This publication is a meditation on the architectural study model—a humble, tactile, and often temporary object that quietly holds the weight of an idea. Long before construction, before drawings are finalized or permits are issued, there is a moment when architects return to their most essential tools: their hands, their eyes, their intuition.

Through a series of poetic reflections, The Study Model traces the role of this essential practice from architecture school to professional life. These models are not polished representations; they are raw and searching—records of the design process in motion. They speak not of certainty, but of exploration. Of questions asked in cardboard and glue. Of decisions made by folding, cutting, and building—again and again.

For Honles + Zepeda Architects, the study model remains a vital act of care. It slows the process down. It restores craft. It invites dialogue—not only within the design team, but with clients, communities, and ideas still forming. In these small, imperfect constructions, architecture begins—not as something fixed, but as something alive.

The Study Model is a quiet tribute to the spaces between thinking and making, between dreaming and doing. It is for anyone who believes that good architecture does not arrive fully formed—it is uncovered, patiently, by hand.