Memo003 cuhk hku 2023 — Nicholas Chung

Memo 003

Cuz who can say no to a nice big model?

Nicholas Chung, 19 June 2023

Architecture students responded to the end of online/hybrid studios in two extremes: either the complete abandonment of physical craft or the vengeful making of massive models.

Post-COVID design exhibitions (starchitect shows, biennales, thesis shows…) all gave off a similar reading - digital representation has gotten so advanced during the work-from-home era that we seem to be stagnating/aesthetic fatigue in terms of 2D representation. Though it has always been the case, the excitement forays right now are really in the physical artefacts, the material debris of making, and the makers’ indexicality. In the words of my Syracuse professor Britt Eversole, “build it again, but bigger!” Because after all, who can say no to a nice big model?

I recently went to the graduation shows of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University - needless to say there were great drawings, but even more impressive was the ambitious model making as tools of exploration. It’s something I think America’s undergrad and grad programs have deviated from/forgot and hopefully some of the images below give a healthy dose of anxiety + inspiration.

It’s interesting to note that the graduation thesis of CUHK went for a more conceptual/research route and HKU went in a more tectonic/resolution-based direction - which resonates across multiple scales from the diversity of students, to invited faculties, down to the choice of where to exhibit the work (one opting for a gallery setting and the other transforming the studio spaces).