Interview about scale to unravel complexity in architect’s models.

Peter Koorstra is assistant professor at the Form and Modeling Studies Chair at the Faculty of Architecture in Delft. He will talk about using different scale models to develop a complex design in a controlled way.

During the interview Peter will discuss the importance of different levels of detail, and how those are linked to development steps for a complex design.

So architects deal with complexity by using different models with different levels of detail. At one moment they are looking at a little block of wood that can mean a whole building for them. They move the building and consider the consequences. In another, more detailed model of the same building, the movement can be reconsidered regarding, for example, the placement of a window.

Architects constantly work with graphic information, both in physical scale models and in digital representations of their design. Such digital models are called Computer Aided Design models (CAD) and Building Information Models (BIM). We will not go into details about CAD and BIM, but they deal with complexity using various methods. Here are a few:

• Level of detail: the representations in a computer model can be adapted to what you want to see. This could be the need to see many details, specific details, all details or you might want to see what something looks like, without the details.
• Layers: the information can be put on different layers that can be switched on or off. A plumber wants to see and change the layer for plumbing, while an interior designer might switch off the layer about plumbing. The concept of using layers already existed when drawings were still done on semi-transparent tracing paper.
• Groups, Objects and Components: these are collections of elements that are used in several places in the model. A component can be, for example, a specific type of door or a whole type of house.
• The type of representation can also help to deal with complexity. For example, a complex machine can be rendered in the form of a so called ‘exploded view’. The parts are moved away from each other, in order to provide more insight. Another trick is to show a section, or by making parts of the drawing semi-transparent.