ARC8051: Tools for Thinking by Gosia Szarnecka

DIGITAL CRAFT ARC 8051: TOOLS FOR THINKING ABOUT ARCHITECTURE

How is the introduction of computing technology and fabrication affecting the skill set of architectural craftmanship?

STUDENT NUMBER 150079239

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01 CRAFT 02 TOOL 03 SKILL 04 ABSTRACTING CRAFT 05 PROGRESSIVE TECHNOLOGY: MASS CUSTOMIZATION AND FABRICATION 06 CONCLUSION 07 FIGURES REFERENCE 08 BIBLIOGRAPHY

WORD COUNT: 4325

CRAFT “This name is given to any profession that requires the use of the hands, and is limited to a certain number of mechanical operations to produce the same piece of work, made over and over again. I do not know why people have a low opinion of what this word implies; for we depend on the crafts for all the necessary things of life.” Definition of craft, Diderot Encyclopédie 1765

Figure 1 Craftsmen in a workshop, Diedrot’s Encyclopédie

The definition found in Diderot’s Encyclopédie focuses on two major characteristics of craft; usage of hands and specific mechanical operations that combined together lead to the creation of defined object by the craftsman. Interestingly, Diderot also highlights the importance of craft work, implying that we depend on it in our everyday life and criticising “The poet, the philosopher, the

orator, the minister, the warrior, the hero would all be nude, and lack bread without this craftsman, the object of their cruel scorn.” 2 The craft is presented as an overlooked discipline, diminished by

"Craft [abridged]." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Stephen J. Gendzier. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2009. Web. [15.01.2020] 2 Ibid. 1

its own customers. Throughout history there are precedents showcasing tension between the understanding of craft versus art, with the latter represented as a higher medium, because of its abstract characteristics. This tension is addressed in works by Henri Focillon, “The life of Forms

in Art” (1934) 3 and Octavio Paz, in his narrative for the documentary film “In Praise of Hands (1974)” 4. Focillon, in his book, argues that art has to be tangible, as the object form is the best way of showcasing the ideas of space, matter and mind. He praises handcraft as a two-way process, in which hands both define the object but also discover; “The hand is not the mind’s docile slave.

It searches and experiments for its master’s benefit; it has all sorts of adventures; it tries its chance.” 5 Octavo Paz, a poet, in his narrative for a movie “In praise of Hands” focuses on the separation of usefulness and beauty, the former represent by technology and industrialization and the latter by art.

Figure 2 Stills from the short documentary “In praise of Hands”

Between both of these disciplines lays craft; while industry produces objects solely for their function and art’s only function is to be, craft combines both of these characteristics, creating objects that are both functional and beautiful, it creates objects of pleasure. 6 Both Focillon and Paz also talk about the importance of hands in the process of creating craft. Ruskin in “The Seven Lamps of

Architecture” (1849) was also focusing on the role of hands in a craft stating: “For it is not the

3 4 5 6

McCullough, M. (1996) Abstracting craft : the practiced digital hand. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 8 Ibid. p. 9 Focillon, H., Hogan, C.B. & Faison, S.L. (1948) The life of forms in art. 2d English ed., enl.. New York: Wittenborn, Schultz. McCullough, M. (1996) Abstracting craft : the practiced digital hand. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 10

material, but the absence of the human labour, which makes the thing worthless,” 7 The craft is defined by its relation to hands, and the humane element of process of creation. The hand element elevates craft to a position between industry and art, a skill of creating objects of pleasure, that define our everyday life. However, it is not to say that craft is created only by using hands, as most craftsmen use a set of tools to perfect their skill and the final object.

TOOL Tools are most commonly associated with craft professions, as we see them as an extension of our hands. It is a “a handheld device that aids in accomplishing a task”, 8 it serves a purpose of specialization, by improving specific powers of a hand, while preventing others. Anthropologically, we are tool users, defined as homo faber, we are able to influence our environment and fate thanks to the usage of tools. 9 Through the centuries, our tools have adapted and evolved to respond to the needs and cultural context of production. The development in different disciplines, such as physics and mathematics, has influenced the way we use tools and how they are constructed. In the field of architecture, tools have been evolving over past centuries, with the most recent and significant tool introduced being a computer.

