michelle kaufmann designs

I remember back to my second year of architecture undergraduate program at Iowa State University and making my first physical model.  The sense of creating a structure, and then evaluating that building and the landscape was so empowering and thrilling. I was hooked. In my following years at Iowa State and then in graduate school at Princeton computer modeling was becoming increasingly the predominant method of designing and communicating those designs. While I appreciated the types of exploration and evaluation that the computer provided, I couldn’t get away from the subconscious creative pleasure in making physical models. I suppose that is one of the many reasons I was drawn to work at Frank Gehry’s office after graduate school. Even though Frank’s office has been the leader in developing and using advanced computer technology in the architectural and construction world, the heart of the work remains with the physical models.

At the risk of sounding (and being) a bit old-school, I still love working on physical models to imagine and explore space.

Recently, a dear friend/professor/mentor/architect Karen Bermann asked her second year ISU students to make physical models of existing buildings as a way to understand topography, and how 2d drawings translate to 3d space.  A few of the groups built models of a home I designed, one of MKD’s SideBeeze homes.

Here you can see a group of students that took the approach of choosing model materials that simulates the materiality of the final structure (earth-colored chipboard for the ground/topography, basswood for wood siding, gray chipboard for concrete, etc.)  This was not an easy site/project to build as a first model given the slope of the ground.

This group below took a slightly different approach with their model of the same project and site. They went with a slightly more abstract scheme by using bass wood and cardboard that emphasizes space and light over exact materiality.

It is great fun to see the students work on these models. I wish I could have been there to discuss with them afterwards their thoughts on the project after having made the models. Hopefully that can happen in a future trip.

And I end with a big love shout out to Karen, teacher extraordinaire, who not only introduced me to a whole new way of thinking about architecture and construction while I was at ISU, but she also was the one to open my world to numerous artists, writers, sushi and many bottles of good sake.  All of which have added joy in my life, much like the making of physical models.