Over time, the physical model transcends its initial function, transitioning into the status of a relic. As an artifact of its historical moment, it serves as a testimony to the iterative and complex processes of design and ideation. In this capacity, the model acquires a new layer of significance, becoming a repository of knowledge that encapsulates both the aspirations and the constraints of its creators. Its weathered surfaces and material residues offer evidence of decisions made, discarded, or deferred—a material narrative that speaks to the contingencies of architectural production.

As relics, architectural models shift from their original roles as pragmatic tools to objects of historical and cultural inquiry. Their preservation, whether intentional or incidental, transforms them into documents of an architectural era, revealing the priorities, technological capabilities, and aesthetic sensibilities of their time. The model, once a provisional artifact tethered to the immediacy of the design process, becomes a durable vessel of memory, bridging the ephemeral and the enduring.

In this evolved state, the model’s narrative potential expands. Its very materiality—from the precision of its construction to the wear it accumulates—becomes a lens through which to interrogate architectural practice. The relic status of models invites interdisciplinary scholarship, connecting architecture to fields such as anthropology, material culture studies, and visual theory. As repositories of architectural thought and action, these relics contribute to a broader understanding of design as a cultural and temporal phenomenon.