Figure 3 Traditional tools of an architect in 16th century, woodcut

Ruskin, J. (1989) The seven lamps of architecture. New York: Dover Publications. p.55 Merriam Webster Dictionary (1828) “Tool”. Accessed at: [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tool] [20.01.20] 9 McCullough, M. (1996) Abstracting craft : the practiced digital hand. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 32 7 8

Computer as a tool One of the most common assumptions about the computer is that it is just one tool. What is important to understand is that a computer is hundreds of tools combined into one machine, only then we can understand the complexities of the usage of computers for a craft. The computer in the sense that we are familiar with is only an invention of the past 30 years. However, the idea of computing goes back to around 150BC. The world compute, from Latin, com (together) and

putare (to settle an account)10 means to determine by calculation. When looking at the history of the computers, it is actually a millennia-long development shaped by innovations in technology and mathematics. The first ever computing mechanism was found in a Greek shipwreck, an analogue orrery made of thirty bronze cogs, used for astronomical calculations. 11 The main developments worth mentioning are abacuses dated from approximately 1200AD, Blaise Pascal’s wheel for basic mathematical operations of additions and subtractions (approximately 1642), Falcon’s perforated card system later developed by Joseph Marie Jacquard used for operations of weaving looms (1812) and finally Babbage’s Difference Engine (1843), operated on the basis of a perforated card system, it could store temporary calculations and compute polynomials up to the sixth degree. 12

Figure 4 Blaise Pascal’s wheel and Jacquard’s weaving loom

Harper, D. (2020) Compute (v.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Accessed at [https://www.etymonline.com/word/compute] [19.01.20] 11 Bottazzi, R. (2018) Digital architecture beyond computers : fragments of a cultural history of computational design. p. 7 12 Ibid. p. 7-9

Following the World War II and the military development of technological tools, computers shifted from the sphere of analogue to electronic. In 1946, ENIAC was introduced, the first electronic, general purpose computer. ENIAC was a breakthrough in the discipline of computing, weighing 27 tonnes and occupying approximately 170 square metres, it consisted of 17,468 vacuum tubes and brought together various elements of computing technology developed over time. 13

Figure 5 ENIAC

What followed was the development of computers that resulted in graphical technology that we use today. The introduction of different devices that allow us to interact with computers, such as input devices (keyboard, mouse) and output devices (monitor, printer) as well as software changes; introducing a window based system and control through pointing, paved the way to the modern version of computers that we are using today. However, the computer can be understood not only as a tool but also as a medium. A medium receives the work of the tools, it is a substance crafted by the tools, allowing for a range of possibilities. Alan Key states that: “The protean nature of the

computer is such that it can act like a machine or like a language to be shaped and exploited. It is a medium that can dynamically simulate the details of any other medium, including media that cannot exist physically. It is not a tool, although it can act like many tools. It is the first metamedium, and as such it has degrees of freedom for representation and expression never before encountered and as yet barely investigated.” 14 The computer completely changes the way in which 13

Ibid. p. 9 Kay, A. (1984) "Computer Software." Scientific American 251, no. 3 p. 52-59. Accessed at [www.jstor.org/stable/24920344] [19.01.20]

we can produce, as it brings the element of abstraction and lack of physicality that was not encountered before, especially in craft. What the computer does for the mind is similar to what machines did for hands, it provides relief from tedious thinking, the same way as the industrial revolution provided relief from manual labour. What is interesting is the idea that we are in the era of deskilling, however it is not a manual deskilling as seen during industrialisation, but a mental one. 15 For the first time we have used our habit of tool making to support our mind rather than hands.

SKILL The idea of mental deskilling affects our fundamental understanding of what skills are and their importance in craft. Our hands prove the embodiment of skill into everyday life, showing that we know more than we can say. The inarticulable knowledge have been studied extensively by psychologists and social scientists and has many names: operative, enactive, action-centred knowledge, reflection-in-action, know-how. However, the most common term describing it is skill. 16 A skill is acquired by demonstration; however, it can only be sharpened by practice. It is a participatory knowledge, and frequent participatory practice leads to durability of the skill. The retention of the skill and its mastery leads to growth of personal worth. Most ‘skilful’ people value their mastery in craft, beyond just the ability to produce the object, it seems that skills have a more profound, psychological benefits to its mastery.

