Little Big Models. The Tools of Japanese Architect Studios

Abstract

Description Nowadays we are seeing the fall of drawing as architecture´s main tool. Drawing, which is so necessary and important in our profession as architects since the origins of architecture, is disappearing with the advance of technology. Focus The new ways of working in all architect studios with the advance of computer software, are leaving drawing out. Programming courses and computer drawing are more important in architectural teaching than drawing subjects. The old drawing instruments like rotring and the compass are now kept in glass windows by collectors. Models are the only tools that have remained with architects since the beginning of their profession. Models were used to convince the principal party and to explain the project to costumers that didn´t understand layout drawings and perspectives. Nowadays, architects present their studios showing rooms full of manual models. Objectives The main objective of this communication is to show that three-dimensional representation through physical models has been and still is, the most important tool in Architecture. Models are the link between old and modern architecture. That is why we are going to study the way they work in Japanese studios of architecture, where physical models are their main system of working from the initial stages of the project.