications that I have downloaded
from the Appstore such as Room planner, magic-plan and houzz, where I designed a lot of spaces
with dimensions and created their 3D perspectives to get the sense of how this process looks like,
I even created my room on these apps and it was a very useful experience.

Finally, exposure to my father’s field of work as an architect where I watch how he creates the
designs and transforms them into reality in the projects and houses he does as finishing works and
interior design.

6. My Inquiry Question:

My inquiry question is:

As my project is about architecture, interior design and modeling, I want to make sure that my
ideas are adequately reflected on the final product. It is related to my goal and global context in
many aspects.

Research skills

I. What I had to research? What I needed to know?

I didn't really know anything about building models when I started this project, so I had to do
some research. I also didn't have a lot of information about interior design or architecture. I knew
there were various scales, but I had to know which one would be better for me to use. I knew I
had to do a lot of things but I needed to have better information.

I started my research by learning about the models and the materials I would need to build the
model. I researched some an interior design model companies, and I actually found some of the
details I needed. I also looked into the various materials that are used to build models. After that,
I went mini-furniture shopping to get a sense of what was available. (Refer to appendix B)

II. Sources evaluation

In order to make it more organized, I evaluated my sources in a table form and I categorized it
into three sections: origin, purpose and value. These are my most reliable sources;
(refer to appendix E)

Source RJ models

Origin They have a reputation for being specialists within industry, and also
experts when it comes to architectural model making , ranking the largest
model makers in the world. With over 700 architectural models every
year, with the higher qualities.
Purpose I used this website to choose my models scales.
Value Extremely professional and reliable source, with lots of useful, helpful
information.

Source Karen Mills

Origin Kansas City interior designer Karen Mills, best known for her renowned
Living Wide broadcast interior design and decorating show, manages the
website. Mills graduated from the University of Kansas before starting a
writing career, where she studied interior design. She won an award-
winning interior design blog read by subscribers in over 130 nations, she
makes regular appearances on television as the interior designer of
Kansas City, and is an internationally published blogger.
Purpose I used this website to learn about interior design but mainly to know how
to successfully design a house
Value It is a successful and reliable website run by a popular, talented interior
designer.

 Source Eric Strebel

Origin Works at Botzen Design Inc. Industrial Design and Product Visualization.
This video was extremely important as it was a detailed video that greatly
aided me in the modeling process. It also taught me a variety of useful
skills.
Purpose I used this to cover the basics of how to cut FoamCore/ FoamBoard the
right way, how not to cut the stuff and how to take things to the next level
and improve my crafting skills.
Value It is an effective and dependable website run by a well-known and
talented interior designer.

Source JDS industries

Origin The FoamWerks Straight Cutter has an adjustable blade depth, a quick
change blade clip, a magnetic blade slot, an on-board blade storage
drawer, and a set of five blades. This tool will allow you to cut perfectly
straight edges. Trims banner material and self-adhesive vinyl as well.
Purpose This website helped me learn about 3D models, different types of designs,
and various scales.
Value Extremely professional and trustworthy source with a wealth of useful
information.

 Criterion B/planning

i. My initial plan/timeline.

In order to ensure timely delivery of my project, I put a detailed time plan for all the tasks I
needed to complete from October till February. I dedicated the first month for the definition of
my project goal and main idea. The second month was mainly on the initial project investigation
stage. Starting the 3rd month till the end of the plan I worked extensively on the 3D model
preparations, building the model and delivery of the end product as well as the process journal
and reflection/fine-tuning.

DATES GOAL
Week 1/oct. Got assigned to my mentor.

Week 2/oct. Chose my global context.

Week 3/oct. Reviewed personal project samples.

Week 4/oct. Finalized my idea and gathered ideas.

Week 1/nov. Worked on my criteria A.

Week 2/nov. Worked on my criteria A.

Week 3/nov. Submitted my criteria A.

Week 4/nov. Chose my 3D model scale [ 1 : 50 ]

Week 1/dec. Started on my report and bought the model materials.

Week 2/dec. Started working on my model and the research skills.

