The Maquette
In the production, with scientific rigour of the
maquette of the flavian monumental centre of Conimbriga, the Bureau
d'Architecture Antique de Pau under the direction of the architect
J.C. Golvin, followed the pathway of a very old tradition, that ascend
to the VI st century b.C.
The maquette (paradeigma), constitutes, first the reduced model that
guides the commissioner of the work. In second place, the maquette
constitutes, compromise among the architect and the authority that
makes the order. Thus, the reduced model, at the same time that illustrated
the artist's creativity, made it responsible for the resolution of
practical problems.
Usually made of wood or cooked clay, the reduced model could also
be of metal. Thus, a maquette constitutes an incomparable instrument
of study and an effective method of global expression of a project:
represent volumes, forces or movements and, in final instance, it
allows to decompose them to the scale in its several characteristic
phases.
With the same objective, in the domain of the ancient architecture,
it is normal today to appeal to a reduced model to study an ancient
monument and to present its original aspect. This way, the maquette,
which crowns the archaeologists and historians work, takes its part
after the survey and the study of the architectonic module. The maquette
intends to be faithful to the reality of the old monument and to its
creator's plan; it is the image of the paradeigma presented previously
to who made the order and its modern perfection corresponds to the
perfection of the old model.
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