When it comes to architecture, the craft of

designing can be divided into two main skills: creation of ideas and depicting reality. 18 Architects produce a design as a reply to a set of questions from a client and create a design that they believe best responds to the initial requirements and spatial needs. They deal with arising issues by resolving them with creative ideas, while adapting the design to fit a set of perimeters. What is more, an architect’s main skill is the ability to imagine a new reality; “depicting an as yet unbuilt

reality as accurately as possible on paper or in clay, cardboard or polystyrene is largely the result of an act that may be termed 'craftmanship' - a skill honed by repetition and practice.” 19

McCullough, M. (1996) Abstracting craft : the practiced digital hand. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 73 Ibid. p.3 17 Ibid. p.7 18 Riedijk, M. & Walker, E. (2010) Architecture as a craft : architecture, drawing, model and position. Amsterdam: SUN Architecture Publishers. p. 16-17 19 Ibid. p. 17 16

Figure 6 3D virtual model, 3D printed model [Camp Nou by Foster+Partners]

However, the introduction of the computer and as mentioned before ‘mental deskilling’ have a negative effect on the core skills utilized by the architect and one of the reasons is the misuse of computers. Richard Sennett mentions that: “These precepts about building skill through practice

encounter a great obstacle in modern society. By this I refer to a way in which machines are misused.” 20 The replacement of manual repetition, and what comes with it, practicing of a skill, by a computer lead to a disconnection from the design. Renzo Piano highlights the importance of drawing and redoing drawing by hand, “This is very typical of craftsman's approach. You think

and you do at the same time.” 21 What the computer does is both mentally deskilling us from the process of design as well as separating the mind from the hand, affecting the intuitive, hand-on understanding of the process, therefore diminishing the designer’s conceptual powers. By working digitally, we lose the cognitive process of understanding the site, by tracing and retracing its contours, borders and characteristics. We allow the computer to re-generate site-based imagery repeatedly, which makes the process more efficient, however it affects our understanding of context. As workers, we have historically and culturally struggled with positively seeing our limitations in comparison with the mechanical production. During the industrial revolution of 19th century, Karl Marx was notably criticising the rise of technology as a source of the crisis of dehumanization and deskilling of work under capitalism. 22 However, the more recent readings of

Sennett, R. (2008) The craftsman. London: Allen Lane. p. 38 Quoted in Robbins, E. (1994) Why Architects Draw. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. p.126 22 Mackenzie, D. (1984) Marx and the Machine. Technology and Culture. 25 (3), 473–502. 21

Marx’s manifesto seem to focus on a more optimistic perspective on the long term result of the industrial revolution. Paul Adler in “Marx, Machines, and Skill” argues that Marx’s vision has to be understood in two timelines: short term and long term. Adler argues that Marx has been misunderstood and his most frequently cited passage, “It becomes the question of life and death

for society to adapt the mode of production to the normal functioning of this law.”, actually talks about the opportunity of evolution in capitalism, rather than the mere replacement of it with a socialist system. 23 Capitalism seemed to replace the life-long skill of handling tools into serving one machine, leading to the deskilling of a labourer. However, Adler argues that Marx saw both positive and negative outcomes of that change; capitalism required more flexibility from the workers, leading to an increase in education and training, however it also resulted in work insecurity due to technological unemployment. 24 Marx suggests that in order to negate the negative outcomes, there has to be a change of society, and understanding of skills and craft. The industrial revolution drives the demand for more skilled workers, which leads to development of widely available education and training, widening the social and intellectual horizons of the low-skilled workers. Capitalism’s requirement of a more developed individual accelerates the change from old to new society. 25 The change from handicraft to manufacture and from manufacture to large-scale industry is seen as an attack on the traditional understanding of craft, and in turn on the worker’s skills. However, what Adler is suggesting is that the industry changes the meaning of craft and requires workers’ adoption of a new mode of production, which in the long term will lead to an increase in training, education and what comes with it; skill.

