WK07
Modeling as Thinking
A model is not a copy of the world — it's a selective argument about it. Choose the model for the question, not the software you know.
Lecture Slides
Modeling as Thinking
LAAR 61400 · Week 07
Part I

What a model is

Part II

What we model, why & what for

Rhino 3D model
SWMM stormwater model
Physical study model
Rib structure model
Rib structure model, second view
Stacked contour 'pancake' terrain model
Stacked contour terrain model, second view
Playground model
Landscape model
Isamu Noguchi landscape model
CNC router cutting Zihao's model
Zihao's physical model
Zihao's physical model
Zihao's physical model
Zihao's physical model
Detail-scale section model (Pinterest)
Large-scale site/massing model — OMA Parc de la Villette
OMA Parc de la Villette model, second view
Rough working study model
Rough working study model
Rough working study model
Rough working study model
Rough working study model
What you leave out is the argument.
Takeaway 1 · a model is an argument
MODELA selective abstraction of something real — the thing, at rest.
vs
SIMULATIONThe model put in motion under a set of rules — the thing, running.
Enscape logo
Lumion logo
Twinmotion logo
D5 Render logo
Raytrace diagram: camera, image plane, view ray, shadow ray, light, object
Clay / ambient-occlusion model
Same corner with materials added
Same corner with lighting added
Final image after post-processing
An AI-generated architectural rendering
From a physical simulation to a mathematical one
the hinge — same job, new substrate
Mississippi Basin Model — historic photo
Mississippi Basin Model — historic photo
Basin Model detail — scaled terrain
Basin Model detail — control structures
Basin Model detail
Basin Model detail
EPA SWMM stormwater simulation
USACE HEC-RAS river flood simulation
Part I

What a model is

Part II

What we model, why & what for

A · Physical / scale

How does it feel, how does it read?
  • Good for: experience, material, spatial pattern
  • Weak for: measurement, computation
  • Reach when: “does it work as a space?”

B · Digital 3D / geometric

What is the exact form & dimension?
  • Good for: exact form, dimension, fit
  • Cost: slow; tempts over-building
  • Reach when: form is the question

C · Mathematical / analytical

How does a system work?
  • Good for: behavior, patterns across a territory
  • A field of values, not a surface
  • Same site, a different question
Grasshopper model — example
Grasshopper model — example
Grasshopper definition — example
Grasshopper definition — example
Grasshopper simulation — animated
Grasshopper simulation — animated
Fit the model to the question, not the tool you know.
Takeaway 2 · the question picks the model
When modeling betrays you

Techno-solutionism

The cost of a model is real.
But when it earns its cost, build it.
Takeaway 3 · build only when insight beats cost

A view plan + section can't

  • Plan flattens height
  • Section cuts one line
  • 3D: the continuous ground, whole

The operations are logics

  • Loft: blend between profiles
  • Sweep: a section along a path
  • Patch: fit through constraints

A curb is just a breakline

  • Breakline: where the surface stops being smooth
  • Smooth field → Patch
  • Hard stop → Loft a face
A real curb — the hard breakline where a smooth surface stops
Breakline diagram — smooth field meeting a hard edge
Choose the model for the question.
What you leave out is the argument.
Build only when it earns its cost.
Week 07 · three takeaways, really one
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