Designing the Modular Magnetic 'House A' / Yuriy Sklyar / San Francisco, California

This article is a work in progress – check back for updates.

Creation of Modular Magnetic ‘House A’

Lego + Sims + magnets = Modular Magnetic.

…A continuation to the original Modular Magnetic creation post. The idea here is to show how Modular Magnetic can be adapted to virtually any architectural style and design. In this case I'm creating a small, 2-story, single-family residence with a clean, modern design.

Inspiration

Siding/Paneling

… As with the real construction process, Modular Magnetic allows you to 'panelize' (add siding) your creations. Panels can either be painted to mimic specific colors/surfaces, or wrapped in vinyl to mimic real-life textures of building materials.

'House A' is meant to mimic the modern ICF construction process, where the structure is first built out of LEGO-like hollow Styrofoam bricks stacked one on top of another; then concrete is poured inside the hollow areas, filling every void. The oversized walls keep the house cool in summer, and warm during winter.

No home is complete without some art. Modular Magnetic allows you to place art pieces throughout your home, including on walls.

Walls

Walls make up the basis of every build. Just like in real life, they can be positioned any way you can imagine, and come in several thicknesses.

Window design

Besides the ability to build walls, the new Modular Magnetic v2 update will allow you to – for the first time in a construction playset – build windows in ANY imaginable configuration: tall, wide, corner wraps – you've got it all!

Interior and furniture design

Learn more about Modular Magnetic furniture creation process.

‘House A’ kitchen is modeled after my old Vancouver kitchen:

Stair design

Plates/surfaces can be easily textured with vinyl. Middle bottom plate has no vinyl applied white others do. This allows you to easily and quickly go through various color combinations.

Top plate had some issues with the print head while printing, so... I can't wait to cover that one with vinyl. All of these will be covered with a light gray concrete texture, and then go from there. (Was thinking about magnetic rugs, but not sure how yet.)

Everything here is designed to some of the most strict codes known in construction. Seen here is the advised 37 degree stair case, accompanied by a steeper 45 degree version for tighter spaces.

One major change in the v2 of Modular Magnetic is that all the plates have been changed to 10mm height vs previous 8mm. This was done to simplify and further standardize on the playset components. This allowed for the introduction of a 20mm high base plate. Much easier to create new designs now...

10×20 Base plates

Feast your eyes on the single largest construction piece in Modular Magnetic playset so far. It is a part of a series of 3 base plates/slabs, upon which House A will be constructed. Each one contains 960 magnets in total; seen here is the initial layer of the first 200 magnets. Size: 200mm x 400mm x 20mm.

3 base plates for House A are done! 2880 magnets in total (960 per plate). Middle plate awaiting priming. All will be covered with concrete texture vinyl. This is the only plate of its kind as it features 4-way attraction of neighboring plates, giving you ability to build – and keep – larger layouts intact while moving them. Each one takes about 4 days to print at a fairly slow pace. I don't anticipate the need for larger plates (unless something custom).

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