---

The ancient craft of architectural model making may seem unnecessary in today´s age of digital renderings and virtual tours, but physical models remain a uniquely revealing and compelling tool for the architect. More forcefully than any other way of visualizing a building, models represent ideas, as opposed to images. The sensory impact of a physical model, its materiality, is an important step in the design process. Once an idea is materialized, it exists in the real world, and the real world reacts--with limitations or opportunities, which become clear through the process of making. Amodel not only allows the designer to explore freely while testing out specific ideas but also to advance and communicate his or her ideas effectively to others.

---

The ancient craft of architectural model making may seem unnecessary in today´s age of digital renderings and virtual tours, but physical models remain a uniquely revealing and compelling tool for the architect. More forcefully than any other way of visualizing a building, models represent ideas, as opposed to images. The sensory impact of a physical model, its materiality, is an important step in the design process. Once an idea is materialized, it exists in the real world, and the real world reacts-with limitations or opportunities, which become clear through the process of making. Amodel not only allows the designer to explore freely while testing out specific ideas but also to advance and communicate his or her ideas effectively to others.

---

Megan Werner is the founder of zDp Models, a San Francisco based model-making firm. Her client list includes Microsoft, SOM, Renzo Piano, Gensler, IDEO and Stanford University. She is an adjunct professor in the interior design department at the California College of the Arts.

---