Architectural model

For scale models built in a hobby context, seeBuilding model.For computer models, seeSoftware architectural model.

Anarchitectural modelis a type ofscale modelmade to study aspects of anarchitectural designor to communicate design intent. They are made using a variety of materials including paper,plaster,plastic,resin,wood, glass, andmetal.

An architectural model of the Sonnenhof in Rapperswil, with scale human figures in front of it

An architectural model promoting a highrise condominium

Models are built either with traditionalhandcrafttechniques or via3D printingtechnologies such asstereolithography,fused filament fabrication,andselective laser sintering.

History

The use of architectural models dates to pre-history. Some of the oldest standing models were found inMaltaatTarxien Temples.Those models are now stored at theNational Museum of Archaeologyin Malta.

Purpose

Project managers discuss the plant development using an architectural model

Architectural models are used by architects for a range of purposes, including:

• Ad hocor "sketch" models are sometimes made to study the interaction of volumes, different viewpoints, or concepts during the design process. They're useful in explaining a complicated or unusual design to builders. They also serve as a focus for discussion between architects, engineers, and town planners.
• Presentation models can be used to exhibit, visualize, or sell a final design.

A model also serves as a show piece. Once a building is finished, the model is sometimes featured in a common area of the building.

Types of models include:

• Exterior models are models of buildings that usually include some landscaping orcivic spacesaround the building.
• Interior models are models showing interior space planning, finishes, colors, furniture, andbeautification.
• Landscaping design models are models of landscape design and development, representing features such as walkways, small bridges,pergolas,vegetation patterns, and beautification. Landscape design models usually represent public spaces and, in some cases, include buildings as well.
• Urban models are typically built at a much smaller scale (starting from 1:500 and less, 1:700, 1:1000, 1:1200, 1:2000, and 1:20,000), representing several city blocks, even a town or village, a large resort, a campus, an industrial facility, a military base, and so on. Urban models are a tool for town and city planning and development. Urban models of large urban areas are displayed at museums such as theShanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center,theQueens Museumin New York,theBeijing Planning Exhibition Hall,and theSingapore City Gallery.
• Engineering and construction models show isolated building or structure elements and components and their interactions.

• 
  A model by architect Lorenzo Winslow which he used to explore the structure of theGrand Staircaseat theWhite Housefor his redesign of theEast Wing.
• 
  Model of a museum building.
• 
  Model of a building interior.
• 
  A scale replica model of the now demolished Capitol Theatre inCauseway Bay, Hong Kong
• 
  A model used for urban planning in theBuenos Aires Province
• 
  Model of New York City, World's Fair (1964)

Virtual modeling

Buildings are increasingly designed in software with CAD (computer-aided design) systems. Early virtual modeling involved the fi xing of arbitrary lines and points in virtual space, mainly to produce technical drawings. Modern packages include advanced features such as databases of components, automated engineering calculations, visual fly-throughs, dynamic reflections, and accurate textures and colors.

As an extension to CAD (computer-aided design) and BIM (building information modeling), virtual reality architectural sessions are also being adopted. This technology enables participants to be immersed in a 1:1 scale model, essentially experiencing the building before it is built.

List of CAD and BIM software

• Autodesk Revit
• AutoCAD
• Rhinoceros 3D
• SketchUp
• ARCHICAD
• Vectorworks
• Autodesk 3ds Max

Materials

Rough study models can be made quickly using cardboard, wooden blocks, polystyrene, foam, foam boards, and other materials. Such models are an efficientdesign toolfor the three-dimensional understanding of a structure, space, or form, and are used by architects, interior designers, and exhibit designers.

Common materials used for centuries in the construction of architectural models were card stock,balsa wood,basswood,and other woods. Modern professional architectural model builders use 21st-century materials, such as Taskboard (a flexible and lightweight wood/fiberboard), plastics, wooden and wooden-plastic composites, foams,foam board,and urethane compounds.

Several companies produce ready-made pieces for structural components (e.g., girders, beams), siding, furniture, figures (people), vehicles, trees, bushes, and other features that are found in the models. Features such as vehicles, people figurines, trees, streetlights, and others are called "scenery elements" and serve not only to beautify the model but also to help the observer obtain a correct feel of the scale and proportions represented by the model.

Increasingly,rapid prototypingtechniques such as3D printingandCNC routingare used to automatically construct models directly fromCADplans.