Week 3/dec. Worked on the 3D model and the report.

Week 4/dec. Started working on the process journal.

Week 1/jan. Colored the furniture and the walls and worked on the report.

Week 2/jan. Got a new foam board cutter because the normal one wasn’t efficient.

Week 3/jan. Printed out the models pictures to put them in the journal.

Week 4/jan. Added my IB learner profile that I developed in the journal

Week 1/feb. Finalizing my product

Week 2/feb. Finalizing my report and placing the printed pics in the journal

Week 3/feb Submitting my first draft

Week 4/feb Editing my report throughout my mentors comments.

Week 2/march Editing my report after the exhibition

Week 1/April Finalizing and submitting my report and filling the academic honesty form

iii.Developing criteria for my product

I reviewed and compared all of the data gathered from the feedback and comments that I
received from my teachers, schoolmates  and from the parents in the exhibition. I then
analyzed the data to determine the quality of my product in comparison to my criteria.

AESTHETICS

My 3D model will be built on scale 1 : 50, exteriors will be created with vibrant mix of colors
including grey and reddish orange. The garden and landscape will also be designed with care
for creating enough greenery and spacious landscape. As for the interior design it will be
modern style for the whole house, I will color most of the furniture myself using acrylics colors
to make sure they are all in harmony with the overall design theme.

CUSTOMER COST

My product targets customers who own
new/pre-owned houses or apartments and
wish to decorate/renovate them. I will be
showing my product to my teachers,
students, architects and interior designers.
I think the 3d model is going to cost
about 3,000 EGP which is very
reasonable. As I am going to buy a lot of
materials but I hope to achieve a very
logical amount of money in this project.

ENVIRONMETAL CONSIDIRATION

I’m looking forward to prove that recycling the remaining of my materials will release all the
negative impacts on the environment, especially that I am not overbuying my materials.
I made sure that I only bought the needed quantities to deliver my model. I will also reuse
materials that already had to help avoid the negative impacts on the environment.

FUNCTION MATERIALS

I am aiming that my product/model represents the The materials I'm going to

architecture design of a family house, how spaces are need in the project are foam
designed to ensure offering the best utilization of space boards with different sizes,
as well as the interior design/decoration, colors and thickness and colors. Mini
accordingly help people who are trying to design their furniture, plastic sheets for
houses with practical and useful ideas that fulfill their the windows, fake grass,
needs. trees and some miniatures.

iv. Development of the process

Since last year, I had already decided on the main theme of my personal project. It is built on my
area of passion and interest and the field which I want to build my career in which is architecture
and interior design. I started my personal project by identifying the main idea and the global
context.vI needed to enrich my knowledge with ideas and main concepts that will help me build
my project and develop/deliver the product that I had in mind. (Refer to appendix B for pictures
of the process)

I did some research and also had many discussions with my father who is an architect to
understand more about key concepts of architecture and interior design.
Following that, I started putting an outline for my report and how I am planning for the product
(3D model) to look like. The choice of the design was very important, and thinking about this I
found it will be good to choose building a model for our new family house which we are planning
to move to in few months time. I found this to be a good idea as we were in the middle of putting
the designs modifications and interior designs and it was a very good chance to see how these
designs are created in reality and see this being done step by step.

I started writing the report and development of the process journal and in parallel I started to
work on the 3D model development. I started with building the base, walls and the distribution of
the rooms and different spaces. Then worked on the interior design including paint colors,
furnishing, walls and floors. I designed an internal elevator as the house consists of three floors as
I thought this will be good for elderly people and to help in moving things to upper floors when
needed. I also worked on designing the external landscape for the garden.

I went to the house with my dad to take the real measurements, then I started transferring these
measurements on scale 1 : 50 to use in the 3D model. The next step was to draw on the model
base with the 1 : 50 scale measurements, cut the walls and sticked them to divide the spaces.
Then started the coloring of the walls with acrylic colors, made the flooring patterns and lastly
placed the furniture across the whole house. (Refer to appendix A for final product)

 v. Demonstrate self-management skills

Using my self-management skills during the project was very important, it was needed to have a
clear timeline planning and discipline throughout the duration of the personal project to be able
to meet the timelines.

