Unlike architectural graphics, the architectural model is currently perceived as a self-sufficient work of art neither by professionals nor by the public. The Art of Architectural Model exhibition, dedicated to the art of the architectural model, was intended to fill that void.
A model is rarely created “just because.” It almost always serves a purpose. The exhibition was structured as a narrative about the various “professions” of the model. It appears sequentially as a creative tool in the “Model Creates” section, as a storyteller in “Model Speaks,” as a complex mechanism in “Model Works,” as an educator in “Model Teaches,” and as a historian in “Model Reminds.”
Of course, this classification, while seemingly orderly, is not entirely clear-cut: we categorized many exhibits into several groups simultaneously. To help visitors navigate this diversity, a system of pictograms was designed to indicate the specific “specializations” of each piece.
The architectural schools that formed the “Model Teaches” section presented both recent student projects and models of historical buildings. One of the two oldest student models on display is nearly 50 years old, while another will turn 100 in a few years.
The “Model Works” section consistently drew great public interest: the model-making workshop of our team operated continuously right within the gallery. In addition to functioning 3D printers, plotters, and the milling machine, visitors could observe “live” model makers working by hand on models for the bureau’s current projects.
The Genplan Institute of Moscow and the Department of Urban Planning Policy of Moscow contributed to the historical part of the exhibition (“Model Reminds”). However, a particularly crucial role in forming this section was played by items from the collections of the Shchusev State Museum of Architecture (GNIMA), which allowed the public to see outstanding examples of model art spanning from the late 18th to the late 20th century.
Some exhibits were shown for the first time, such as models for the “Information City” project, which Totan Kuzembaev and his colleagues developed in the late 1980s. Kuzembaev thus participated in the exhibition both as a practitioner—presenting artistically reimagined models of his most famous realized projects—and as a visionary dreamer. The “paper architecture” theme was supported by the works of Yuri Avvakumov, and other artists working close to architectural themes: Nikolai Polissky, Rinat Voligamsi, Anton Chumak, and Alexander Ponomarev in collaboration with architect Alexei Kozyr.