{"id":79,"date":"2025-09-18T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/2025\/09\/18\/why-we-still-build-models-by-hand\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T13:17:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T13:17:55","slug":"why-we-still-build-models-by-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/why-we-still-build-models-by-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we still build models by hand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"fs-block-paragraph fs-1b88242c fs-text-color\">The studio has good software and a fast printer. The big table by the window is still covered in card offcuts, balsa and a scalpel or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"fs-block-paragraph fs-41cf605c\">We are not nostalgic about it. A rendered view can show a client almost anything, often too convincingly. A model shows them less, and that is its strength. A white card massing at 1:200 strips away the materials and the furniture and the flattering sky, and leaves only the question that matters early on: is this the right shape for this place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"fs-block-paragraph fs-41cf605c\">Making the model is also a way of thinking. When you have to cut a roof from a single sheet, you find out quickly whether the geometry is honest. When a wall will not stand up on its own at 1:50, it usually means the plan has a problem too. The hands notice things the screen lets you ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"alignwide fs-block-image fs-1f058eea\"><div class=\"fs-block-image__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" src=\"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-6615188.jpeg\" class=\"fs-block-image__img wp-image-26 attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A white card model of a house on a table\" srcset=\"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-6615188.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-6615188-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-6615188-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-6615188-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-6615188-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-6615188-600x400.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"fs-block-image__figcaption\">An early white card study for a cabin above Lofoten, built in an afternoon and changed the next morning.<\/figcaption><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"fs-block-paragraph fs-41cf605c\">We work in three stages. Card massing models come first, quick and disposable, often three or four for the same site so the options sit side by side. Then a larger timber section model, cut through the main room, with tiny figures to give it scale. This is the one clients lean over, peering in at the window seat or the stair. Last, for the projects that need it, a detailed model in the real materials for the builder&#8217;s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"fs-block-paragraph fs-41cf605c\">The section models do the most work. You can put a desk lamp low to one side and watch the winter light cross the floor, or turn the model to see where the evening sun lands. Clients understand a ceiling height far better from a cut model than from a dimension on a drawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"fs-block-paragraph fs-41cf605c\">Not everything survives. Most models are taken apart and their card reused. A few stay on the shelf above the drawing table, a slightly dusty record of how each building became itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"fs-block-paragraph fs-4fb6b876 fs-text-color has-geist-mono-font-family\">Written by Jun Sato, project architect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Process, September 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journal","category-process"],"_flatsome_builder_edit_link":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/wp-admin\/index.php?page=flatsome-builder&postType=post&postId=79","_flatsome_builder_post_lock":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/27"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}