Abstract

This research seeks to bridge the gap between traditional artisans and emerging digital craftsmen generated by the Arts and Crafts movement of the late nineteenth century and the third Industrial Revolution (Krugh 2014; Economist 2012) now underway via material culturalism as outlined by Grier (1996). Mashrabiya, an Eastern patterned screen, represents an architectural construction that is rooted in cultural and functional parameters, but whose craftsmen have become essentially extinct due to industrialization. In looking at the preservation and redesign of this archetype, the digital tectonic (Beesley and Seebohm 2000) becomes a powerful agent in reconciling tradition with contemporary manufacturing via 3D printing. The authors are exploring the cultural foundations of the Mashrabiya in order to understand how these act as measurable parameters in the re-envisioning of the construction. This paper presents the background, relevant work, and the workflow for the first array of 3D-printed Mashrabiya, exploring their viability and re-insertion into architecture.