Models are a key focus of Nudel’s research program as they relate to cognition, research, and design.
Definition of a Model
There are many definitions of the word model. The following definitions refer to a model as a representation of selected aspects of a domain of interest to the modeler:
a physical, mathematical, or otherwise logical representation of a system, entity, phenomenon, or process (DoD 1998);
a representation of one or more concepts that may be realized in the physical world (Friedenthal, Moore, and Steiner 2009);
a simplified representation of a system at some particular point in time or space intended to promote understanding of the real system (Bellinger 2004);
an abstraction of a system, aimed at understanding, communicating, explaining, or designing aspects of interest of that system (Dori 2002); and
a selective representation of some system whose form and content are chosen based on a specific set of concerns; the model is related to the system by an explicit or implicit mapping (Object Management Group 2010).
.Nudel deploys models as a mode of research - a means of exploration/analysis/design through construction.
The images below were constructed in Rhino/Grasshopper as a means to understanding the scale of the brain, in particular the surface area of the neocortex that comprises:
Could this folded topology of the neo-cortex sulci and gyri be modelled as a folded plane, borrowing from a modular origami system, such as Miura-ori
