Despite the many advances in technology that allow architects to render their designs very realistically in a virtual space, most practioners (and their clients) still insist on creating painstakingly exact physical models of their designs.

An architectural model is a type of a scale model, tangible (also called sometimes physical) representation of a structure built to study aspects of an architectural design or to communicate design ideas to clients, committees, and the general public. Architectural models are a tool which may be used for show, presentation, fundraising, obtaining permits, and sale purposes. (source)

There isn’t a lot of literature around about why this is still necessary, as from a purely practical perspective AutoCAD renderings are probably more accurate – though they don’t always give an impression of how a building will feel. There seems to be a correlation between the end result – presumably a building or room or outdoor space that will exist in a physical space – and the desire to have something tangible that represents it, even in the planning stages.

Similarly, hobbyists around the world are passionate about model building. At this very moment, there are likely thousands of people around the world making scale models of cities, vehicles (air, space, water and rail), solar systems and many other strange curiosities. There is no real answer for why this is appealing, except for the obvious, which is that it makes tactile the intangible curves and edges to ideas, which do not really come alive by reading about a thing or looking at a photographic representation.

Architectural Model photograph by Joaaso.