Small world for big picture of architecture
Design professor’s exhibition of miniature paper models showcases work of the award-winning RTA Studio
To show off some big ideas about Kiwi architecture, Dr Andrew Barrie went small. When Barrie, professor of design at the University of Auckland’s School of Architecture and Planning, was asked to plan an exhibition to showcase an aspect of New Zealand architecture, he chose to celebrate multi-award-winning local architects RTA Studio.
The company has spent 20 years designing houses, shops, school and university buildings, industrial complexes, offices, apartment blocks and wineries across the country and is known for structures that fit the
surrounding architecture and landscape but add new twists.
Barrie decided the best way to show that history was to handcraft miniature paper models of its most famous buildings. These include K-Rd’s Ironbank, the Mackelvie St retail precinct off Ponsonby Rd, the massive Hellmann Worldwide Logistics warehouse at Auckland Airport and its E-Type houses in Grey Lynn.
Some 40 students helped him construct 30 tiny buildings from thick brown paper, to be deftly displayed at Ponsonby’s Objectspace on a 10m-long corrugated cardboard base.
Their small world brings a whole new definition to “tiny houses” and the construction costs — 80c for the smaller e-type houses to $3 for the apartment blocks — seem too good to be true even for paper models. It’s all recyclable and should generate no more than a reuseable supermarket bag of waste. That’s in marked contrast to many architecture exhibitions which can be expensive, produce much waste and need large spaces.
Barrie chose paper models, based on ancient techniques he learned through years of living, studying and working in Japan. It’s easier for the public to understand RTA’s work.
“If you give someone who’s musical a sheet of music, they can read it and imagine how the piece might sound but to a non-musician, that’s just not going to work,” he says.
“It’s the same with architecture. I decided making the actual buildings, in miniature, was a better way to clearly demonstrate what RTA has achieved rather than displaying, for example, the plans.
“Little things also appeal — from puppies to babies to postage stamps, we seem to like small things.”
Little the buildings may be, but there was a lot of work involved, with Barrie and his students spending about six months deciding how to make the models, display them and then crafting them with tiny paper people, sheep and trees.
It’s valuable learning for students, too. Barrie says architectural modelling is a crucial tool for exploring, understanding and refining how a building works.
“It’s a way to develop your design, to understand the implications of your idea, but it’s also a communication tool — it means people can easily understand your design,” says Barrie, who’s used the technique in several other exhibitions.
He says there isn’t a particularly strong tradition in NZ, but it’s a pick part of the architectural design culture in Japan, where it’s often thought that if you can make a good model you can make a good building.
In Context: RTA Studio, Objectspace until Saturday, September 7.