Design Integration Laboratory

Architecture 222 & 410/510/610

Project Six -- Massing Model

Objectives

Select and document a project building

Understand the massing of your project building

Develop your three-dimensional modeling skills using DesignWorkshop

Procedure

Build a good massing model of your project building. First, figure out the controlling dimensions of the building. Then build the model, from the ground up, starting with the largest masses. Finally, adjust roofs, paying special attention to pitch and overhangs, and add porches, porticos, colonnades, etc. Later we will add a simple representation of the building site.

A massing model is a dimensionally accurate summary of the fundamental exterior forms of a building. It is generally not hollow, but made of solid blocks. Window openings in walls are generally not shown. Building detail is either left out entirely or summarized succinctly with a few simple blocks.

For a very rough rule of thumb, building elements with a relief of less than one foot are rarely relevant, while elements with a relief of more than three feet usually are relevant to the massing model. Typical good models for this assignment will be composed of only about 25 or so carefully crafted blocks.

However, despite being a summary, a good massing model also communicates the essential forms of a building, and therefore a large part of the architectural character of the building. For example, the massing model should show the same silouette against the sky as the complete building, and it should occupy the same footprint on the ground.

Notes on Choosing a Project Building

Your project building should be a serious and excellent piece of architecture. You will be spending a lot of time with this building, so it is important to pick something worth of study in depth.

Buildings used for projects which have been included the models section of the A222.f95 Gallery, or in the illustrations of A222.f95 Final Project examples, may not be be used for projects this year.

Generally, any building listed in the Great Buildings Collection would be appropriate, except that some GBC buildings may be too difficult for an initial project. For example, most Art Noveau buildings have curvaceous detail which is very challenging to model.

A selection of buildings from the GBC which have been tentatively screened for appropriateness for this project can be found at "A222 Modeling Project - Preapproved Buildings List".

For students in the 410/510/610, the project building will probably be your current studio project. The same documentation is needed, however.

ALL of your modeling work MUST BE ORIGINAL (except for using objects from the DesignWorkshop 3D Libraries). This will especially be an issue if you choose a project building which has already been modeled for the Great Buildings Collection (massing models are on The GBC CD-ROM for about 35% of GBC buildings, and detailed models for about 10%), or by any 222/410/510/610 student last year. For predicting the difficulty of modeling a particular project building, the size and complexity of the building does not matter as much as the character of its geometry. We will expect that small simple buildings will be modeled in extensive detail, while large and intricate buildings will need to be modeled in a more summary fashion.

However, understand that in all cases it will be your responsibility to be able to prove the originality of your modeling work. This can be done by saving and retaining extensive in-progress versions of your building models, and by ensuring that the final model is distinct (and preferably superior to) the model in The GBC.

Once you have picked a wonderful building to work on -- hopefully a building that really inspires you, or at least one that challenges your curiosity deeply -- you need to make sure you can find sufficent documentation to build a complete model from.

Documentation Phase

It is critical to have sufficient information about your project building before you commit to it. This could hardly be overemphasized.

To help make sure you are on the right track, at the beginning on class on Thursday, 14 November, you will be required to hand in photocopies (which we will keep) of at minimum a plan, a section or elevation, and a photographic overview of your chosen building.

These photocopies need to be 1) stapled together in order, and clearly marked with 2) your name, 3) date, 4) building name, 5) architect, 6) bibliographic reference(s) for the photocopies.

Your documentation will all be reviewed Thursday afternoon, and you will be e-mailed if there is a problem with your choice of building.

(10 points will be awarded to all students who meet all these requirements on the documentation phase. No points will be awarded for late documentation.)

Building Approval

When you have found sufficient documentation for your building, you also need to claim it, by signing up for it any time after 10am Wednesday morning, when the building sign-up notebook will become available on a tether outside Room 204 Pacific Hall (the D.I.L.).

If you are in 410/510/610, you don't need approval for modeling your current studio project. If you are in Architecture 222, and you select an available building from the pre-approved list, no further approval is necessary.

But if you are in Architecture 222, and you want to work on a building not on the preapproved list, you'll need to see Professor Matthews for approval. He'll be available during his normal office hours, on Tuesday from2 to 4pm, plus special office hours for this purpose on Wednesday evening, from 7 to 10pm (all at the D.I.L. as usual).

Massing Model Delivery

When you have done all the procedural stuff, and then have actually created the massing model for your project building, get a nice overall shaded perspective view of the massing model on screen, Set the view with the view name "Overview", and save the model for handing in. Also laser print a summary wireframe view on 8 1/2" x 11" paper to hand in. The hard copy should (as always) include your name, the date, the class, and the assignment, and in addition, the name and architect for the building.

1 -- Name the DesignWorkshop model file according to our strict naming convention before compressing it: