Card, 3D-printed blockwork, clay, plaster, paper, foamboard, wood, Jesmonite and lots and lots of glue combine in a thoughtfully presented exhibition of architectural models at Material Source Studios in Manchester that celebrates how important the process of making them is, rather than the polished final product.

The Architectural index of Modelmaking or ‘AiM’, was launched last year at the Venice Architecture Biennale, supported by the European Cultural Centre (ECC). AiM now acts as a global online platform and ‘living archive’ serving the celebration of the craft of physical modelmaking, while providing a space for architects, students and practitioners to showcase the experimental processes and creative innovations discovered when building by hand.

Now Scott Miller, creator of AiM and workshop technical manager of the Manchester School of Architecture’s B.15 Modelmaking Workshop, has collaborated with Simina Ionescu, senior architect at OMI and president of the Manchester Society of Architects to bring the exhibition home to the UK. He has expanded its content to 32 international architects with over 70 models on display and a series of short films. Miller remarks that model-making is ‘a tool to not only communicate to other people but also to communicate to yourself’. This inward-looking approach has the potential to help architects gain a deeper understanding of the potential solution for their projects, moving beyond purely making an expensive gift for clients upon project completion.

The exhibition itself feels a bit like an archive full of precious artefacts, however. Set on bright red storage displays loaned by furniture brand sixteen3 and plinths, the works are dotted around the edges of the space. Each model is shown with a clear plaque detailing the name of the practice that made it, a description of what the model was made for and a short statement about why model making is important to their design process. It’s clear from these texts that models really matter to the practices that submitted them – so much so that one of the architects with four models on display in the show travelled all the way from Mexico to be at the exhibition’s opening night. ‘Our practice believes that the first material in design is light’ said Gustavo Carmona, director of Querétaro-founded MATERIA. ‘And one of the places you can best understand that is in a model’.

Another international architect in attendance is associate Pete Lee of Design Studio HENN, a practice based in Berlin and founded on a deep connection to the craft of model-making. ‘I have always worked with physical models in practice. When it comes down to it sitting around the table in front of a model and no screens it’s a pure process of exploring the form of a project,’ he says.

The most colourful model in the exhibition is a mock-up of a neon ice cream cart belonging to a display by Other People’s Dreams, who use model-making to engage with the community organisations that they work with in the North West. Ecaterina Stefanescu, academic at UCLAN and an architectural designer says: ‘The act of physical making is what allows the design process to be accessible and welcoming to people that might not completely understand a plan or technical drawing and can be easily adapted to be an interactive tool for communities.’

Alongside the exhibition, the Manchester Society of Architects have programmed a series of events that are all sold out, aside from a one-day festival being held on the 26 March in partnership with the ECC, further demonstrating the interest in sustaining the future of the craft of model-making in practice. ‘For me, modelmaking is fundamental to how architects learn, test ideas and develop their voice,’ says Simina Ionescu. ‘The exhibition, and the events running alongside it, reinforces the understanding that modelmaking is not simply a means of producing finished objects. It is a way of questioning, discovering and communicating architectural intent.’

While the architecture profession eagerly leans on new technologies to improve design development and communication in ways that aren’t always effective, Making Matters elegantly pushes against digital progress to remind its visitors of the humane power of tactile objects to teach, seduce and clarify.

Luke Neve is founder of creative communications firm Neve Agency and is based in Sheffield

Making Matters: Communicating Architectural Ideas Through Models runs at Material Source Studios until 2 April