Tuesday, December 06, 2016

The Very Best Architectural Model Making


A wonderful new museum in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo makes me want to return again as soon as possible. Reminiscing about my old life in Japan I need not feel guilty about missing this highlight last time since the museum wasn't established until this year. Archi-Depot's goal is to try to restore and display architectural models from some of Japan's leading architects; architects I've been studying for quite a long time actually. International artists are also being included as the collection develops. Lots of different types of architectural model are represented; massing models, site models, architectural features, conceptual etc. The museum, run by Yuta Tokunaga, is apparently soliciting for financial support as well which is something I will definitely look into doing in the future because it's somewhere I'd definitely want to visit. These small pieces are wonderful!


Competing with these stunning handmade models in the 21st century is a new technology and it's time we highlight a studio doing all the right things with 3D printing. MATT Architecture of London has done an excellent job leveraging the rapid prototyping capabilities of 3D printing to design better. Daniel Lauand, architect at MATT Architecture, hits the nail on the head when he explains in the article:

“Whilst architects have always constructed physical models to test and evaluate design decisions, 3D printing opened up the possibility of increasing the frequency and complexity of this iterative process between digital model and physical artefact.”

Increasing the frequency and complexity of the iterations has a significant impact on improving the quality of a design. Or another way of looking at it; making more mistakes in the design process allows more mistakes to be fixed. I always thank the Mythbusters for championing the claim "failure is always an option" and that goes to the heart of why physical massing models etc. are so helpful whether 3D printed or handmade. The complexities are grasped more quickly and problems identified. But only with a 3D printing workflow can that iteration cycle be compressed and costs reduced. The included video narrates MATT Architecture's 3D printing process and features an upcoming project. Props to @all3dp for releasing their article under CC4.0. 

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