Want to take your city home with you? Meet Studio for Metropolitan Craft, an architectural model company with build-your-own table top models of the Golden Gate Bridge, Sutro Tower, Oakland waterfront cranes, and more of your favorite local landmarks.
Laurence Srinivasan was working as an architect when he realized he had a knack for model making. In 2010 he was laid off from his full-time gig, just around the same time that TechShop San Francisco opened. It was the perfect headquarters for a new business and fully equipped with the design programs and tools Laurence needed to laser cut his first design, the Sutro Tower. The SFMOMA store soon picked it up, and since then he’s expanded to a full Bay Area model series. His most recent project is an order of 1,000 Hunter’s Point cranes for a housing developer. Several other of his customers have found him through the SFMade website.
“I could look at options for laser cutting overseas but it’s part of my core values to not outsource,” he said while sitting inside of TechShop. “I’m going to keep making everything locally as long as I can.”
Visit the Studio for Metropolitan Craft e-store here.