Intricate Cut-Out Paper Model of the Prague Castle

American Architect Lebbeus Woods (1940-2012) wrote in his blog of a discovery of this an intricate pattern book of the Prague Castle. The book, dated from the early 1970s, contains paper patterns of buildings that you can cut out, then glue together to create three-dimensional paper models.

Woods wrote:

Designed and printed in the early 1970s, in Czechoslovakia, it is remarkable in several ways:

First: in that pre-computer era, all measurements of the actual architecture had to be made by hand—a formidable task in itself.

Second: the patterns of the scale buildings had to be calculated and drawn by hand. In engineering school, these patterns are called developments, and must take into account the actual dimensions of walls, roofs, and all other architectural surfaces, and therefore are not simply orthographic projections of plans and elevations of the buildings.

More pics of the gorgeous pattern book:

via BLDBLOG