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 […]
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 […]
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 (. […]
“The idea is simple: everyone is a planner. Everyone has a relationship to the city, and uses it in certain ways. It’s our job to get people’s ideas to the surface” What is the vision for our city? Taking notes from the Los Angeles artists, James Rojas has found a way to convey abstract planning […]
Unbeknownst to most visitors of New York City, the Queens Museum of Art holds the massive NYC Panorama. The attraction was commissioned by master builder and urban planner Robert Moses for display at the 1964 World’s Fair as a powerful representational tool and as a spectacle. The 1” = 100’ scale of the project […]
A topographic model of the Mississippi River Basin was constructed of plaster at a horizontal scale of 1” = 33,333’ and a vertical scale of 1” = 9,600’. Each layer of chipboard represents 300’ vertically. Developed at a 4:3 ratio to match the projection capacity, the model consisted of 12 15” x 15” panels which […]