Hernán Díaz Alonso introduces Thom Mayne at a conversation to mark the publication of “M3 : Morphosis Model Monograph”. Mayne discusses the role of architectural models in his creative practice, stressing that models represent ideas and aspirations. At the beginning of his career, with limited opportunities to build, the models were the work, often exploring issues decades before relevant opportunities to build arrived. In the design process, the model is also an “integrative tool”, synthesizing complex and multiple issues and narratives. With the advent of digital tools, drawing and models became more similar, permitting an intensification of complexity, exploring new notions of coherence.

At 38:03, Mayne is joined by John Enright, Marcelyn Gow and Andrew Zago. Their responses to his talk and his book cover a range of issues, including models as a site of study, how the models are often different in affect from the realized buildings, models as a proof of concept, and the book’s presentation of the models as a survey of architectural ideas since the 1970s.