01
Presentation models
The model that goes in front of the board, the client or the press. Built to be photographed, and built to survive being carried into a room and set down on a table.
- Final-finish façades
- Photographic bases
- Cases and covers
Capabilities
What we build, and what each kind of model is for.
Combining the disciplines of art and engineering, Modello Studio brings your architectural vision to life in the form of unsurpassed architectural models, mock-ups and prototypes.
02
Urban & massing models
White models that put a proposal back into its street. Context reduced far enough that the eye goes where it should, and no further.
- Block to district scale
- Terrain and street ribbons
- Removable proposals
03
Competition models
Built to a deadline that does not move. Decisions get made early, the schedule is worked backwards from the hand-in, and the model ships finished.
- Fixed hand-in dates
- Staged photo reviews
- Crated for travel
04
Mock-ups & prototypes
Pieces of façade, fitting, furniture and detail, at or near full size, made so a material and a junction can be judged rather than imagined.
- Real finishes
- Working components
- Handled in review
05
Lighting models
Internal lighting, controlled reflectance and dark-room photography, for when the question is what the building does at night.
- Internal illumination
- Glare and spill studies
- Night photography
06
Landscape & exhibition
Terrain, water and planting built to hold a season and a scale — and cased work made to be looked at closely, for years, by strangers.
- Topography and water
- Individually finished trees
- Gallery mounting
Methods we combine
- Laser cutting
- CNC milling
- 3D printing
- Resin casting
- Vacuum forming
- Photo-etched detail
- Spray finishing
- Hand painting
- Internal LED lighting
- Fibre optics
- Acrylic polishing
- Timber and card craft
Choosing a scale
Scale is the first design decision, not the last.
Drag the slider. Watch what fits on the board — and what stops being visible.
1:200
1:20001:5001:2001:1001:501:20
- What fits on the board
- What starts to read
- A 1.8 m person becomes
Process
Five steps, and no surprises at the end of them.
Every model runs the same route, from a first phone call to a crate going out of the door.
01
Brief
Drawings, deadline, audience, budget. What the model has to prove, and who is going to be standing in front of it.
Scope and quote
02
Model plan
Scale, extent of context, level of detail, finish, lighting, base and case — agreed in writing before anything is cut.
Specification
03
Fabrication
Digital cutting, milling and printing for what wants to be exact; hand assembly and finishing for everything that wants to be right.
Parts and sub-assemblies
04
Review
Photographs at each stage, from the same angles you will present from. Changes happen here, while they are still cheap.
Sign-off
05
Delivery
Finished, cased where it needs to be, crated, delivered and set up — standing where it has to stand, on the day it has to stand there.
Installed model
Questions
Before you call
And if it is not here, ask — 917.495.0014.
What kinds of models do you make?
Architectural models, mock-ups and prototypes — presentation and competition models, urban and massing models, masterplans, landscape and lighting models, exhibition work, and full-size mock-ups of façade and fitting detail.
What scale do you work at?
From district masterplans, where a whole river bend fits on one board, down to near-full-size detail mock-ups. The scale follows the argument the model has to make, so we settle it in the first conversation.
What do you need from us to quote?
Drawings or a model file, the date it has to be finished, where it will be seen, and the budget you are working to. If some of that is still open, call and we will work out the rest together.
Can the model be lit?
Yes. Internal lighting, controlled reflectance and dark-room photography are part of the work — see Night Kiosks, Glass Pavilion, Civic Basin and Long Canopy in the portfolio.
Do you photograph the models?
The work is photographed through fabrication and on completion, from the angles you will present from. Every image in this portfolio is a photograph of a physical model.
Where are you based?
New York City. We have served the New York design community for years — tell us where the model needs to be, and when.
Not sure which of these you need?
That is the first conversation, and it is a short one. Tell us what has to be decided and by when.