The Art of Repetition - Chisel & Mouse


With nine new buildings recently added to their portfolio, including a model of the Bauhaus, Chisel & Mouse continue to do what they love.


Blueprint

Sounding a little like a rap duo, Chisel & Mouse are two brothers, Robert and Gavin Paisley, who 'parked' their jointly owned software company to start doing what they really loved. A 'mind map' showed them that they loved technology, architecture and modelling and thus their business modelling famous buildings was born.

Highbury Stadium (Archibald Leitch); Baltic Flour Mills (Gelder & Kitchen); Battersea Power Station (Giles Gilbert Scott);
Highbury Stadium (Archibald Leitch); Baltic Flour Mills (Gelder & Kitchen); Battersea Power Station (Giles Gilbert Scott);

Battersea Power Station and the Hoover Building were two early projects, as was Arsenal's Highbury stadium - and that's despite them being lifelong Liverpool fans (they are the great nephews of the club's most famous manager, Bob Paisley).

Centre Point (R Seifert & Partners); Cincinnati Union Terminal (Alfred Fellheimer and Steward Wagner);  Fisher Apartments (Andrew N. Rebori);
Centre Point (R Seifert & Partners); Cincinnati Union Terminal (Alfred Fellheimer and Steward Wagner); Fisher Apartments (Andrew N. Rebori);

The latest additions to their selections are the original Bauhaus building by Walter Gropius and his Fagus Factory. Robert Paisley admits the pair share a love of modernism and art deco, and adds that the rectilinear nature of these, works well for their modelling process. Their starting point is plans or photographs, from which they create CAD drawings, used to print 3D models.

Glasgow School of Architecture (Charles Rennie Macintosh); Bilbao Guggenheim (Frank Gehry); New York Guggenheim (Frank Lloyd Wright);
Glasgow School of Architecture (Charles Rennie Macintosh); Bilbao Guggenheim (Frank Gehry); New York Guggenheim (Frank Lloyd Wright);

They found the nature of these models a little 'plasticky' though, so they now take silicon moulds of the print and then cast them in plaster. A lot of sanding later, a master model is created and a master mould taken from it. The final models are also created in plaster, giving them a pleasing heft.

Helsinki Central (Eliel Saarinen); Hepworth Gallery (David Chipperfield); VC Morris Gift Shop (Frank Lloyd Wright)
Helsinki Central (Eliel Saarinen); Hepworth Gallery (David Chipperfield); VC Morris Gift Shop (Frank Lloyd Wright)

Hoover Building (Wallis, Gilbert & Partners); Turbinenfabrik (Peter Behrens); Trellick Tower (Ernö Goldfinger)
Hoover Building (Wallis, Gilbert & Partners); Turbinenfabrik (Peter Behrens); Trellick Tower (Ernö Goldfinger)

Since they started, they've been approached by the likes of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and, recently, the London Eye, and are now picking up commissions for everything from offices to homes.








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