The concept of long term change of society was introduced in

William Ogburn’s “Social changes during depression and recovery : (social changes in 1934)” and is referred to as culture lag. 27 Ogburn defined the concept as a delay between dependant parts of culture, if one part changes due to invention or discovery, often there is delay in the other, dependant part of culture and its adjustment to the change. 28 In “Abstracting Craft” McCullough argues that we are experiencing a cultural lag right now when it comes to the introduction of personal computers. We see computers in the same way as we have 23 24

Adler, Paul S. “Marx, Machines, and Skill.” Technology and Culture, vol. 31, no. 4, 1990, p. 782

Ibid. p. 785 Ibid. p. 787 26 Ibid. p. 794 27 Ogburn, W.F. (1974) Social changes during depression and recovery : (social changes in 1934). New York: Da Capo Press. 28 Ibid. p. 201 25

seen the introduction of machines in the industrial revolution; requiring us to deskill and perform unimaginative, repetitive, semi-skilled labour, in essence we see a computer as just a mere machine increasing the efficiency of work. 29 It suggests that the real problem with the usage of computing technology in architecture does not lie with the computer itself, but with our knowledge of how it could be used in a way that upgrades our skills, rather than diminishing them. Ultimately, the computer is a tool that allows us to combine the skilful hand with reasoning mind with powers of almost unlimited computation ability, which is a tool we have never used before. 30 Generally, in the modern world, there is a change in many activities from doing to controlling, due to the development of tools and the culture of use.

In architectural design, we seem to still use the

technology as a more time-efficient substitute for hand-craft rather than a more complex tool that allows us to shift our focus to the control of the design and its complexities, rather than just the creation of drawings and representation. The present way of using technology is based on the automation of architectural design. However, computers give us a power of creating concepts that become things. “We can't touch them yet, but already we can look at them, point at them, and

work on them as though with hand-held tools. All this is ultimately more interesting than automation. Our use of computers ought not be so much for automating tasks as for abstracting craft.” 32

Figure 7 VR headset technology

McCullough, M. (1996) Abstracting craft : the practiced digital hand. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 75 McCullough, M. (1996) Abstracting craft : the practiced digital hand. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 81 31 Corser, R. (2010) Fabricating architecture : selected readings in digital design and manufacturing. 1st ed.. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p.32 32 McCullough, M. (1996) Abstracting craft : the practiced digital hand. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 81 30

ABSTRACTING CRAFT The usage of computing technology in architecture can be traced back to the developments of CAD (computer-aided design) following World War II. The software was primary developed on the basis of US military programmes used for ballistic calculation, and the conversion to commercial use was driven by the US government capitalizing on the large investment made.

The breakthrough in digital design was Sketchpad (1962), a result of Ivan Sutherland’s research at MIT.

Figure 8 Sutherland using Sketchpad

The software was deliberately very generic in order not to define its potential user discipline.

However, since his first presentations of the software, Sutherland himself said that: “It has turned

out that the properties of a computer drawing are entirely different from a paper drawing […] Had a working system not been developed, our thinking would have been too strongly inﬂuenced by a lifetime of drawing on paper to discover many of the useful services that the computer can

33 34

Bottazzi, R. (2018) Digital architecture beyond computers : fragments of a cultural history of computational design. p. 9 Ibid. p. 10

provide.” 35 Since the introduction of Sketchpad, followed by AutoCAD by Autodesk, CAD tools were investigated by academia, however at the same time they started to be more popular in the commercial world. However, whilst academia was focusing on innovative methods and theories of designing with these new tools, the corporate world saw them as a possibility to improve the efficiency of workers, both time-wise and money-wise. What is more, the CAD tools used by the architect were often developed by other design disciplines, such as; car production, naval design or military design and what comes with it were not adapted to the characteristics of a craft of architectural design. 36

Figure 9 Fabrication tools in car industry

The reasons for the lack of architecture-oriented digital tools are the specifics of the architecture economy market and the characteristics of architectural craft. Architecture as an industry lacks the scale of the other design disciplines. Most projects are one-off singular investments, with marginal profits for architectural companies, therefore it is not financially viable for a company to develop 35

Sutherland, E. (2003) Sketchpad: A man-machine graphical communication system. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory. p.17 36 Bottazzi, R. (2018) Digital architecture beyond computers : fragments of a cultural history of computational design. p. 11

their own tools or software as it is a long and costly process. 37 The architectural industry lacks the economies of scale, large capital and government subsidies that would allow for the development of new methods of design and new tools without financial pressure. What is more, the core of architectural craft: customization, preferences and individual performance, is at odds with the main principles of automatization: capital intensive enterprises and economies of scale. 38 Due to large demand and centralized capital investment, disciplines such as the car industry or naval industry can develop new methods of using technology that upgrade the skills of the workers, rather than diminish them. However, due to a different market structure, architecture struggles to catch up with ever-developing new technologies. Bill Krysler in his essay “Craft in Digital Design” states that “A chisel in the hands of an unskilled worker is a weapon. 3D modelling software can be

equally dangerous.”