My project includes a lot of details: creating the model with all the materials and efforts that are
needed, and also the report and the process journal, interviews and research and analysis.
I put a plan with the support of my mentor to be able to submit on time, yet sometimes I was not
able to meet the timelines because of other tasks and requirements at school (quarter/mid-
quarter tasks and exams for example) and at those times I had to focus more on my exams and
tasks. I tried to compensate the lost time as much as possible, I had meetings with my mentor to
discuss the progress and to know where I need to put more focus. (Refer to appendix B for
process journal extracts)

Quite honestly, I got distracted many times due to the load of what I need to do, but I was able to
catch up by extending the time I allocate for working in the personal project, consulting my
mentor, consulting my parents to help me stay on track. The project itself and all the details that I
needed to take care of, helped me understand how to better manage my time, be more
organized and well planned and improved my self-management skills. (Refer to appendix F)

My origination skills also helped me demonstrate my self-management skills as I organized my

files and documents in separate folders, so I wouldn’t waste time on finding anything:

10

 Criterion C/taking action

i. Create product/outcome in response to goal, global context and criteria

The final product of my personal project is a 3D architecture model of the family house. The
model is built on scale 1 : 50, I used white foam board as the base of the model for the 3 floors
(Ground, first and second), and used different materials to build the model such as floor tiles
shaped paper to use on the floors, printed bathroom walls and floors design on paper to scale,
miniature furniture to scale, landscape and outdoor lighting.

Before buying the materials, I have calculated the quantities needed based on the scale and the
design of the house, and have considered extra material to be bought as a buffer in case any of
the materials got damaged or needed to be changed while building the model, and also in case
any of my calculations were not accurate, so as to avoid wasting time to go and buy additional
material and ensure that my time is properly allocated to my project plan.

I have focused on ensuring the global context “personal and cultural expressions” is reflected on
my final product, the selection of the project and the product since the beginning was important
as I wanted to build something that truly expresses my creative abilities in design and
architecture. I was able to reflect this in building the model, designing, coloring and furnishing it.

ii. Demonstrate thinking skills

During the process , I have exercised my thinking skills a lot. While building the 3D model, I faced
some challenges which I had to address by thinking of alternative ways to overcome them and be
able to continue with the model building properly. One of the very first steps was cutting foam
board for the base and walls, the most efficient tool based on my research is called “Hot wire/
foam cutter”, which was unfortunately not available anywhere in Egypt and I had to order it from
Amazon, and it would have taken more than a month to be delivered, so I decided to use the
normal basic cutter which was not a very pleasant experience as the edges were uneven snd the
walls looked dreadful and it gave me a hard time in painting and adjusting the walls evenly,
accordingly, I had to think of an alternative to have better cutting, I used one of my father’s
electric tools that is mainly used to cut wood and metals but it had to be under my father’s
supervision to avoid any self-harm.

Another challenge I faced was that I wanted to paint the second floors bathroom walls with the
exact same real-life design and colors, which was extremely difficult with acrylic paint and in such
a small scale, especially that the design was full of details, patterns and different shades of colors,
so I printed out the real-life design that I applied in my new actual house in colors and glued it to
the walls.

11

iii. Demonstrate communication and social skills.

I used my communication/social skills in gathering feedback on my product from teachers,

students, my mentor and my parents, their views on the end product, the design, the quality of
the product. (Refer to appendix D)

My communication skills were extremely difficult because, through the furnishing and decoration
of the model, I needed to communicate my ideas and designs accurately. They layouts I created
in the beginning helped me organize my idea and goal and furnish the model successfully.

When I sent messages to my mentor and when I sent images of my product and asked my friends
and teachers to receive their feedback, I used my communication and social skills. Writing these
questions and emails helped improve my written interaction with them and helped me improve
my vocabulary and when I asked them to share their experience with their project.

