ABSTRACT
In the Cambridge of the 1960s, the idea of the ‘model’ as a tool in research had a wide following. This ran across the disciplines, from the philosophy of science, to the social sciences, archaeology and geography. It also captured the attention of a group of young researchers, all architecture graduates, who were brought together at the Department of Architecture by Leslie Martin to form the centre for Land Use and Built Form Studies. This coincided with the availability of the University Mathematical Laboratory’s ‘Titan’ mainframe computer through a network of remote terminals. This essay describes these events as three complementary studies, spanning the architectural scales, from the individual building, to the institution and the city, explored the possibilities that models and computers suggested. From these highly specific projects, the ground was laid for the consolidation and expansion of research in architecture in Cambridge and more widely throughout architectural education in Britain and further afield in the decades that followed.
