A comparative study of the physical model as a tool for structural education in architecture and engineering programmes

Six courses taught by the four authors at four different design faculties, are investigated for their use of physical models in structural education through an open-end questionnaire and peer discussions. Various characteristics of structural model applications are brought to the fore. They show that all investigated courses provide their model application within a project-based, student-centred learning. In the courses structural models are used for the student’s development of structural knowledge, but also as tools for structural design ex-ploration in a studio setting. Through model constructing and testing, students develop sensorimotor experiences with structural behaviour which allows for higher levels of structural cognition. The paper ends with a recommendation for using physical structure models throughout the education programme starting from structure theory to design stu-dios.status: publishe