Little cities that last forever

Little cities that last forever

Why Aiden Istalapron sculpts decaying city structures most would overlook as eyesores under overgrowth

Interview by Sarah Boden
Photography courtesy of Aiden Itsalapron

Published October 15, 2025

Vintage Garage Miniature Diorama, 2025
Wood, paper, and plastic
1/87 scale miniature
Base circumference: 21 1/2 inches

Small things are often associated with charm, but model maker Aiden Itsalapron (@aidencreates) prefers the unnerving. His haunting miniatures of abandoned houses and vacant department stores lean towards reality—making his style less Tim Burton, and more akin to scenes from a washed-out amusement park that Defunctland would profile.

In this conversation (edited for length and clarity), Itsalapron told Creator Mag that many of his models are of real buildings in northern Appalachia, where he grew up and lives. By recreating derelict structures in painstaking detail, Itsalapron wants his audience to see their forgotten beauty, and to consider the stories of the people who lived and worked in them.

Itsalapron’s visual exploration of neglected edifices began when he drew his first abandoned house at age five. In middle school, he became captivated by model trains; in high school, he combined these two interests through miniatures, often consulting YouTube tutorials to hone his craft. And though Itsalapron’s work primarily focuses on nineteenth and twentieth-century buildings, the Internet plays a significant role in his artistic process.

SARAH BODEN: How’s it going? It’s Monday. Is this a day you usually work?

AIDEN ITSALAPRON: I usually work later into the night. I’m not really a morning person. So it’s nice to pretty much be your own boss.

Zillow listing of an abandoned house in Maryland.

Aiden's re-creation 1/48-scale recreation of the abandoned home from Zillow.

SB: I see how there’s this dip on the roof over the bay window.

AI: That’s what caught my eye when I first saw that. It’s just the fact that no one cares about it, and it’s just sitting there, and nature is taking over.

SB: That theme of nature taking over permeates your work. Your models of old farmhouses, rusty cars, and empty swimming pools — there’s always grass, mold, and vines creeping in. What is it about dilapidation and neglect that inspires you?

AI: I grew up here in central Pennsylvania, so there’s like a ton of abandoned and dilapidated houses and structures like gas stations that are all around me. I like to show the beauty that most people wouldn’t see in these abandoned places. But when they see my model, they can look at all the details and appreciate it.

And I’ve always liked horror, so I think that’s part of it too. I like to listen to horror stories or true crime while I’m working on my stuff. For inspiration, I find a lot on YouTube. One channel I watch is The Proper People, which explores abandoned places like malls and penitentiaries. And there’s an Instagram account called Dark Exploration that posts videos and photos of abandoned places that often have an eerie, liminal feel.

Vintage Abandoned Bedroom Miniature Diorama, 2025
Foam, paper, wood, metal, and plastic
1/24 scale miniature
6 x 6 x 5 inches

SB: The theme of this issue is “TOUCH GRASS,” and I’m curious to know how you create grass that looks so lifelike.

AI: I use this material called static grass. It comes in different lengths that are almost like little hair fibers. I start off with two millimeters of static grass, and then add blades with longer and longer lengths until I get up to twelve millimeters. I work in 1/48 scale, so one foot in real life equals a quarter inch on one of my models.

I’ll then add some taller plants and bushes, which I order from Italy. I will also head outside to pick up sticks for trees, or collect leaves to dry them out and then put them through an old blender to get them all shredded up and fine. Then I’ll put that powder through a sifter to make it even finer, which I use for ground cover.

A diorama including foliage, a full interior, and quarter for scale from 2019. The photo was framed outdoors to blend the piece in with the real trees behind it.

SB: You strike me as a private person, but you do have an online following. Do you have a philosophy or approach when it comes to using social media to promote your art and connect with fans?

AI: Sometimes, I’ll use lighting and position my models against an outdoor background to make them look real. When I post those photos on Instagram, some people think they are real. I think a lot of my followers are people who, like me, can see the beauty in these abandoned places.

It’s nice to connect with people online to talk about their interests and what they want to see me make. Then when I build something for them, they’re happy. That is always a good feeling.

SB: Do you ever hear from the people who lived or worked at one of the places that you’ve based a model on?

AI: There’s this one place that is now demolished. It was this woman’s grandparents’ house. She contacted me on Facebook because she thought it was neat-looking and told me some of the history of the house. She mentioned some of the siding was made out of a wooden boat, and that there was an old poultry plant on the property as well.

Sometimes I’ll look up who owns these places online. Some people have passed away, and I’m guessing that’s why some of these places are abandoned. But I wonder if someone passed away, why no one in their family would have come in and done anything with the house. Why is the house sitting there?

AIDEN ITSALAPRON is a diorama sculptor and artist from Pennsylvania. See more of Aiden's work—
(IG, ETSY) @aidencreates

The Abandoned Swimming Pool Diorama, 2025
Foam, paper, wood, and plastic
1/48 scale miniature
11 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

Sarah Boden

Sarah Boden is a Pittsburgh-based journalist whose bylines include NPR, Spotlight PA, KFF Health News, BBC, Science News, Medscape, and Slate. When not reporting, Boden is usually in the ceramics studio—she’s slowly throwing a complete set of dishes.

(WEB) bodenreports.github.io