Shaping Space – Architectural Models Revealed was an exhibition and public programme at the Building Centre, in collaboration with the V&A, from 24 September 2021 until 5 March 2022.

The exhibition celebrated the role of architectural models in shaping the spaces we live in. A collaboration between the V&A and the Building Centre, Shaping Space – Architectural Models Revealed presented the world in miniature through a collection of historical and contemporary models revealing the evolution of architecture from the first maquette made as a tool for thinking, to a presentation model.

This short film is part of a series examining the three questions that informed the curation of the show:

Why are models made?
How are models made?
Who are models made for?

In this film co-curator Simona Valeriani of the V&A’s Research Institute (VARI) considers why models are made, featuring models by:

Aberrant Architecture
Tony Fretton Architects
Peter Davies
Lina Ghotmeh Architecture
Historic model of the Albert Hall
B.15 Workshop, Manchester University (S. Miller and S. Parker-Backhouse)
Stanton Williams
Charles Holland Architects
Alison and Peter Smithson
L’École Spéciale d’Architecture ARU (Architectural Research Unit), led by Florian Beigel and Philip Cristou
Hawkins Brown Architects
Harvey Wiley Corbett, modelled by Theodore Conrad
Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine
GHA Group – Bloomsbury projection
Dieter Cöllen
Forensic Architecture
ScanLAB Projects
J I Wolfson