• 
  Anearthenwaremodel of two residential towers, made during theHan dynastyin China.
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  Paper architectural models of abungalow,officeandhouse.
• 
  A wooden exterior model of theRoyal Military College of Canadagrounds.
• 
  Painted wood model of theVolkshalleinHitler's plannedGermaniaproject.

Cork models

A cork model is an architectural model made predominantly of cork. The art of cork modeling is also called phelloplasty (Greek φελλός phellos, cork).

cork model of the Temple of Portunus

In Napoli in the sixteenth century, cork was being used to create Christmas cribs. The 18th and early 19th centuries saw an increase in the popularity of crib-making there.

The invention of architectural models made of cork was self-attributed to Augusto Rosa (1738–1784), but Giovanni Altieri (documented 1766–1790) and Antonio Chichi (1743–1816) were already active in Rome as manufacturers of cork models.

Chichi's models were copied byCarl May(1747–1822) and his son Georg Heinrich May (1790–1853).

Other artists include Luigi Carotti (Rome), Carlo Lucangeli (1747–1812, Rome, Naples), Domenico Padiglione and his sons Agostino and Felice (Naples), and Auguste Pelet (1785–1865, Nîmes). In Marseille, several scale models were made representing archaeological digs by Hippolyte Augier (1830–1889) (Marseille History Museum/Musée d’Histoire de Marseille) orStanislas Clastrier(1857–1925).

Dieter Cöllen is an example of a contemporary phelloplast that continues the art.

Collections

Many cork models of classical monuments in Italy were made and sold to tourists during theirGrand Tour.Cork, especially when carefully painted, was ideal to reproduce the weathered look of wall surfaces.

As a rule, they were produced on a large scale (theColosseuminAschaffenburgis three meters long and one meter high) and with high precision.

Cork models were esteemed in the princely courts of the 18th century. They were also acquired for their scientific value by schools of architecture in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, or by institutions like theSociety of Antiquaries of Londonand theBritish Museum,as a way of introducing the general public to ancient architecture.

Despite their fragility, cork models have often survived better than wooden models threatened by wood-destroying insects.

Apart from kings and princes, cork models were collected by people such asFilippo Farsetti(1703–1744) in Venice,Pierre Gaspard Marie Grimod d'Orsay(1748–1809), and the architectLouis-François CassasinFrance,Charles Townley,or Sir J. Soane inLondon,who turned his home into a museum, andSir John Soane's Museum,housing a collection of 14 models in cork of Roman and Greek buildings.

Chichi's cork models can be found at theImperial Academy of Artsin Saint Petersburg, Russia (34 models made around 1774);Schloss Wilhelmshöhe,Kassel (33 models made 1777–1782);Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt(26 models acquired 1790–91); and theHerzogliches Museum Gotha(12 models acquired after 1777–1778; see Wikipedia in German).

The largest collection of cork models by Carl May, with 54 pieces (after war losses), is in Aschaffenburg (Schloss Johannisburg); another large collection of his models is in theStaatliches Museum Schwerin.

In France, theMusée des Antiquités Nationalesà Saint-Germain-en-Laye has works by Rosa,Lucandeliand Pelet.The Musée archéologique deNîmes(Musée archéologique de Nîmes) and theMarseille History Museumalso have cork models.

Modern cork models of antique buildings by Dieter Cöllen are exhibited in the Praetorium in Cologne.

Scales

Architectural models are being constructed at a much smallerscalethan their 1:1 counterpart.

The scales and their architectural use are broadly as follows:

• 1:1 full (or real) size for details
• 1:2 Details
• 1:5 Details
• 1:10 Interior spaces and furniture
• 1:20 Interior spaces and furniture
• 1:50 Interior spaces, detailed floor plans, and different floor levels
• 1:100 Building plans and layouts
• 1:200 Building plans and layouts
• 1:500 Building layouts or site plans
• 1:1000 Urban scale for site or location plans
• 1:1250 Site plans
• 1:2500 Site plans and city maps
• 1:5000 City maps/Island

Sometimes model railroad scales such as1:160and1:87are used due to the ready availability of commercial figures, vehicles, and trees in those scales, and models of large buildings are most often built in approximately that range of scales due to size considerations.

See also

• Architectural rendering
• Maquette
• Mockup
• Origamic architecture(OA)
• Scale model
• Superquick
• Cardboard modeling