Los Angeles: A Model City

At the intersection of conceptual exploration and technical problem solving, lies the architectural model. Los Angeles: A Model City is a celebration of architectural imagination and the physical embodiment of ideas through the craft of model making, featuring works from schools of architecture in Greater Los Angeles.

Los Angeles has always been both a muse and a laboratory. LA is a model city in its own right, where freeway infrastructures, urban strategies, housing models, and the iconic Case Study Houses have carved out a space for experimentation and innovation in the built environment. Each model in this exhibition, sited within the diverse landscape of Los Angeles, is a testament to the city’s enduring role as an incubator for architectural ideas.

The models on display range from conceptual prototypes and formal experiments to detailed site explorations and technical mock-ups, each serving as a crucial tool in the architectural design process. These models navigate space and form in manners that often stretch the limits of imagination, and at times they serve as the tangible and material manifestation of an idea being meticulously worked through. Models bridge thought and materiality, abstraction and the city.

Los Angeles: A Model City offers insight into the multifaceted nature of architectural models as tools of innovation and communication. Through this curated collection, the exhibition highlights the model as an integral component of architectural and academic discourse, and celebrates Los Angeles as the place within which we explore both the model and the metropolis.