Model Citizens @ home: Winners announced
Winner: Charlie (age 8) – “This home is for the Lilliput people from Gullivers Travels. The Lilliput people are very small and Gulliver is a giant in comparison. Because Gulliver is so big and friendly, he makes the people feel safe when he’s around and he can easily pick them up with his arms (sticking out the side) and place them into the caves within his structure.” Made from Lego.
Winner: Leela (age 44) – “I made a DANCE FLOOR! It is an extravagant space of scale for 24-hour socialising, music and dancing. For everyone deprived of the loud social interaction of a crowd.” Made from scrap cardboard and paper.
Finalist: Marcel (age 8) and Mark (age 43) – “It’s Odins party house. He parties all day and night.” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Rowan (age 9) – “This home is for climbers to live in because it has a tower that is a massive climbing wall and a big room at the bottom.” Made from wooden blocks called CitiBlocs.
Finalist: Stella (21) – “After a beautiful walk through the bush at the start of this recent Covid lockdown, I decided to make a miniature home fit for a forest fairy. The idea is that it would be a beautiful place for them to isolate, they could go for a dip in their pool out front, or relax under the shade of their trees, or even have a lie down in their flax bed. I created it out of items I found around my house and real leaves, twigs, and moss from my neighbourhood.”
Finalist: Jake – “This is a summer house for a surfer: A bach suspended above the beach, with the waves just out of the front door.” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Phoebe (age 6) and Mark (age 45) – “We’ve created a self-sustainable party hub bubble bunker. Be kind, party on!” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Felix (age 5) – “Rainbow island house – a colourful happy house for all of our friends.” Made from Duplo Lego.
Finalist: Gretta-Rose (age 10) – “This house is for fairies. It has lots of detail, and I expect fairies will be moving in soon. This my best Lego creation that I have ever made.”
Finalist: Carlotta (age 9) – “My home is for a big family. They live in a tall apartment with lots of different floors.” Made from Lego, “with a little bit of help from my dad and lots of comments from my mum and older sister”.
Finalist: Rudy (age 10) – “This is a Ramshackle Cabin in a clearing in the woods. It is far away from the city and used to be an inn, but after the owner died a young man named Joe moved in and made it his home. He keeps his food next to the inn and uses old wood from the building to make a fire every night.” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Monty (age 12) – “My house is for a plane pilot who crashed in the jungle, and had to make his home from wreckage and random stuff.” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Beckett (age 14) and Izzy (age 11) – The house is for “Ming the cat – this is her castle for her to survey her domain”. Made from cardboard and tape.
Finalist: Vivienne (age 4) – “I made a house for my little elephant called Rosie. She needed a house because she was sick of getting rained on. She loves her house now! I played with Rosie and her new house for a few days before we broke it down because we needed to vacuum the floor.” Made from wooden blocks.
Finalist: Gus (age 4), Otto (age 19mo) and Sam (age 39) – “Batman, Woody and Buzz Lightyear were looking forward to joining their bubbles.” Made from dishwashing liquid.
Finalist: Estë (age 8) and Ochre (age 3) – “A princess ran away from a ball and found a home in the middle of the woods, so she decided to live there. She found a rabbit and a pegasus to live there with her and she’s lived in the woods ever since.” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Charlie (age 4) – This house is for “two of my best friends Sylvie and Celeste”. Made from Lego.
Finalist: Abby (age 5) – “I made a house. It’s for Grandma and Grandpa and Dad.” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Rose (age 10) – “A fun, colourful, family home that is shared with lots of pets. It’s a home that welcomes you upon arrival. Rose is most proud of her bathroom design, she dreams of a much bigger, more modern bathroom!” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Greta (age 11) – This is a home for “me and my friends. This imagines a place where a group of friends can hang out, exercise (pull up bar very important), zip line and have fun”. Made from Lego.
Finalist: Sherene (age 56) – “This is a design for an earth covered community centre in Griffith NSW.” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Caliya (age 6) – “The house is for me and my friends to play in because I miss my friends in lockdown. We have food, ice cream, drinks, beds for sleeping, tv, a couch, games and a surfboard for when we can go out of lockdown.” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Ross (age 37) and Arte (age 6) – “This is A House for a Mouse. A small amount of shelter in amongst the trees to sit and contemplate life…and dream of cheese!” Made from strips of pine and hot glue.
Finalist: James (age 6) – “James made a house for his favourite soft toys – Raccoon (who is actually a Red Panda) and Cheet (a Cheetah). It is a tiny house made of upcycled materials, in Art Deco style, with an atrium and multiple windows to provide a connection to nature for the animals.”
Finalist: Olive (age 6) – “I made a home for the Princess from Gullivers travels. It has balcony so the Princess can talk to her secret lover. It has stairs between the top and bottom storey. It uses different textures for the walls to make it interesting. She has a jet ski and convertible car to zoom around in.” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Heather (age 7) – Heather made a home for “Hank and Wu, two lego people”.
Finalist: Mishika (age 10) and Maanvir (age 8) – “Our home is for all the superheroes – essential workers that are working hard to keep our community safe.” Made from “recyclable materials like cardboard boxes, bottle caps, coloured paper, paper towel roll and our toy”s.
Finalist: Nic (age 8), Melody (age 45) and Jonathan (age 45) – “We made the ultimate mobile home, constructed on the back of a space turtle who can swim between oceans, planets, and mythology. The home comes complete with infinity edge pool, periscope, pig, chicken, and a plethora of gems encased within the roofline.” Made from Lego, cardboard, foam and LED lights.
Finalist: Korilee (age 10) – “I made a modern house with lots of lights and a bunny. And, the flowers match the colour of the motorbike, with a pool and petting zoo.” Made from Lego.
Finalist: Mali (age 13) – “A modern, art-filled dream home. Mali has created a spiral bookcase, a cosy floral sofa with plenty of through pillows and her dream swing chair.” Made from recycled boxes, tape and vivid.
We tasked you, the public, with making the hard choice of who would be crowned winner of our Model Citizens @ home competition. With 30 shortlisted projects ranging from creative Lego creations to whimsical towers of upcycled cardboard and paper, it was no easy feat picking a winner. But, the votes are in and we can finally announce our two winners:
Charlie, age 8, takes our child’s prize and will receive a creative kids pack from Resene, full of paints, pencils and more. Charlie’s Gulliver’s Travels-inspired home won the public over as a safe haven for the small Lilliput people.
The winner in the adults’ category is Leela with her cardboard and scrap paper dance floor. She’ll receive a $200 Resene Colour Shop voucher for a charity of her choice along with a Resene Colour Match Pencil set.
Congratulations to our two winners and thank you to everyone who submitted their model homes, voted and came along for the ride with our Model Citizens @ home competition.
All of the shortlisted submissions can still be seen in the gallery above. We will be in touch with the winners shortly to arrange receipt of prizes.