I have also gained communication and social skills during my exhibition, presenting my project to
people and talking for more than 10 or more people per presentation made me so much better in
these skills as I wasn’t really good at presentation skills, but the exhibition really helped me target
these problems and helped me through them. (Refer to appendix D and F)

12

 Criterion D/reflecting
i. Evaluate the quality of the product against your criteria.
All the data gathered from the feedback I received from my mentor, students, and my father
who’s an architect, I reviewed and analyzed. In order to know the quality of my product. Then I
rated the data I collected against my criteria. (Refer to appendix D and A)

AESTHETICS
I created my model on a scale of 1 : 50 as planned. I was able to find most of the needed
furniture in the right scale. I had planned to put more decorations in the model however, it had
3 floors so it took me more time than expected to build the model which didn’t allow me to put
all the details and decor I had In mind such as; rugs, wall paintings, wallpapers.
Despite the time limitations, I was able to achieve the overall target I had planned for both the
interior design, architecture and landscape reflecting the desired style which was modern.

9 / 10

CUSTOMER
I presented my product the model to a
number of students, teachers in my school,
my mentor, my parents and some friends.
However I didn’t really have the time to ask
for extra opinions from professionals.
COST
The total amount spent on the model materials
was 2,700 EGP which is quite practical considering
that the model has 3 floors all furnished and
decorated including the landscape. The cost was
below the estimated budget by 300 EGP.

9 / 10 10 / 10

ENVIRONMETAL CONSIDIRATION

I did not have a lot of remains after finalizing my model, so I decided to save every single
remain for a future project as I wouldn’t need to buy things that I already had from a previous
project. I also recycled some remains of the foam board and made a base from my project to
use it in the exhibition to move the model easily with no damage.

10 / 10

FUNCTION MATERIALS

I created my model ensuring the best use of spaces over 3

I used the same
floors, where I took advantage of the space I utilized to build/
materials that I listed in
design 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, spacious receptions, kitchen,
my criteria. I only added
living room, etc., in a very practical way which was what I had
printed bathroom walls
planned before. Yet I was not able to get feedback from many
for the second floor.
audience on my model due to the time limitations.

8 / 10 10 / 10 13

 ii. How working on this project extended your knowledge about the
topic and global context

The personal project was a very different experience for me, It added to me a lot of knowledge
that I might not have had the chance to learn at such stage. I learned lots of new things, from
designing, architecture, 3D modeling, budgeting a small project, using different materials to
create a product and simply seeing this become reality. The experience I learned added different
dimensions in my personality. 

I always had the passion in designing and drawing, yet I was not always sure how capable I am
and had many worries when I first chose my personal project idea, in fear of not being able to
deliver it the way I want. Yet, with all what I have gone through during the whole project, I
became very confident of my abilities and I started to confirm to myself what I want to achieve in
my future.

My global context reflects my product throughout; It helped me to increase my creativity, from the
creation of the colors  and sketches of the layout and then the construction of a model and
furnishing. In essence, this is the most significant aspect of my global background, "Personal and
Cultural Expression, that enables me to explore how we expand my creativity and enjoy it. After I
studied and investigated interior design, through the model that I furnished, I articulated my
favorite patterns and design styles.  This also allowed me to discover and communicate my
ideas This way. (Refer to appendix C for the layouts)

My product meets my requirements because I have constantly judged my criteria during its
development. I made sure to build the model as neatly as possible to ensure that it looks well
constructed. I asked a few of my teachers and friends, questions about my product in order to
verify if my product was in line with my requirements and my criteria. (Refer to appendix D)

14

iii. Development of the IB Learner Profiles

Throughout my Personal Project journey, I believe that I have conceived and

developed five out of the IB Learner Profiles which were;

THINKER

One of the most important qualities I've achieved

throughout this project is to be a thinker. While deciding
my idea and my preferences it took me weeks to finally
choose of the many ideas I thought about, while solving
all the problems I faced, and while developing the model,
I built thinking skills in many ways I never thought I would
achieve.

