This book offers an explanation of why scale models are important to the design process. Albert Smith takes the reader through the history and significance of models in architecture from the magic of the Egyptian scale model to the present day. Through this description of the relationship between architecture and the scale model, Smith demonstrates the most effective process between concept and 'machine', between the idea and the final building. The great value of this book is to reveal the nature of the scale model and to unlock the tremendous potential of this design tool as a thinking and communicative advice. His chronological analysis goes on from Egypt through Rome to the relationship between the Greek paradigm scale model and then on to Medieval and Renaissance models. It concludes with the models of the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi, the Russian Constructivists, the American architect Louis Khan and finally looks at the role of scale models in the present day through the work of the Polish/American architect Daniel Libeskind and the American Frank Gehry.

This book offers an explanation of why scale models are important to the design process. Albert Smith takes the reader through the history and significance of models in architecture from the magic of the Egyptian scale model to the present day. Through this description of the relationship between architecture and the scale model, Smith demonstrates the most effective process between concept and 'machine', between the idea and the final building. The great value of this book is to reveal the nature of the scale model and to unlock the tremendous potential of this design tool as a thinking and communicative advice. His chronological analysis goes on from Egypt through Rome to the relationship between the Greek paradigm scale model and then on to Medieval and Renaissance models. It concludes with the models of the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi, the Russian Constructivists, the American architect Louis Khan and finally looks at the role of scale models in the present day through the work of the Polish/American architect Daniel Libeskind and the American Frank Gehry.

Advances in computer-aided design have proven to be an invaluable tool for the architect and designer, yet Frank Gehry still begins his creative process by making "simple" models out of modest materials. Drawings and video, while an essential part of the design process, are still not substitutes for the tactile sensation one receives from a scale model. Drawing on 20 years experience in art and architecture, the author has developed this book on model making as it applies to students and professionals of the built environment. More than 300 photographs illustrate a multitude of techniques and the use of a wide variety of materials, providing a solid foundation for students and professionals to create and enjoy three-dimensional model making for interior design, architecture, landscape architecture, furniture design, theatrical design, and retail merchandising.

For thousands of years, architects have used models to invent, experiment and communicate. A world in miniature, such models are even more varied in their purposes and materials than their full-scale counterparts. This beautifully designed book explores the uniquely fascinating nature of the architectural model through 26 illustrated essays, one for each letter of the alphabet - from A for 'Ancient' (on the world's oldest models) to Z for 'Zoom' (on the photography of models). Unbound by the practicalities of life-size construction, models allow architects the flexibility and freedom to think in three dimensions. Whether made for purely speculative exercises or to solve a specific problem, they are aids to the imagination. Equally, they can be used as detailed and accurate representations of particular places (either built or as yet unrealized) in order to convey information to patrons or the public. Models can be made in a wide variety of media, from paper, cork and wood to such ephemeral materials as sugar and jelly. Most recently, the advent of digital technologies has transformed possibilities for prototyping, which in turn has greatly influenced architectural design. Models also have a vibrant life beyond the design process. Souvenir models collected on the Grand Tour, 1:1 scale plaster models of architectural fragments displayed in museums, and architectural toys that have delighted children and adults alike are just some of their manifestations outside the architect's office. Written by architects, model-makers, curators, conservators and scholars, the texts in this absorbing Alphabet explore such varied but fundamental issues as modelling materials and techniques, scale, and the role of the model in the design process. They also go beyond conventional accounts to look at models under the X-ray machine, their use in film, and edible models. The result is a wide-ranging, insightful and original account of the multiple lives of the architectural model.

Around 1800, one of the most influential architectural concepts of the last 250 years emerged—that of built spaces as technical devices. Climate, morality, and comfort are the three main themes of this study, and each is vividly examined in separate chapters through synchronous comparison and with the help of examples. The emergence of corresponding metaphors, knowledge, and construction forms is traced over a period of about 70 years. The author focuses particularly on the operative dimension of architecture. Thus, the book provides a historical perspective on a key topic for the future of architecture. The book is aimed at readers interested in architecture, technology or the cultural history of building and living.

‘The advent of machine learning-based AI systems demands that our industry does not just share toys, but builds a new sandbox in which to play with them.’ - Phil Bernstein The profession is changing. A new era is rapidly approaching when computers will not merely be instruments for data creation, manipulation and management, but, empowered by artificial intelligence, they will become agents of design themselves. Architects need a strategy for facing the opportunities and threats of these emergent capabilities or risk being left behind. Architecture’s best-known technologist, Phil Bernstein, provides that strategy. Divided into three key sections – Process, Relationships and Results – Machine Learning lays out an approach for anticipating, understanding and managing a world in which computers often augment, but may well also supplant, knowledge workers like architects. Armed with this insight, practices can take full advantage of the new technologies to future-proof their business. Features chapters on: Professionalism Tools and technologies Laws, policy and risk Delivery, means and methods Creating, consuming and curating data Value propositions and business models.

Today, it is hard to imagine the everyday work in an architectural practice without computers. Bits and bytes play an important role in the design and presentation of architecture. The book, which is published in the context of an exhibition of the same name of the Architekturmuseum der TUM at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (October 14, 2020 to January 10, 2021), for the first time considers - in depth - the development of the digital in architecture. In four chapters, it recounts this intriguing history from its beginnings in the 1950s through to today and presents the computer as a drawing machine, as a design tool, as a medium for telling stories, and as an interactive communication platform. The basic underlying question is simple: Has the computer changed architecture? And if so, by how much?