Why sketch or make models?

Exploring ideas in a quick, informal, and rough manner, as might be sketched out on a scrap of paper (such as the back of an envelope), also known as a thumbnail sketch, is core to the design process and the ideation workshop. Equally, a physical 3D sketch model, hastily made and incomplete may serve the purpose of expressing first thoughts and ideas. In contrast, producing 2D sketches or 3D sketch models using software (CAD), arguably lacks the immediacy of physical ideation tools. So why sketch on paper or make physical models? Says Gavin Henderson of Stanton Williams, the Sterling-prize winning architecture practice: 'I take a pencil and make marks on paper. I take pieces of card and hold them together, reconfigure, cut, pin, add, fold, subtract, assemble, carve, disassemble, reassemble. In each case the hand thinks.' He continues: 'Making by hand explores thoughts that are unpremeditated, pre-verbal, non-linear. The idea evolves before the brain has had time to set boundaries, enforce preconceptions. The craft of making things, whether drawings or models, is the essence of design.' Moreover: 'The model provides a shared focus for design discussion in a way that promotes interaction, the exchange of ideas and an engagement with the messy, physical, creative process of designing the world in which we live.' Reference: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/why-make-models