BALANCED

It was quite challenging to accomplish the right balance

between delivering my project with all its milestones while
ensuring that my school duties, studying, tasks and exams
are not impacted. It required very detailed time.
management which was not so easy to maintain and keep
on track, of course I had some delays as the whole process
was involving a lot of learning. Yet, I am glad that it ended
up with me learning and getting more experience in time
management skills and how to plan and set priorities to
ensure successful delivery of my plans.

INQUIRER

I was really fascinated and interested on what it takes to

build and design a house from scratch successfully,
once I have started in the project I went into details,
I studied the steps needed and watching YouTube videos
and conducting some research, I succeeded in achieving a
great level of inquiry.

15

 COMMUNICATOR

This project has helped me to develop my

communication skills significantly. I had to communicate
to people from different age groups, professions and
experiences, from students on my grade or older, to
mentors, teachers, and professional architects/interior
designers. This helped me a lot to deliver a successful
presentation of my project with a lot of confidence and
understanding on how to address different audiences.

KNOWLEDGABLE

Throughout my entire project, I developed the quality

of being knowledgeable as I was constantly learning
new things. I didn't really know much about interior
design, architecture and model making while going into
this project. Whilst learning how to develop the model
and learning the basis/foundation of architecture and
interior design, I acquired many new skills. This project
has expanded my knowledge of different subjects.

CONCLUSION

Five months during this important assignment have really been unforgettable. When I
think how confused and uncertain I felt when I was still deciding the topic of my
project, and compare this to what I was able to achieve, I feel so happy of the end
result. It was an overwhelming and very demanding project, and I always felt it is very
difficult to finish everything on time and also maintain good grades in the different
subjects.

I think I was so lucky to have the support and the guidance of my mentor and my
parents, which helped me throughout this whole journey till the end. I am so excited
with the model I have built that I am thinking to put it in a glass display at home to
remind myself always that whatever difficulty I face, with the right focus and efforts
success can be achieved.  I got a great push with all what I have learned towards my
future which I am so excited about.

16

 Bibliography

Articles

1. Karen Mills/steps to successfully design a room.

https://karenmills.net/interior-design-7-steps-to-successfully-designing-a-room/
2. RJ model makers/architecture model makers.
https://www.rjmodels.com.h
3. prointeriordesigner.com /interior designing
https://prointeriordesigner.com/construction/proportion-and-balance

Videos

1. How to make a model of doglegged staircase

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDMF7N4WPqo&t=99

2. CardBoard Basics Tutorial Guide Chip/Matte Board model making

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6s3lGH4My

3. How to make stairs using foam board

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE8E7KAiiW
4. How to Cut | Architecture Model-making 101
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_GVANPyI18&t=39s
5. Tutorial Guide Foam Board Model making
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y5obU06JnQ&t=91s
6. Modeling tips and tricks for Designers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuq-pT8ww9Y&t=62
7. Interior Model making

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BcZ89lRTNQ&t=10

17

 Appendix A
Pictures of my product as evidence

Ground floor

18

 First floor

Roof floor

19

 Appendix B
Process journal extracts:

20

 Appendix C

21

 Appendix D

22

 23
 24
 Appendix E

Source Karen Mills

Origin Kansas City interior designer Karen Mills, best known for her renowned
Living Wide broadcast interior design and decorating show, manages the
website. Mills graduated from the University of Kansas before starting a
writing career, where she studied interior design. She won an award-
winning interior design blog read by subscribers in over 130 nations, she
makes regular appearances on television as the interior designer of
Kansas City, and is an internationally published blogger.
Purpose I used this website to learn about interior design but mainly to know how
to successfully design a house
Value It is a successful and reliable website run by a popular, talented interior
designer.

Source Eric Strebel

Origin Works at Botzen Design Inc. Industrial Design and Product Visualization.
This video was extremely important as it was a detailed video that greatly
aided me in the modeling process. It also taught me a variety of useful
skills.
Purpose I used this to cover the basics of how to cut FoamCore/ FoamBoard the
right way, how not to cut the stuff and how to take things to the next level
and improve my crafting skills.
Value It is an effective and dependable website run by a well-known and
talented interior designer.

25

 Appendix F

Proof of organization skills

26