It seems that the main issues faced by the architectural designers is the

cultural lag towards the introduction of technology into design. The lack of investment into developing our own tools as well as the lack of understanding of the tools that we have adapted from other disciplines leads to unimaginative designs, limited by the very tools that we are using.

Figure 10 Repetitive design of housing in United Kingdom, the reality reflecting the 3D visual simulation

Corser, R. (2010) Fabricating architecture : selected readings in digital design and manufacturing. 1st ed.. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p.164 38 Ibid. p. 164 39 Lynn, G. & Gage, M.F. (2010) Composites, surfaces, and software : high performance architecture. 1st ed.. New Haven, Conn. : New York: Yale School of Architecture ; Distributed by W.W. Norton & Co. p.38

PROGRESSIVE TECHNOLOGY: MASS CUSTOMIZATION AND FABRICATION David Celanto believes that fabrication tools are the ‘new digital’ developed by the architects in order to survive in the modern economic model. 40 Architects struggle to provide custom services in a product-based society, as clients do not understand the effort and time required for a customized design. As consumers we are used to customizable products that are delivered to us overnight and we lose the appreciation of tailored design. Oxymoronically, people create their ‘individuality’ by relying heavily on mass produced brands and accessories.

Figure 11 Examples of mass-customed products: Nike trainers, NikeID

Recently, the architectural industry has started to adopt parametric design as an answer to the mass customization and financial and time pressures. The architect’s role is shifting away from the creation of form to building a set of variables and requirements that derive at particular design instances. The history of numerical control goes back centuries, as it provides a way to regularize

Celanto, D. (2007) Innovate or Perish: New Technologies and Architecture’s Future. Harvard Design Architecture, No 26

and routinize otherwise irregular and qualitative elements. 41 From the introduction of calculators and calendars in ancient times, to bell towers organising times of liturgical rites and city markets, society has become more and more used to numerical perception of a duration, not based around the times of day and night or seasons.

In architecture, the numerical system of control can be

seen in the development of laws of derivation of perspective by Alberti, classical order qualification by Perrault, utilitarian utopia based on grids proposed by Durand or Modulor scale developed by Le Corbusier. 43

Figure 12 Examples of numerical systems used to describe architecture; left Perrault’s classical order qualification, right Modulor scale

The parametric approach to design can be traced back to the work of Luigi Moretti and his Architecttura Parametrica in 1940s. His designs, in collaboration with the Institute for Operational Mathematics Research in Mathematics Applied to Urbanism (IRMOU), presented at the 12th Triennale in Milan, focus on three elements: definition of a theme (sport facilities), definition of parameters (viewing angle, capacity etc.) and the analytical relation between dimensions and 41

Corser, R. (2010) Fabricating architecture : selected readings in digital design and manufacturing. 1st ed.. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p.156 42 Ibid. p. 155 43 Ibid. p. 155

parameters. 44 Moretti saw the usage of numerical control method as using the advancement of sciences as well as improving our understanding of cities and making designs respond better to the complexities of urban design. 45

Figure 13 Luigi Moretti’s design for 12th Triennale in Milan, 1960

Groups such as SmartGeometryGroup (SGG) focus their research on the ways in which parametric design can be used to build up new skills and new methods of designing, beyond the limitations of CAD software. While other industries focus on standardized models for mass production of certain component, the architectural industry creates one-off custom designs utilizing sets of standardized components.

SGG proposes a new software GenerativeComponent, thinking of

architecture as collections. The genotypes of certain building types can be reused, improved and adapted to the situation and context, with the collection of building objects reacting each time the changes are introduced.

