Model Citizens

0

The products of Model Works Inc. are veritable miniature cities, filled with people, cars and offices.


The replicas of residential towers, office buildings and other projects also carry six-figure price tags closer to an actual condo than any scale model.


And no wonder: Though made of cardboard, plastic and glue, the painstakingly realistic designs feature details such as articulating walls, furniture and working electronic signs.


“The work speaks for itself,” said Paul Danna, a principal at DMJM Design, a Los Angeles architecture firm that has commissioned several models. “It doesn’t take much to understand the level of quality, care, precision and detail they are absolutely exquisite.”


Credit Amir Daghigh, a longtime employee of the El Segundo model company who made partner in 1996 and became sole owner in 2005 by never losing his focus on quality and innovation in an industry where the cutting edge was long defined by the Exacto knife.


Though Daghigh still relies heavily on crews of skilled craftsman working long hours and even months on single projects, they are now assisted by computer modeling programs and $90,000 laser cutters.


The result? Model Works has achieved a worldwide reputation and commissions to match, from Los Angeles, to Las Vegas to the Middle East. Case in point: Its mammoth $1.5 million, 17-foot by 12-foot model of Las Vegas’ MGM City Center development.


“For every project, I have to be involved,” said the 52-year-old Daghigh, who emigrated from Iran in 1986. He had been an architect there. “I do everything: I check the paint job, I check the laser, and I have to know everything. I am always in the shop. This is something that makes my clients really comfortable and it’s why they work with me.”



Labor of love

Most recently, Daghigh’s company built an 8-foot by 6-foot model of the L.A. Live Convention Center hotel development for property owner AEG. The price tag for the model and another smaller version of the hotel tower was about average: $120,000.


The models are used for a variety of purposes: sometimes developers need them to sell communities on a building project. Other times, architecture firms commission the models as marketing tools.


Architects and developers say that Model Works distances itself from the competition with a meticulous attention to detail for each project. Meanwhile, computer software has made it easier to map out the models, and laser cutting machines have made the models more exact. That has given Daghigh’s company the ability to trick out models with lighting, articulating pieces and even LCD screens.


An average job takes about three months to complete and requires the attention of six to 10 employees. The company is usually working on six or seven projects at a time.


The City Center project, for example, took two and a half months to build and Daghigh hired several additional craftsmen to work on it. The model was only completed after 15-hour days, seven days a week, for the duration.


Daghigh, who has a degree in architecture from the National University of Iran, rose quickly in the company, where he first began at the workbench. He said that his architecture experience gave him good perspective for the job and he worked well with company founder, the late William Lathrop, who started the company in 1978.


“(Lathrop) started it by himself making cardboard models,” Daghigh said. “I learned a lot from him.”


After becoming a partner at the firm in 1996, Daghigh expanded the business by convincing Lathrop that the company should commission a brochure to market its services. The company then opened a small office in Las Vegas for business development.


Around the same time, the company began investing in laser cutting equipment which can cost $90,000 for a single device helping it turn out more precise work at a faster rate. The company now uses three laser cutters and plans to add two more to its growing stable of high-tech equipment.


The technology helped Model Works gain a commission from a Saudi Arabian prince building a tricked out model of a shopping center in his kingdom. At the press of a button, the $110,000 replica opens to reveal the interior of the center.


Other models feature scale LCD screens to represent TVs. Others have interior and landscape lighting and real glass and mirrors. The models are so precise that architects say they help refine designs. “They’re always impressing us with their creativity with how to visualize our ideas,” Danna said.


Daghigh says that despite his architectural background he does not assert his opinions when working with a client. “I try to sit back and only recommend things as a suggestion,” he said.



Moving forward

Some clients are so impressed with Daghigh’s work that they ask for replicas, so they can display the models. “Whether you are trying to secure investing or use it for presentation in a lobby, his models are like these miniature pieces of art in a way,” said Kevin Heinly, a principal with architecture firm Gensler.


The company continues to grow and land new clients, including star architect Frank Gehry, who began working with the company last year. And as the company expands internationally, Daghigh said he has considered opening an office in Dubai, where he already does some business. But Daghigh is not sure since he would have to split his time. “I’m concerned about reducing quality, because I don’t want to screw up the name,” he said.


But international growth may become easier now that another Daghigh has recently gotten involved in the business Nima Daghigh the owner’s son. The younger Daghigh says that he remembers when his father worked through the weekend to get jobs done, work that ultimately paid off.


“It’s incredible seeing my dad move from the shop to the big desk,” said Nima Daghigh, the company’s vice president. “It is pretty intimidating I have some big shoes to fill, but I don’t think he’s retiring any time soon.”



Model Works Inc.


Founded:

1978

Core Business: Building architectural models


Employees in 2007:

20


Employees in 2006:

16


Goal:

Short- to medium-term growth that is sustainable despite fluctuations in the economy


Driving Force:

The desire of developers, architects and others for models that can serve as marketing tools to interested parties, such as investors, the public and municipal officials

No posts to display