Model Making
January 13, 2023
Models are such powerful communication tools!
We don't make as many models as we'd like to so when a client requests one, we are reminded just how great the process is and how it improves the end results!
A physical concept model is part of our Enhanced Service at RIBA Stage 2, and we've made them for private home owners, community groups and commercial clients. These models vary to suit the project but are always instrumental in helping clients and other stakeholders to better understand the shape, scale and materiality of our proposals, and crucially to get more involved themselves! At the concept design stage, the models are usually quite conceptual or simple in nature (rather than being super accurate, detailed presentation models) but they are really successful in enabling clients to engage with the design process in a more immediate, richer and interactive way.
While a lot can be obtained from a 3D computer model, which we include in our Standard service, there is nothing quite like seeing and feeling a physical model in real life, and being able to crouch down and peer in; imagining oneself in miniature, inhabiting this new world.
Invariably, the process of making itself assists us in our design thinking and creates a better design outcome - revealing things that might have otherwise not been considered. Its a very hard thing to quantify but the subtleties of our connection to physical space/material is something computer drawings, even virtual reality, often fails to convey. I am reminded of The Thinking Hand by Juhani Pallasmaa; a book that explores how the hand–tool union and eye–hand–mind fusion are essential for dexterity and play a crucial role in memory and creative work.
In 2023 we want to make more and hope to demonstrate to more clients that models are a great tool in a collaborative design process! If you're considering working with us (or other architects), ask about model making!
As a head start, you can understand more about the different levels of service here