On Saturday, February 25, 2012 NOMAS hosted a model building workshop for students interested in refining their model making skills. The event was divided into three sections. To start things off, Scott Hagen and Sean Carey introduced model making basics. The two went over what kinds of materials and tools are necessary for your architecture arsenal. They led the group in an exercise focusing on cuts and folds. Then the group focused on gluing techniques.
After everyone took a break for lunch, Delia Gott and Julio Cedano went over everything topographical. After discussing how to read a topo map and leading a ‘match the topo section to the corresponding plan’ activity, everyone got a basic topographic map of their own to carve into.
Finally, Maya Tal and Brien Baker gathered everyone around to give a quick discussion about presentation models and craft. They presented several examples of presentation level models and held a Q&A to wrap up the session.
So maybe you missed it? Here are a few helpful tips:
- Measure twice, cut once.
- Keep your blades sharp for clean cuts.
- Glue: Just a dot does a lot.
- Speaking of glue, if you must use hot glue, cut off the stringy bits once it’s dry. A hairdryer will also melt them.
- Think about what materials you use. What is most appropriate for the ideas you want to convey?
- Keep the variety of materials in a single model to a minimum.
- Don't be afraid to experiment with different materials to get an idea of how you can best utilize and manipulate them.
- Consider investing in some graphite paper, which can be used to outline topo lines. One sheet will last forever. (Not literally, but almost.)
- Keep in mind the type of model you are making. Sketch models need less detail than a full presentation model. Allot your time where it will be most effective.
- Consider keeping a sketchbook specifically for model making. Make notes as you go so you can reference them later on, in another studio for another model.
Click here to see more images of the event.