The house was fully clad with marble sheets and had large windows with coloured stained glass in the round top side. Pien managed to create hundreds of different pieces of marble with Photoshop and print them custom made. I had to cut them out and stick them on the maquette one by one in the same pattern as can be seen on the photos. The stained glass is more visible with lighting in the miniature. Our son Ivo therefore built a system with various electronics components that is hidden in the miniature. With a mobile phone each LED light can be turned on and off remotely per room and the light intensity can be controlled.
Some years ago I was asked by director Niki Padidar to make a miniature of the house of her grandparents in Teheran. The maquette would play a role in her documentary film “All You See”, which is about how people see you when you are new somewhere and what this alienation does with you. She also included her own experiences from 1986, when she left Iran with her parents as a 7-year old girl.
Niki visited my home in Utrecht with a few old family photos, which showed the house of her grandparents. The house itself does not exist anymore. Gradually more photos and even films emerged through her family in Teheran and America. We were able to make an as authentic reconstruction to scale as possible because of her fond memories of the house in question.
“All You See” will premiere as the opening film of The International Documentary Film Amsterdam (IDFA) in Carré Amsterdam on 9 November 2022.
In case a visit to a premises abroad cannot be realized for whatever reason, we will provide you an offer based on the information you can provide by post or mail. This includes an explanation of your wishes, an extensive photo series, and information about the dimensions of the premises. We then will discuss the possibilities and scale with you, and subsequently make an offer. After acceptation of the offer we rely on your collaboration during the drawing and designing process, we may need additional photos, dimensions and information about colours, in order to create the miniature as detailed as possible. Of course we will guide and help you through this process, if necessary.
If you are interested in having a miniature built, you obviously want to know the costs. As you can imagine, the price greatly depends on the complexity and nature of the premises to be built in miniature. After you have sent or mailed us a series of photos of your house, we will get in touch with you to discuss the possibilities and your wishes, so we can give you an indication of the costs. The more details you show on the photos, the more realistic the price indication will be in relation to the final offer. So far miniatures have been created ranging in price from 2.000 up to 35.000 euros.
If possible, we would like to make an appointment with you to visit and view the premises in question. During this inspection we thoroughly examine the outside of the premises. We also discuss the most suitable scale for building your miniature. This will roughly be between 1:60 and 1:90. After our visit you will receive an offer. For the Netherlands our inspection and offer are free and without obligations. However, when we have to travel abroad to make an offer, we charge travel and accommodation expenses.
After our offer has been accepted, we take the details of the premises. In order to build your premises in the right scale proportions, it is absolutely vital to have exact dimensions. Existing construction drawings are very welcome, but not necessary. Because the miniature is first completely drawn on the computer, we take many measurements of the premises and of all its details. We also make our own photo series of the premises, so that we can examine every detail again in the studio. In addition, we establish the exact colours of the stucco and paintwork with colour samples.
We make true-to-life miniatures of existing premises and façades, for example of your own house, farm, shop, business premises, etc. Reconstructions in miniature of no longer existing premises are also possible. Our miniatures stand out from average scale models and replicas because of the attention for detail and our aim to imitate reality as true to life as possible. Handicraft and patience are combined with a great thoroughness in scale-bound precision, working details and finish. The result is an exclusive and sustainable collector’s item in your home or company.
It is possible to build a miniature of only one façade. This form is not only suitable for premises that are built in between adjacent premises, but also if you would like a miniature of the most characteristic façade of your premises. A façade miniature is mounted on or in a fitting display, so you can hang it on the wall.
Until now we have always been built our miniatures for people who have special ties with and love for their house, shop, farm etc. This emotional involvement makes our miniatures very suitable as a personal or excellent company gift.
The building time for a miniature obviously depends on the complexity of the object to be built. It ranges from 3 to 15 months for miniatures built so far. This means that a delivery time of more than a year is not exceptional. This information is especially important if you want to give the miniature as a gift for a specific occasion. In this case it is advisable to contact us on time.
Delft (after ‘The Little Street’)
The wooden display is 28 cm high, 18.3 cm wide and 5.5 cm deep. It has a 2-mm thick, almost invisible museum glass at the front. A separate wooden cover protects the museum glass during transport.
The display has two matt blue tones on the inside and matt anthracite on the outside. A display in two matt Rijksmuseum green tints is a possible alternative.
At the back the display has an opening to hang it on the wall without a problem. The top of the display has been screwed together from the back, so that it can be removed to take out the museum glass and miniature from the display, if necessary.
The Leliegracht in Amsterdam was built in the seventeenth century and it was beautifully drawn by Hendrik Keun (1738-1787).
The facade miniature of Leliegracht 35 in Amsterdam almost faithfully reflects the current situation of this typical Dutch architecture. Only the stairs to the cellar door have been left out and are replaced by a cellar window, with a bench in front. The house has a Dutch flag and on the street there are three characteristic Amsterdam bollards and of course a bike.
The facade was built on a scale of 1:70. All relief in the facade, for example the depths and thicknesses of the posts, frame wood and the door, also has a correct scale.
At the moment there is one miniature available (in a Rijksmuseum green display).
The price is 3.500 Euro (excluding shipping costs).
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The facade miniature is placed in a wooden display, which is 23 cm high, 18 cm wide and 5.5 cm deep. It is painted in two Rijksmuseum green tones.
The front has a 2-mm thick, almost invisible museum glass. A separate wooden cover protects the museum glass during transport.
The top of the display has been screwed together from the back, so that it can be removed to take out the museum glass and miniature from the display, if necessary.
At the back the display has an opening to hang it on the wall without a problem.