From measuring to revealing. 7 paradigmatic actions for the construction of models as tools of representation

The experience gained, as research associate, during the research titled: Designing, organising and managing a new Model Construction Lab: methodologies, materials and tools, carried out at the School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering (AUIC) of Politecnico di Milano1, provides the background to the writing presented on the conference day. Based on the etymological definition of the terms: maquette, plastic and model, we proceeded to identify a temporal sequence of the different design development phases – ideational phase, verification phase and final representation phase -. The aim of the research was to formulate some methodological procedures via seven different design actions: carving, moulding, folding, digging, dissecting, printing, stratifying, procedures capable of bringing into focus some representation techniques in line with the compositional theme of the designed space. An equal number of model types corresponds to the seven different design actions: the carved model, the moulded model, the folded model, the dug model, the dissected model, the printed model and the stratified model. Each one of these models is associated with a specific and distinct quality of the tectonic space understood, in its etymological sense, as art of building (τεκτονικός). In this construction of hypotheses, the architectural model is defined not only as a representation tool alongside other tools, such as for instance the classical or digital design, but also as a tool serving to build the compositional theme to be identified for the characterization of the architectural space designed.