I found a photo of my first model from architecture school, and I still like it. It is a concept model for a building.
The structure works like a series of sections. Seven laser-cut plastic ribs act as the frames, each one a different profile, and more than a hundred balsa sticks, 1/4 inch by 36 inches, run through them lengthwise to form the skin. The sticks describe what architects call a ruled surface. Each stick is a straight line, but because every rib rotates a little further than the last, the straight lines add up to a twisting curve.
Nothing is glued. Every hole was measured and punched one at a time, and the sticks hold the form in pure bending, tensioned between one rib and the next. Pull one out and it springs straight again. The whole building stands because every piece is slightly stressed and none of them can relax.
Building it taught me that I like making physical things, which explains a lot of what came after.