ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on model making as an analogous exercise to construction and an iterative process of exploration, essential to understanding the nature of materials, and revealing the potential of form and space as designed elements that compose the built environment. It explains the process of making models as tools for exploring the potential of materials and form—as making is an essential catalyst for innovation and understanding. Materials selected within the built environment vary in physical properties, dimensions and strength ratios, and how they respond to environmental conditions such as climate, soils and atmosphere. Using plaster of paris as a viable and cost-effective substitute, the unique characteristics of concrete emerge as both a fluid medium that becomes defined by formwork and as a stable and strong solid material providing structural stability. As the modeling media transitions from malleable to rigid, so too does the interpretation of the model, and its value as a communication device.
