dynamicartefact

What role do physical models play in a digital era?

Can a ‘live’ physical model not only register change, but also inform the evolution of real-world transformations?

“I’m not implementing the ideas of others. My client wants a building; I will try to find a good form for it and share this work with them. The process of finding the right form is full of insecurities, of despair, pleasure and joy. And it needs freespace to move and think. Our models — structural, sculptural, atmospheric, always different — aim to discover and show the physical presence of building and place. They help us to understand, to think and to dream. We make them to hold the promise of the object we are looking for.’

(Peter Zumpthor, “Dreams and Promises: Models of Atelier Peter Zumthor”, Venice Bienalle 2018.).

This studies unit considers the contemporary role of physical models for different actors involved the planning, design and delivery of the built environment. Over the course of the semester, students will test scalar prototypes and craft an urban-scale model of the Caulfield campus.

You will learn both digital and analogue fabrication skills to realise a scale model that can be built by the whole class simultaneously, and updated over time to mirror the ongoing transformations delivered on campus. In this sense, the model should not be considered a simple replica of a condition, but rather a dynamic artefact with a ‘life’ of its own.

In a context that increasingly relies on digital tools, such as 3D digital twins to analyse buildings and adapt to user-needs in real time, students will be asked to consider the value physical making for:

  1. discovery, design and communication processes of architects
  2. cooperative, collective modes of production
  3. campus planning, design and delivery by Building and Property.

The dynamic artefact will ultimately be used by the Building and Properties Group at Monash University to explore, design, coordinate and capture the choreography of changes that a university campus constantly undergoes. Through scalar prototyping, students will determine how to articulate the qualities of existing built forms, such as the Caulfield library and Campus Green. Through the design and fabrication of the dynamic urban artefact, there is also potential to inform future redevelopment decisions about the campus.