As New Zealand continues staying home, we’ve got an activity for the whole family. Use whatever materials you can find, create a home and send us the result!

Based on our popular Model Citizens event in 2019, where teams used Lego to create a brand new design, we’re challenging you to stay home and make your own “models”. You can use Lego, cardboard or any other materials you can find within your bubble to create a design for a home. It can be a home for anything: your pet, your best friend, your most prized possession. Entries are open to all and we encourage kids of all ages to get involved and make something as we stay in our bubbles for a little while longer.

Use this form to send us a photo of what you make and tell us a little bit about it. We’ll be sharing your creations on ArchitectureNow. The best model home will be crowned the Model Citizens Lockdown Edition winner. And, we’ve got a prize pack from Resene for both the winning kids’ model and the winning adults’ model. For the kids, that includes a creative bundle with pencils, paints and more; and for the adults, you’ll receive a Resene Colour Match Pencil set and a $200 Colour Shop voucher for any charity of your nomination, to help them with all their creative needs. More prizes to be announced!

So get to making, stay inside and stay safe New Zealand. We can’t wait to see what you make.

Here are a few of the submissions we’ve received so far:

Follow us on Instagram @architecture.nz to see more of your submissions and keep sending us your creations!

Nic (8), Melody (45) and Jonathan (45) 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”. The home and dimension-jumping turtle are constructed of Lego and comes with a diorama-like backdrop.

The House for a Mouse by Arte (6) and Ross (37) is “a small amount of shelter in amongst the trees to sit and contemplate life…and dream of cheese.” The pair made this model from wooden off-cuts found around the house and hot glue.

Rudy (10) used Lego to create Ramshackle Cabin out of Lego. “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,” Rudy says.

Marcel (8) and Mark (43) made this Lego home, and they say, “It’s Odin’s party house. He parties all day and night.”

Stella (21) says, “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.”

Monty (12) made this Lego creation, which is “a plane pilot who crashed in the jungle and had to make his home from wreckage and random stuff”.

Mark (45) and Phoebe (6), created this party palace for an extended community bubble entirely out of Lego. They say “We’ve created a self-sustainable party hub bubble bunker. Be kind, party on!”