Set up as an answer to the question: what is the role of model making in the digital landscape of contemporary architecture, In Study Model Wonderland from Halifax to Vancouver is actually a rare show about contemporary Canadian architecture.

Twenty-six firms were coaxed into lending out their study models, many no more than crude sketches. But these cardboard ambassadors do more than illustrate craft of model making; they put the architectural thinking process on display.

It is mostly the work of Quebec firms on display at La Maison de L’Architecture du Québec – Monopoli, but Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and Halifax are represented as well. Accompanied by excerpts of conversations with the curators (Adele Weder, Ian Chodikoff, Alain Hochereau and Sophie Gironnay), In Study Model Wonderland is an accessible show that engages anyone with a curiosity about the profession.

The architects discuss their projects and how the model figured in their design process. In doing so, they often reveal their thoughts on architecture as a whole. Pierre Thibault, of the eponymous atelier in Quebec city, says: “The good thing about the model is that it allows you to see what matters most in architecture: how the proportions relate.” Computer-aided design “forces you into details too early and can lead you astray.” Many talk about the pragmatics of making form: they use models to test volume, visualize space and light and resolve details.

The models run the gamut from rough three-dimensional sketches to the most precious miniature. Montreal firm YH2’s presentation model of a country cabin is a materially representative gem, with a metal structure and roof, stone chimneys and wooden body. Lapointe Magne et associés’ models are quickly assembled constructions, made of taped together cardboard, Plexiglas and steel wool, suggestive shorthands of the sport complex they envision.

As for the question of the show, it is answered quickly and a little too decisively. If you think architecture is conceived of in the digital world, “think again!” It rarely addresses the significant changes that the digital era has brought to the profession. And perhaps this is out the realm of its concern, as only three of the chosen projects are buildings that could not have been designed without computers. As Toronto imports Daniel Libeskind and Frank Ghery, to make it a world class city, one wonders if Canadian architects are part of the conceptual, digitally-generated architecture practiced by much of the current international avant-garde.

A few firms give us some clues. Mariyama & Teshima’s project description talks the talk of the conceptual architect, and the sixty-four beautifully crafted conceptual models (of which four are taken as representatives) could have had their own show. They describe their project, the Canadian War museum, as “a complex system of tilting planes that collide and intersect with one another.”

For the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Provencher Roy + associés used a model to test a computer generated form. “There was nothing Cartesian about the atrium shape so it would have been difficult to appreciate the angles from the drawings.” But then again, designing a museum is the dream project, where contemporary architects have, since Bilbao, been given a license to let their imaginations run wild.

In Study Model Wonderland does not try to give you a complete understanding of each firm’s work, nor does it give an assessment of the current state of architectural practice in Canada. It is, as its title suggests, a celebration of study models, the messy objects that crystallize thought.

1:26 In Study Model Wonderland from Halifax to Vancouver runs through October 10th at La Maison de L’architecture du Québec – Monopoli, 181 Saint-Antoine West. The gallery is open 1-6 Wednesday through Friday and from 12-5 on Saturdays.

Photo: Marc Gibet /adecom.ca

Tagged as: 3-D, Architecture, models