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Mini Elf House

I was given the responsibility of designing and prototyping houses for the relocation of "elves" from the icelandic landscape. The requirements were that the house’s dimensions must be not more than 7 square inches and must fit together without any use of adhesives, as well as the ability to lift the house up by its roof.

Inspiration and Sketching

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Aesthetically, I considered a spherical roof with a mushroom look or a modern roof, but decided on the spherical one as I thought it would be fun and it had an overhang which I found pleasing.

Building, Designing, and Testing

I went through three designs for the roof.

  • The initial spherical roof was intended to have an internal friction fit, but did not account of the corners of the house and how far they jut out.

  • The second hat-like roof had the same issues of fitting.

  • The third design had a change as the friction fit was external. This ended up being successful!

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The walls and their design/size was adjusted as the roof changed. Especially when trying to make the internal friction fit work and stay within the required size.

Results

The final dimensions were: 

  • Overall  - 1.75’’x 4’’

  • Roof - 1’’ x 4’’

  • Walls - 1.66’’ x 1.97’’

  • Base - 1.97’’ x 1.97’’

  • Roof Indentation - 2’’ x 2’’ x 0.5’

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Reflection

  • After finishing the project, I wish I had:

    • Spent more time thinking through the roof design so that I only needed to do one print

    • Done a CAD assembly before printing the roof to see the fit

    • Consulted CA’s earlier in my process to get insight and opinions on the feasibility of my design

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