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Architecture vocabulary · Presentations and Juries

Model

Meaning in architecture, with examples

/ˈmɑːdl/nounCore term

In architecture, model means: A small three-dimensional version of a building or site, made of card, wood, foam or 3D-printed parts, used to study a design or to present it.

In Turkish: maket, model

How it is used

Students and architects build or make models at many scales: massing models, working models, site models and final presentation models. In offices, 'model' can also mean a digital 3D or BIM model, so say 'physical model' when it matters.

Example sentences

  1. We built a 1:200 site model to show how the building steps down the hill.

  2. Bring your working model to the crit tomorrow.

Common collocations

  • build a model
  • physical model
  • massing model
  • site model
  • working model
  • massingThe overall three-dimensional shape and arrangement of a building's main volumes, without details such as windows or materials.
  • scaleThe ratio between the size of a drawing or model and the real size of the building; at 1:100, one centimetre on paper equals one metre in reality.
  • renderTo produce a realistic or atmospheric image of a design from a 3D model, using software that calculates light, materials and shadows.
  • juryA panel of tutors and invited architects who review students' projects and give feedback and grades, or a panel that judges a design competition.
  • BIMShort for building information modelling: designing with a shared 3D model in which each element, such as a wall or window, carries data like material, size and cost.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Presentations and Juries

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