The parametric approach gives architects a higher degree of control as

well as the ability to rapidly generate variations. What is more, it seems to create possibilities of integration between organisational elements of architecture and aesthetics of form. The usage of parametric control could decrease the divide between producers and consumers; the architect would generate a parametric system to create an almost infinite series of possible forms based on

Bottazzi, R. (2018) Digital architecture beyond computers : fragments of a cultural history of computational design .p.105 Gallo, G. (2018). Luigi Moretti, from History to parametric architecture. 23rd International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) 2018, At Beijing, China 46 Corser, R. (2010) Fabricating architecture : selected readings in digital design and manufacturing. 1st ed.. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p.25 47 Smith, S. (2008) Industry News GenerativeComponents: Going with the Flow. AECWeekly, [http://www10.aeccafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?articleid=478597&page_no=1] 45

the same parametric model, while consumers could inform the model with their own objectives by manipulating variables, allowing rapid and financially viable custom-made designs. 48 Masscustomization can allow the architect to become a ‘master builder’ again, bringing back the qualities of architectural craft by integrating intelligence and skills back into the core of architectural design. Timberlake and Kieran argue that in order to return to the craft, the construction and architectural industries must embrace the technologies and methods of making. 49 In the recent years the emergence of fabrication technologies in architecture might signify the beginning of changes in our relationship with computers. Since the renaissance, architects seemed to slowly lose control over many aspects of design and construction, even more nowadays with the emergence of labour division between an ever-growing number of disciplines and specialists.

McCullough states that: “The control of process, engagement with material, and identification

with work we admire in the traditional craftsman are clearly qualities of participation.” 51 The recent emergence of personal fabricating tools such as 3D printers, CNC machines and routers influenced a shift in the trajectory of fabrication. During the initial stages of industrialization, the structure of traditional crafts was replaced by an explicit process model. However, in the past 40 years we have seen a shift of the process model ownership, from large-scale manufacturing to personal, thanks to the introduction of personal computing. The last few years have seen a similar shift in the fabrication means, which may lead to the reappearance of ‘masters and their workshops’. 52

Bottazzi, R. (2018) Digital architecture beyond computers : fragments of a cultural history of computational design .p.110120 49 Kieran, S. & Timberlake, J. (2004) Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Methodologies Are Poised to Transform Building Construction. New York: McGraw-Hill. 50 Corser, R. (2010) Fabricating architecture : selected readings in digital design and manufacturing. 1st ed.. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p.70 51 McCullough, M. (1996) Abstracting craft : the practiced digital hand. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 139 52 Ibid. 180

Figure 14 Digital fabrication lab at Barttlett

In the era where we see a large shift of all the commodities into the virtual realm, the essence of craftmanship lays with physicality and materiality. Bill Kreysler argues that the introduction of digital fabrication tools into a university’s workshop is a good step towards creating a new cohort of craftsman architecture students, ones that craft material products, but in the context of new technologies applied. He states that the job of crafting something is complex and rarely a first idea is the best. Therefore, the usage of digital fabrication tools allows for the acquiring of abstracted craftmanship skills in the rapidly evolving design and manufacturing environment. 53 The Oxmans suggested that the recent rise of fabrication techniques is also related to a ‘cultural shift’ in design process. They refer to it as ‘the new structuralism’, where materials and structure have a high importance, with the form of the design emerging as a result of using the right material in a correct way. They quote the recent emergence of interdisciplinary groups (eg. Smart Geometry or Arup Advanced Geometry Unit) as a proof of new design methods, based on mathematical, scientific and computational techniques. 54

Lynn, G. & Gage, M.F. (2010) Composites, surfaces, and software : high performance architecture. 1st ed.. New Haven, Conn. : New York: Yale School of Architecture ; Distributed by W.W. Norton & Co. p.38 54 Oxman, R. & Oxman, R. (2010) The New Structuralism: Design, Engineering and Architectural Technologies. AD Architectural Design, London: Wiley. p.80

CONCLUSION Digital fabrication can change the way in which architectural design is perceived and taught. Architects can take back control of the structural design and construction process through engagement in the pioneering of new solutions and materials, that can be quickly and inexpensively tested by using fabrication. The technologies used in modern fabrication are a refined application of tools used by architects and craftsmen for centuries, such as the refined rotary motion tool in the form of a router bit.

