If someone just took it upon themselves to throw it away without your permission, then of course you should be angry. It's not right to destroy someone else's work.

However....if you have the model well-documented in photographs, then in my opinion it is just as well not to have the artifact laying around taking up space. If you are in first year then don't worry, in a couple years your work will be so much better that you'll be glad that first model isn't hanging around any more.

Feel better.

it is the responsibility of all architects - especially when in school - to make sure that your discard, destroy and obliterate all models within 6 months of production.

document the hell out of them by all means, but DO NOT BECOME ATTACHED to them. not only will you make many, many more in the course of a life in architecture, but it is also vitally important not to become sentimental or revering of them. they are models. period.

yes, lots of hard work, lots of hours, a little blood here and there, but it is important for your soul and your mind that you break any nostalgic link to them. they are a mere particle in a process of development. if you keep them around, they stop you from developing more.

enjoy their destruction with a good ol' "model-burning" party.

now that is substance for the soul.

burn, baby, burn.

Big deal, guys in my high school did this all the time.

i burned my thesis model and included photos of it burning as the appendix to my thesis book.

did your Mom throw it away because it was cluttering up the attic ?

i agree with liberty bell ... in a few years, you'll be glad it's not around to embarass you !

I love models. I've still got one from Design 1 and a huge one from Design 5, a broken one from Design 6.

I agree you can't keep everything, but I think you should keep things until you are sure you have something better.

Early models tend to be fun and abstract, later on they turn into buildings. Rarely is there time to revisit past experiments.

Personally, I wish I kept more of them.



Most schools make it clear, in writing, that they own all of the models. This keeps them from having any liability should a janitor toss a model (we had one destroy tons of soldered models once, it sucked).


BUT, if the model sucks or is not something really special (and hours put in doesn't mean 'good', I had some impeccably constructed models that really sucked, others that were put together in a few hours that were good), then you should burn it. I kept about 1 in 50+ models.


Eitherway, if it was a classmate, it was irresponsible of them to discard your model without their permission. I'd be pretty pissed on principle alone.

I lost my best models to cleaning. I was angry not because they were discarded, but because they were selected and "archived" by the school, then discarded. The summer after they were archived underpaid undergrad helpers were instructed to clean and away went many of school's best the models.

All I have is ok photos of some.

I was subjected to some similar conditions as garpike. The shear excitement of knowing your work was selected to be displayed/archived for future accreditation and or exhibitions is great, but then finding out they are (your models) mistreated.......heartbreaking....

I did however get over it. But still remember.

I got over it, but I did spend a year in denial asking for keys to various rooms just in case.

well if you cared about it so much, why wasn't it in your house/apartment/car/whatever? If it was in the power of someone else to throw it away, it must have been taking up their space, which is irresponsible of you if it's something you wanted to keep.

Consider the situation. It's your first year, they tell you (not ask, remember they own your materials) to take your models to the archive. without a second thought , you take your models to the archive room because this is a big honor. Wooo!

And to add (pre) insult to injury, they tell you that all models will be professionally photographed, and most will be returned.

yeah.....f**cking liars! hahaha

oh well.....what can we do now? I guess nothing eh?

oh gar, I didn't mean you, that was directed to the original poster, who made it sound like a much more personal thing.

Oh Ha ha. Well looking back a couple years I wish I took the more defensive approach. Oh well... Hindsight's 20/20.

All of my models had been re-done after the presentation... Archives MUST be destroyed. I keep only the best of the best... until there is a time to move to the next apartment... be minimalistic

garpike

what do you know about using fire exits?

i for one keep certain models that i like. in my apt i have one from ugrad. one of my grad profs is storing some models/drawings in her basement. my thoughts though are that you should express your feelings to the one who wronged you, and explain to her that your feelings were hurt and can't be repaired without some tenderness.

i like when the cleaning staff throws away your models three days before your final crit...

Yeah he looks tender.

mdler, a lot. Yet I am nearing 30 and still can't remember to wear a coat when it's cold out.

actually, students at the university of michigan are notorious for not throwing there crap away. when i left my job there, almost a year after i graduated, there were still student contraptions lying around from the fall before i graduated. most of the bad work is just abandoned in the studio.

