Shaping Space – Architectural Models Revealed

Shaping Space – Architectural Models Revealed will open in the new main gallery at the Building Centre in September 2021.

This autumn will see the launch of a major exhibition celebrating the role of the architectural model in shaping the spaces we live in. A collaboration between the V&A and the Building Centre, Shaping Space – Architectural Models Revealed will present the world in miniature; a collection of historical and contemporary models that reveal the evolution of architecture from the first maquette made as a tool for thinking, to a presentation model – a scaled down replica of an architectural intention saying; ‘here I am’.

Architectural models are as old as architecture itself. The exhibition explores the history of models, and highlights the renaissance of craft and the values of making today, alongside the rise of new technologies that mark how the digital age is changing our experience of and access to architectural space.

As children, we encounter scale with wooden blocks and plastic bricks so that we become the master planners of our own tiny cities. From super-sized to miniature, Shaping Space invites the public to experience the spectacle of environments at different scales. The show celebrates the act of thinking through making, presenting the evolution of ideas through models in architectural education and practice. The exhibition will examine how models are a testbed for material experimentation and will touch on themes and debates central to current architectural practice, such as sustainability.

Curated by the Building Centre exhibitions team in partnership with Simona Valeriani of the V&A’s Research Institute (VARI), this collaborative exhibition is designed by award-winning practice Roz Barr Architects.

Shaping Space will be accompanied by an events series, workshops, and an education programme led by Dr Marta Ajmar, from the V&A Research Institute, in collaboration with the Building Centre, with further details to be shared closer to the opening.