Model & scale as conceptual devices in architectural representation

Abstract

This year we celebrate the tenth anniversary of our Computer Aided Manufacturing laboratory (CAMlab, http://www.camlab-bk.nl). From the start we provide laser cutting, CNC-milling and 3D-print facilities for the students and the researchers at the Faculty of Architecture in Delft. Over the past ten years we have delivered uncountable amounts of fabricated model parts and we have advised several thousands of students. Also, we have participated in many faculty-, museum- and world traveling exhibitions, and we have conducted many courses about model making and prototyping related to architecture and industrial design. Although we can report and show many successes in scale model making, we also noticed a number of problems, pitfalls and too many examples of rough and unarticulated scale models from students in our own workshop and elsewhere. The downsides of computer directed fabrication techniques were obvious and multiple. First and foremost, we noticed the attitude to see models as an end product. Secondly, as a consequence, there often was the un- articulated outlook, missing the human touch. Thirdly, we noticed the missing sense for scale as a conceptual device. Many models were made as if they were shrunken depictions of reality. This paper describes how we responded to these new problems.