Super Models: Meet the brothers who have made plaster casting cool
ROBERT AND GAVIN PAISLEY’S architectural models have earned a cult following. Leading architect Alex Michaelis of Michaelis Boyd owns several, as does the New York veteran modernist Richard Meier. Each model is a precise replica of a real building, whether it’s a landmark like Battersea Power Station– their bestseller – or a private home. These aren’t just for design buffs, though. They possess the Lilliputian charm of a doll’s house, which holds universal appeal, as their rising popularity–70 per cent year-on-year increase in sales since 2014 – proves.
I t was the seemingly limitless potential of 3D printing that spurred the brothers to swap their computer-programming business in Nutley, East Sussex, for modelmaking in 2011.At first they experimented with using purely digital technology to create the models, but they soon decided against it. "Although 3D printing is expensive, the results didn’t feel expensive and the models lacked that luxury c...