What are the principal advantages of creating a conceptual design model using masses before diving into the detailed design and building element modeling?
Conceptual massing allows architects and design teams to rapidly explore and iterate on a building’s overall form, scale, and relationship to its context without being constrained by the complexity of detailed components. Massing is an early stage in modeling that supports quick feasibility studies, like analyzing how a new building fits in the site, solar exposure, and wind resistance. It’s an efficient way to pre-test many design concepts.
For example, in many architecture studio classes, the first assignment usually involves fabricating a form or shape that eventually becomes the inspiration for a more detailed and complex model. E.g. I once used 3 wooden blocks cut to different widths and heights, and stacked them in different ways to explore potential mass forms for the building I ended up creating.
Because massing models simplify geometry and materials, they are ideal for communicating design intent to clients, consultants, and stakeholders early in the process, aligning expectations before investing time in detailed modeling.
Can you think of any examples of a real building around the world that most likely was created by exploring the form using conceptual mass models?
Sea Ranch Condominium 1. The architects of this complex initially used sugar cubes (representing one 24-foot cube module) to explore different masses and connections between units.
A more famous example:The Guggenheim Museum in New York. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright: overall mass looks like an upside-down cone with some voids cut out.