I think it is extremely helpful to model large-scale buildings using conceptual masses. It is an efficient way to quickly get a great mental image of a proposed design, especially because details are not imperative in tentative models of large-scale buildings. On the flip side, it is probably unnecessary to use conceptual masses to model small scale buildings (i.e. houses) because details are more important here.

If I had to guess, Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, CA was likely conceptually designed by exploring relationships between the forms of different geometric objects.