Nick Dunn

With the increasing sophistication of CAD and other design software, there is now a wide array of means for both designing and fabricating architecture and its components. The proliferation of advanced modelling software and hardware has enabled architects and students to conceive and create designs that would be very difficult to do using more traditional methods. The use of CAD technologies in the production of physical models, prototypes and individual elements is increasingly widespread through processes such as CAD/CAM, CNC milling and rapid prototyping. This translation of computer generated data to physical artefact can also be reversed with devices such as a digitiser, which traces the contours of physical objects directly into the computer. This book focuses on the inspiring possibilities for architecture that can be achieved with all the different technologies and techniques available for making complete designs or their components.

This book focuses on the inspiring possibilities for creating three-dimensional, physical models of the built environment with all the different media and techniques that are now available. Through description of the use of different models in different contexts, the book provides a practical and effective guide to how and why models are used, in addition to what they are used for, and how they relate to architecture education.