Re-examining The Digital Maquette/Model Representation of Architectural & Interior Design Projects

Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University in Alexandria

Project idea

I have always been fascinated by the concept of representation. Not just architecturally, or physically, but the abstract concept of representing some idea with another, from the same domain or a different one. It shows very interesting things concerning our mind and it also shows how complex we can get with understanding the underlying ideas of a thing through the underlying ones of another. In other words, representation can show us the infrastructure of two domains with both not being connected at their core.

Architecturally speaking, I am obsessed with converting any ideas into digital Marquette, although they are both "Digital" and only "a model", it does help in perceiving it even before commencing with building a real small scale model. It's a practice that is very common in the architectural discourse more than interior design.

I have noticed that most of the projects of digital representation of an architectural building resort to imitating reality. Meaning building the model digitally as close to reality as possible. The same concept with architectural renders, where we try our best to imitate reality as it is. The end result for a Maquette to be realistic, is to have the model of humans as plastic miniature models, just like the ones we buy for physical models where they appear cartoonish and simple. And all the materials are rendered in cardboard or wood or whatever material, to just imitate reality.

I, on the other hand, want to take that strategy a step in-between, I wanted to give the digital model a soul and a story-telling side, to achieve a surreal aesthetic for us designers and architects to display our creativity. It can be fairly said that this new practice and style can be not of much utility, as it neither resides on the side of a realistic model, nor a complete fiction. But rather an in-between design, where I leave some real world material that is impossible to be executed on such small scale, and adding cars, high-poly ones, with leaving all the tires intact, and also adding highly detailed 3D scanned people, that aren't usually used in digital model but in realistic renders. And I used highly detailed vegetation in a way that cannot be built in a real physical model. All of that left us with a hybrid result, an aesthetic and story-telling piece, that we know isn't real, but isn't completely fictional either.

Project description

From the previous, we can see the beauty and aesthetics I have achieved with these exquisite pieces. I spent hours just looking for the best angle for each shot. The harsh and rough texture of cardboard, along with very warm intense lights, with camera lens bloom applied, with the intense vegetation in the background, all of that contribute a bit for this whole project to come together. It is as if we turned ourselves into miniatures and we are small scale engineers, designers, and technicians building that scale model 1:1.

Each scene tells us a story, the first tells us the general setting and topography of the project. The second, we explore the structure from a western view, then we get into smaller scale scenes, showing the 3D scanned humans with their amazing details but hidden under cardboard, which even gives the human models an eerie vibe which can be seen whenever you zoom closer on any of their faces.

The climax being that model of a human, with his foot on a raised seat, just looking out into the view. If this concept of mine is to be a new point in the practice of digital representation, where I can in the future add AI ideas to it, can be a new line of design which will have a completely new output aesthetic which can be new and a breath of fresh air.

Technical information

This project examines a digital approach not a physical one. If such levels of realism is to be achieved in a real model, a 3D printing technology must be used, but it will be very costly.