B.Arch Curriculum · Semester 2 · Elective

Model Making & Architectural Delineation

How an idea becomes something you can see, hold and photograph. This elective is the craft of representation — both the physical model and the rendered drawing. Build models from card, foam, balsa, acrylic, clay and plaster; render in pen, charcoal and watercolour; diagram a concept and montage it into its site; choose the right scale for each design stage; and photograph the finished model so it carries the idea. A hands-on, visual companion to the design studio.

5Units

5Outcomes

3Credits

FreeForever

Start with Unit I All student courses

This is the craft course. It is the making-and-rendering companion to the freehand Design Drawing course and the constructed Architectural Graphics I — here you build the physical model and render the drawing that carry a design to its audience.

Unit III · The workshop

Model-Making Materials & Techniques

This is the workshop. We survey the materials of model-making — the traditional card, foam, balsa, clay and plaster, and the new-age plastics, AAC blocks and meshes — and the techniques to work them, from a clean knife cut to casting and laser cutting. We close on how generative, parametric and nature-to-structure thinking drives form, from Gaudí's hanging models to Frei Otto.

Material explorerCutting & castingLaser & 3-D printNature to structureGaudí & Frei OttoQuiz

Open the lesson

The syllabus

Five steps, from media to the photographed model.

Transcribed from the official B.Arch syllabus. All 5 units are live as full interactive lessons — with original diagrams, a material explorer, a model-scale selector and a self-assessment quiz.

Unit 1 — Introduction to Model Making & Media

Live

Why models matter and the types of architectural model and their purposes; freehand representation media for delineation — pencil, pen-and-ink, charcoal, watercolour, paints, mixed media, collage, lino-cut and print making.

CO1CO2

Unit 2 — Diagramming & Delineation

Live

Conceptual sketches and diagrams — the parti and bubble diagram; the drawing systems as delineation (plan, section, elevation, perspective, axonometric / oblique / parallel projection); and photography and montage, from study to presentation.

CO2

Unit 3 — Model-Making Materials & Techniques

Live

Traditional materials — mount board, foam, thermocol, clay, plaster of Paris, papier-mâché, balsa and wood — and new-age materials — polystyrene, AAC blocks, plastics, meshes; processes from cutting and casting to laser cutting; and generative, parametric and nature-to-structure explorations.

CO3

Unit 4 — Presentation Models & Scale

Live

Scale and proportion in models; choosing the right scale for each design stage; topography and contour models, textures and landscape; and entourage — the human figures, trees and vehicles that give a model life and read its scale.

CO4

Unit 5 — Photographing & Presenting Models

Live

Using study models as a design tool; photographing a model — backdrop, lighting and the human-eye viewpoint; depth of field and the scale figure; and bringing models into design presentations and the portfolio.

CO5

Course outcomes

What you should be able to do after completing all five units.

Understand

Understand and apply different model-making techniques and tools for architectural representation.

Create

Create and analyse conceptual sketches and diagrams using various delineation techniques.

Apply

Use model-making materials and techniques to explore the design process and fabrication.

Create

Develop and present architectural models at different scales for effective design communication.

Apply

Incorporate study models into presentations, enhancing communication through model photography.

A material explorer

Compare mount board, foam, balsa, acrylic, clay and AAC — what each is good for and how it works. In Unit III.

A model-scale selector

See what a real size becomes on the model — and how tall a scale figure is — at any scale. In Unit IV.

Keep going

The craft's neighbours

Design Drawing course

The freehand fundamentals — sketching, observation and perspective by eye that power delineation.

Architectural Graphics I

The constructed side of the projection systems you render here.

Architectural Design II (Studio)

Where the study models and drawings serve a real design.

Model-making guide

A quick-start guide to your first models — tools, materials and tips.

Scale & Proportion tool

Work out model sizes and proportions interactively.

Architectural Graphics & Computer Studio

Draw and prepare laser-cut parts for your models in CAD.

Topics and outcomes follow the published B.Arch syllabus (L1 · T0 · S3; 150 marks). Every diagram and both explorers are original Studio Matrx work; the facts are cross-checked against the cited model-making and delineation references (Knoll & Hechinger, Werner, Ching, Lin and the ASAI). Photographs are illustrative.

Make the idea something you can hold.

Media, diagramming, materials, scale and photography — read the five units, try the material explorer and the scale selector, and test yourself.

Open Unit I Back to Students

Studio Matrx is a tribute to Amogh N P. The curriculum is free, forever.