Zibaldone4 - Jack Brown

The detail is that of a façade which is going to be the exterior for a new building in South End of Boston.  One has to wonder why this is important to have a one to one detail of the façade before the building is built.  The architects design the building using programs on a computer, may it be AutoCAD or Revit.  Then the architect decides on the materials that will make up the different parts of the façade.  Once this has happened there must be documents produced, so that a contractor my bid on the project.  The construction documents are the last drawings that the architect completes which allows for the detail to be built.  Someone, a contractor or a sub-contractor, will build a 1 to 1 scale detail of what the façade will look like.  Is this detail really a necessary part of the process?  Does this detail matter to the public?  Once the building is built you will see the detail as part of a whole, so why make this detail in the first place?