“The story of the Elbphilharmonie provides, as an example, an insight into the extremes that mark the reality of planning and building today.” -dezeen magazine Design firm Herzog & de Meuron are in the process, after many years and dollars past the original goal, of completing the Elbphilharmonic in Hamburg. The firm presented suspended models of […]
Vincent De Rijk is the go to model maker behind many of OMA and MDRVD ‘s infamous competition models. Like the firms, he is based in Rotterdam, but is sought out across Europe and North America. He was educated in industrial design and a leading expert in the use of polymers. In addition to […]
The S-M.A.O, Sancho-Madridejos Architecture Office was commissioned to design a chapel in Aladen, Ciudad Real, Spain (1996-2001). The architects, Sol Madridejos & Juan Carlos Sancho were inspired by the surrounding landscape and reinterpreted its corrugating surfaces for the Chapel in Villeaceron project. The combination of creased surfaces translated into the team’s first concept models. Folded […]
More than a tool to represent, for OMA, models are also tools for analysis. Such 3D diagrams make information much intuitionistic – filted elements formed in scale which could make a container of information into a real space or building, and the connection between them becomes road which based on real terrain. It’s a smooth […]
After winning the Rome Prize in 1999, Tom Leader’s chosen project was to create a temporal map of Rome. Relating time and historical data in the form of a drawing is a challenge enough, but expression in the form of a physical model is even more so. Tom Leader’s finished project relies on 15 acrylic […]
The design process at Gehry Partners is deeply rooted in physical model-making. Frank Gehry, a well known American architect, established his practice in 1962 in Los Angeles, California. In 2001 Gehry Partners was formed, and today has a staff of over 140 people. During the design process at Gehry Partners many models are made, in […]
We often go to the movies to escape our reality. Conversely, many filmmakers try to make a ‘recognizable reality’[i]. There are more than a few takeaways from the modeling techniques of the film industry, and many that could be compelling entries in the designer’s playbook. 1. Choose materials with purpose. It is advised that […]
At first glance, images of surreal landscapes by artist Matthew Albanese appear so unbelievably real that it is impossible to imagine that they are in fact photographs of dioramas. Through his series ‘Strange Worlds’, the artist demonstrates that it is possible to create something extraordinary out of very ordinary everyday materials. Using a wide range […]
Thomas Sopwith, a civil engineer and surveyor from the 19th century fabricated three-dimensional teaching models to represent the earth strata. The smooth, wooden models were pocket-sized, approximately 4”X 4” X 2”. Various tree species were used to capture the thicknesses of layering rock and mineral strata as well as the fractures occurring within layers. Each […]
Architecture models play a helpful role in communicating and expressing the designer’s vision, intentions, and implications. But outside of this profession, landscape modeling can be expressed very differently. I explored several artists’ takes of modeling or recreating the landscape at a miniature scale. Kim Keever creates miniature staged landscapes inside a 200-gallon fish tank (. […]