Architectural models in context: creativity, skill and spectacle

Simona Valeriani is Senior Tutor on the MA in the History of Design run by the V&A and the Royal College of Art (RCA). She is a building archaeologist and historian of technology, her research centres on early modern material culture with a particular focus on the built environment. Her interest in (architectural) models is long standing and she has published on the topic. Recently she has been conducting research on the building history of the Royal Albert Hall, and co-curated (with Olivia Horsfall Turner) the V&A display 'Building the Royal Albert Hall' featuring stunning 19th century models. Read less

Olivia Horsfall Turner is Senior Curator of Designs at the V&A and the V&A's Lead Curator for the V&A+RIBA Architecture Partnership. She is in charge of the V&A's designated national collection of design drawings, including the collection of architectural drawings and models which ranges from the 15th century to the present day. A specialist in early modern British architectural history, she is particularly interested in the connections between representation and thinking in the design process and the role of visual representations, including model-making, in invention, documentation and communication. Read less

Niamh Bhalla is an art historian who uses contemporary theory to open up fresh insights into the embodied experience of art and architecture in the classical and medieval periods. She explores themes such as space, memory, the body and gender in relation to how visual imagery interacts with its architectural setting. With over five years' experience as an Associate Lecturer at The Courtauld Institute of Art, Niamh has considerable teaching experience at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Since 2015, Niamh has also been the project manager for the Getty-supported research project, Crossing Frontiers: Christians and Muslims and their art in Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus at the Courtauld Institute. Read less

Edward Bottoms is the Archivist at the Architectural Association, where he also teaches in the History and Theory Studies and Professional Practice programmes. The AA Archives have a diverse collection of architectural models, from 1930s pieces constructed in paper and wood, to examples of contemporary digital prototyping and 3D printing. Edward has written on a range of subjects including the collections of the Royal Architectural Museum, the history of architectural education, 18th century portraiture and art patronage and collecting. Read less

Architect, PhD in engineering, HDR in Computer Science, Livio is research director at CNRS and director of the MAP (Models and simulations for architecture and cultural heritage) Laboratory. Scientific advisor and member of several national and international research projects, his research activity focuses on digital surveying, modelling and representation of architectural heritage as well as on the design and implementation of semantic-based information systems for describing, analysing, documenting and sharing digital representations of heritage buildings. He was awarded the Prix Pierre Bézier (Fondation Arts et Métiers, 2007) and the Médaille de la Recherche et de la Technique (Académie d’Architecture de France, 2016). Read less

Helen Dorey is Deputy Director and Inspectress of Sir John Soane's Museum in London. An expert on Soane, his collections and his architectural legacy, she oversaw the reinstatement of Soane's Model Room, which reopened to the public in 2015. Sir John Soane's Museum contains one of the world's largest collections of historic architectural models, including Soane's own models, Italian cork models and plaster models by François Fouquet. They are available to view online at www.collections.soane.org/ Read less

Teresa Fankhänel is a curator at the Architekturmuseum der TU München. She has been interested in architectural models for several years. Previously, she was the curatorial assistant for the exhibition "The Architectural Model: Tool, Fetish, Small Utopia" that opened at the DAM German Architecture Museum in 2012. In 2016, she completed her dissertation "The Miniature Boom. A History of American Architectural Models in the Twentieth Century," at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Read less

Sabine Frommel is the director of the Research Unit 'Histoire de l'art, des représentations et de l'administration dans l'Europe moderne et contemporaine' (HISTARA). Her research focuses on the history of early modern architecture (15th – 18th centuries). Her areas of specialism include the migration of artistic 'languages' in early modern Europe and the evolution of methods of representation (drawings, engravings, models and descriptions). Sabine has published widely in the fields of architectural representation and models. Read less

Andres Lepik completed his doctoral studies on The Architectural Model in Italy (1353 – 1500) at the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome. Since then he has published and taught on the history and theory of architecture exhibitions and contemporary developments in the field of architectures of social engagement and participatory architectural structures. He has held positions at MoMA in New York and Harvard University. Since 2012 he has been the director of the Architecture Museum of the Technische Universität, Munich. Read less

Mark Morris is Head of Teaching at the Architectural Association where he lectures on history and theory. A recipient of the RIBA Research Trust Award, a Graham Foundation grant, and the American Institute of Architects Henry Adams Medal, he is author of Models: Architecture and the Miniature and Automatic Architecture. His research focuses on questions of visual representation, scale, and models in the context of the history of architectural education. Mark previously taught design at Cornell University where he served as Coordinator of Post-Professional Degree Programmes, Director of Graduate Studies, and Director of Exhibitions. Mark represents the AA at London Higher International. Read less

One of the leading curators of architecture in the UK, Vanessa has commissioned and curated a range of exhibitions that celebrate architecture in a wider context. She was co-curator of the exhibition Venice Takeaway for the British Pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Biennale in 2012. Previously Head of Exhibitions at the Architectural Association she has been a pioneer of urban installations, overseeing a series of temporary pavilions in Bedford Square. Her interest lays in taking large scale, inhabitable architectural 'models' out of the gallery and into the public realm. Read less

Matthew’s PhD research, supported by an Arts and Humanities Research Council Collaborative Doctoral Award, investigated the role architectural models played in professional practice during the 19th century. Following architectural training (Liverpool and London), he worked with Patrick Lynch and Eric Parry before studying at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Part of his doctoral research on the use of models in the competition for the Royal Exchange (1838 - 44) has been published in Architectural History. His reviews have featured in JSAH, The Burlington Magazine, and Architecture Today. Since 2015 he has taught architectural history and theory at Kingston School of Art. Read less

Lisa Nash is the Senior Conservator for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) which holds one of the largest and most significant collections of architectural material in the world. Lisa is responsible for the conservation, preservation, storage and safe display of the RIBA’s model collection. The collection to date comprises 380 models, including an early model from the 1690s alongside other later historic and contemporary models with the newest acquisition from 2018. Constant developments in model production and display ensures a continual and exciting challenge to the field of conservation and preservation. Read less

Charles Hind is Chief Curator and H.J. Heinz Curator of Drawings at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), where he has worked since 1996. His areas of specialty are Andrea Palladio and British architecture of the 17th to early 20th centuries. He has curated numerous exhibitions both in Britain and internationally, most involving models from the 17th century to the present day, and written numerous catalogues. He is general editor of the RIBA’s forthcoming catalogue of drawings by Palladio in the RIBA and other British collections and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and Visiting Fellow at the Centro Palladio, Vicenza. Read less