Model-Making 101: The Process Following is a brief explanation of the process Michael DelPriore uses to move a design from paper or computer file to a “living, breathing” three-dimensional scale model. The process for some models can vary quite differently from the order and method described here, but this should offer insight as to how DelPriore’s models take shape.
Step 1
Obtain drawings from the architect (usually AutoCAD documents) “These will include floor plans, elevations, sections and site plan. If drawings do not exist, which happens with older historic buildings, we will draw it up for the client on AutoCAD.”
Paddler's Point
Step 2 Select a scale in Washington, D.C., the Yonkers waterfront development, the National Harbor project in Maryland, the former Carnegie Library in Kingston, the Monticello Motor Club, and the Paddler’s Point development along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania ... just to name a few. DelPriore has traveled a long way, professionally speaking, from his first days in the mid-1980s as a fledgling sole proprietor. It was 1986 and DelPriore decided he wanted to branch out on his own after nearly six years in the architectural model department at The Space Design Group, a full-service New York City architectural firm that had given him his first job upon graduating from Pratt Institute in 1980. Figuring out how he would gather clients and obtain work was a concern. Fortunately, DelPriore had done such a commendable job that The Space Design Group retained him as a consultant, giving him steady income and a chance to cultivate a contact list. “I was primarily working on interiors, but I learned more in that job (at The Space Design Group) than I would have in any other position. The only way to present our projects back then, other than drawings, was to bring in a 18
“If I had to do it all over again, I’d go back to SUNY Orange for
“The scale is based upon the final presentation size the architect requests. In residential models, this is usually one-eighth inch equals one foot. We are also provided with color finishes for the exterior of the design, which we reproduce and match to scale for the architect’s approval.”
two years because of the [architectural technology] program and how it was set up.” model. Aside from the designer, I was the only other person in the firm who knew every detail of a project ... colors, layout, furniture and specifications,” DelPriore says. “When I started Ryerson Studio, I was still doing mostly interiors back then. Now I’m building waterfront developments and high-end residential properties.” DelPriore, who upon graduation from Pratt had purchased a row home on Ryerson Street—from which he derived the name of his company—slowly built his business in that small house in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn. He also landed visiting professorships at Pratt in 1989 and Fashion Institute of Technology in 1991. He would continue in those roles until 1997.
Yonkers waterfront
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