The introduction of fabrication into architectural education seems to

not only stop deskilling, but also introduce a completely new set of skills and tools to the students, that can develop a new, abstract, digital craft. McCullough states that: “The possibility of craft lies

not so much in the technology as in the outlook you bring to it. The great paradox of computing is that the better the thinking apparatus becomes, the more we appreciate the value of a conscious human being.” 56 With the recent rapid development of technology and drastic changes that it brought to everyday life, it seems naïve to think that architects should stick to the ‘old, traditional ways’ of designing. The ever-changing economy and social and cultural needs put the architectural industry under pressure to adapt and catch up with other design industries. It seems that nowadays we are on the verge of overtaking the ‘culture lag’ in our field and finally start to be mindful participants in technological advancement. The architectural industry, both in professional practice as well as in teaching, seems to be taking back control and developing tools fit to our needs and ideas. The ‘industrialization’ of architectural design through the introduction of personal computers and CAD tools seem to be slowly giving way to the era of a ‘fully developed individual’, an architect skilful in the art of digital craft.

Corser, R. (2010) Fabricating architecture : selected readings in digital design and manufacturing. 1st ed.. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p.154 56 McCullough, M. (1996) Abstracting craft : the practiced digital hand. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 272

FIGURES REFERENCE Figure 1 Craftsmen in a workshop, Diedrot’s Encyclopédie

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Figure 2 Stills from the short documentary “In praise of Hands”

Winkler, D. (1974) In Praise of Hands. Accessed at [https://www.nfb.ca/film/in_praise_of_hands/] [19.01.20]

Figure 3 Traditional tools of an architect in 16th century, woodcut

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Figure 4 Blaise Pascal’s wheel and Jacquard’s weaving loom

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Figure 5 ENIAC

Cruz, F. (2019) Programming the ENIAC. Accessed at [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/eniac.html] [19.01.20]

Figure 6 3D virtual model, 3D printed model [Camp Nou by Foster+Partners]

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Figure 7 VR headset technology

FFKR Architects. Utilizing Virtual Reality to Enhance the Architectural Design Process. Accessed at [https://www.ffkr.com/virtual-reality-in-the-design-process/] [20.01.20]

Figure 8 Sutherland using Sketchpad

Sketchpad. Ivan Sutherland using Sketchpad in 1962. Accessed at [https://historycomputer.com/ModernComputer/Software/Sketchpad.html] [20.01.20]

Figure 9 Fabrication tools in car industry

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Figure 10 Repetitive design of housing in United Kingdom, the reality reflecting the 3D visual simulation

Keepmoat Homes Construction, accessed at [https://www.linkedin.com/company/keepmoat-homes] [20.01.20]

Figure 11 Examples of mass-customed products: Nike trainers, NikeID

Betschart, B. (2017) NikeID Allows You to Customize Your Shoe in Real-Time. Accessed at [https://www.sneakerfiles.com/nikeid-direct-studio-london/] [20.01.20]

Figure 12 Examples of numerical systems used to describe architecture; left Perrault’s classical order qualification, right Modulor scale Westfall, C.W. Beauty and Proportionality in Architecture. Newington-Cropsey Cultural Studies Centre. Accessed at [http://www.nccsc.net/essays/beauty-and-proportionality-architecture] [20.01.20]

Fondation Le Corbusier. Le Modulor, Not located, 1945. Accessed at [http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/corbuweb/morpheus.aspx?sysId=13&IrisObjectId=7837&sysLanguage=enen&itemPos=82&itemCount=215&sysParentId=65&sysParentName=home] [20.01.20]

Figure 13 Luigi Moretti’s design for 12th Triennale in Milan, 1960

PARAMETRIC ARCHITECTURE IN IT’S SECOND PHASE OF EVOLUTION - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Accessed at [https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-model-of-stadium-N-by-Luigi-Moretti-Exhibited-at-the-1960-ParametricArchitecture_fig1_318113001] [20.01.20]

Figure 14 Digital fabrication lab at Barttlett

UCL. (2020) B-made – The Bartlett workshops, accessed at [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/about-us/our-resources/b-madebartlett-workshops] [20.01.20]

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