ABSTRACT
Several of the case studies have shown how initial sketch design ideas need to be tested against 3-D models, whether physical or computational. Physical modelling is still an intuitively easier medium to work with, as was illustrated in the case of the Harbourside project. Behnisch’s office has a reputation for taking a part of the building and examining it in great detail through drawings and models. They believe that each part of a building proposal has to be explored three dimensionally, and to this end scale models and full-size models are used very early in the design process. However, as was shown in the Guggenheim case study, physical models themselves provide a convenient interface to CAD models through a process of digitisation, after which the CAD models can either be used for analytical purposes, or for further modelling and design development. Modelling, whether physical or computational, allows three-dimensional assessment of sketch ideas to take place. Formal, design theoretic aspects, as described in chapter 9, can be investigated. CAD models as developed in the Guggenheim case study have shown the advantages over physical modelling when building geometries are particularly complex.