2 days after I finished my thesis my school threw everything I had done, including all of my undocumented work from previous semesters that I had brought in to jump on portfolio, into a dumpster to get rained on overnight. I spent 8 hours in the rain moving all coffee grinds and bathroom waste from one industrustrial dumpster into another, finding what was left of six years effort in moldy, torn heaps.


Aaaaand then I walked home, took a shower, and booked a ticket to India. Y'know. So I wouldnt have to kill myself.

garpike

booze will keep your warm...whens we going snowboarding?

oe, that really sucks!

doza, are you misunderstanding archive? We are talking about a university archive. My personal archive consists of a couple models at m parents' and a few 3d prints on my book shelf. Minimal is good, especially if you like to pack light.

lol mdler.....

Dear Archinect-ers,

Thanks for all the kind words.. It has surely given me a brand new perspective..

To Rationalist:
"rationalist
well if you cared about it so much, why wasn't it in your house/apartment/car/whatever? If it was in the power of someone else to throw it away, it must have been taking up their space, which is irresponsible of you if it's something you wanted to keep. "

absolutely right. what made it even more grieving is that that model was stored at home on top of a cupboard (unused space) at a storage room and have reminded mother to not throw it (as she did mention before she would want to). So naturally i would have assumed after those discussions that model would be in safe hands?

Since i am now studying in London.. and that was back home in kuala lumpur..

And the news came on rudely when i was told that it has been thrown weeks ago without prior notification or whatever.. it was done consciously..

So dear all, do photographs your models!! (thx god i did)

Carrie

i had 14 models for my thesis. after it was over i had them stored in the back of the apartment. when my girlfriend and i split up i moved them to a storage facility with the rest of my crap, while i housesat for a couple of weeks. before moving into my new place i tossed the models unceremoniously into the storage facility's dumpster. i actually was choked up and liberated at the same time.

for images on model One may click here:

http://theimpeccable.wordpress.com/2007/01/31/angst/

you're cute

she is cute.

I would say go ahead and rebuild your model if your still so attached to it. Actually it might be a good exercise for oneself. Wondering if
you might just discover something you might change to make it better. Maybe a new techinque you learned from all the other models you have built. Then again it might morph into something completely different, and you will realize model building is fun but it is not what Architecture is all about.

I helped a guy build a model that was so large we had to rent a u-haul truck inorder to take it to the site from his model shop. I'm wondering now what the heck ever happened to that model. I suspect the developer torched it once he had pre-sold all of the units in the development. Either that or it is in the Bottom of the Harbor in New Port Rhode Island.

This is precisely how I feel about trashing old models. But in the end it feels better to burn than trying to carefully dust them through the years.

We once took our models to the desert where they met up with some fireworks. An M80 can do some real structural damage.

very angry - livid. Its happened to me. You don't cry anymore or get psychotic but it still hurts deep down.

my models oly lasted as long as i diddnt need the materials, i think my theisis model even had some balsa from one of my first year models.

i've never had a model thrown by accident...i always photograph them and then just throw them in the trash or leave them on my desk for the janitor to toss (i'm regeretting now that i should've taken better photographs..but i keep thinking it's no big deal because i'll 3d model them if i have to, not the same i know)...

one that pissed me off is when a studiomate stepped on my model during finals...didn't even realize she was stepping on my shitty model until i told her...i wanted to go buckwild on her but i calmed and figured it was an accident...plus she only fucked up the bar/lounge part of the model anyways so it's cool...

the only model i'm saving is a 4 story semi tower meant to be used as meeting rooms...i'ts crap but i'm saving it because the plastic i-beams i bought for it cost me 50 dollars and i feel bad wasting it...

i splurge sometimes by using museum board on my models though...i just love how cleanly you can but joint pieces...and the slight cream color is a pleasure to my eyes...

i like to destoy my models in the process of making them...presentation models? as seldom as possible.

but for thesis final, i left my boards and model on my desk and walked away (actually flew away.overseas). no regrets. lots of pics. all kinds of good stuff still came of it even though it was all digital from then on in...


i stopped storing things with friends and family after about the 3rd international flight. til we had kids everything we owned could fit into a few suitcases. now we suddenly have a couch and a dining room table (why, i know not)


anyway, you will make many more models and this lost one will grow in revulsion to your maturing eyes...so is a good thing, in the end.