Sets and scenes from the Harry Potter series are reimagined as miniature cardboard models by architecture students from the Melbourne School of Design. Created as part of a summer intensive called Smoke and Mirrors, the project brings Gringotts, The Burrow, the Shrieking Shack, the Chamber of Secrets and other key buildings and interiors to life, each one appropriately a little off-kilter, its details rendered in the monochrome of the material.

Teams of students selected characters from J.K. Rowling’s series of books and researched their choice in all available source materials, including the movies and the author’s interactive website, Pottermore. The idea is that this character is their “client,” and rather than reproducing associated locations according to how they were seen on film, the students had to reinterpret them in a fun way, as if the client had commissioned the design based on a wacky Pinterest board.

Led by architect Jannette Le and tutors Michael Mack, Mond Qu and Denis Vieghe, the students used 1mm and .6mm cardboard along with tracing paper for windows, LED lights and motors connected to Arduinos to create their models. They only had 11 days to design, build and fabricate the models using hand modeling, digital fabrication techniques and laser cutting. They used in-camera effects like forced perspective to give each set its cinematic feel.

Born in Karbala during the Iraq-Iran War while his father was imprisioned by Saddam Hussein as a dissident, Ali Alamedy turned to books as a means of escape, wishing he could transport himself into the fictional settings between the pages. Later, as an adult, he began to bring those scenes to life – along with places from his own memories, and recreations of places that only exist in his imagination – in finely rendered miniature. In Arabic, the word ‘miniature’ translates to ‘a small painting on paper,’ so he didn’t find out about the existence of dioramas outside of his own art until he started searching for these words in English on the internet.

“When a budding artist has a burning desire to create a vignette, they don’t let the lack of building materials stop them,” he writes on Bored Panda. “This was exactly what happened to me when I started to make miniatures. I used any resource I could scrounge: aluminum foil, paper clips, plastic rods, foam board, coffee for weathering, anything that held possibilities.”

He began posting his work on Facebook, attracting fans all over the world, and his work has grown more and more meticulous. His largest project to date is the 1900s photo studio he built in honor of an old photographer. He spent 9 months building more than 100 miniature objects from scratch based on historical photographs of real studios, which, he notes, was a particular challenge due to the fact that all the photos were in black and white.

“The hardest part was how to recall the spirit of such a place in a small scale,” he says.

The New York Times gets a deeper look into both Alamedy’s work and his past in a new video, and you can see lots more detailed images on his Instagram.

A kit that combines the precision and detail of computer modeling with the physicality of Legos makes it possible to design and build any architectural structures you can dream up. With minimalist greyscale components that are significantly more refined than those found within actual Lego modern architecture sets, Arckit by Damien Murtagh can be used as a professional tool for architects or a fun toy for architecture hobbyists and enthusiasts.

Traditional model-making typically requires a lot of measuring, cutting and glueing, and once you set a piece in place, you’re stuck with it. Arckit’s snap-together system made of ABS plastic allows continuous modifications so you can really experiment. It’s a lot cheaper than purchasing 3D modeling software, without the steep learning curve. While it was initially designed for adult use only, it turns out that kids love it, too.

The modular system is at 1:48 scale and comes in three packages for structures measuring 60, 120 or 240 square meters. The 120-square-meter set has proved the most popular, offering over 385 pieces, a component tray, and a booklet explaining how to put it all together. Add-on components are also available, with extras including trusses, floating staircases and printable adhesive sheets so you can customize colors, textures and other imagery however you like.