Focus on Fabrication
Seam Studies: The Power of Glue to Enable a More Intuitive Architecture View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Emily White
"There is a sea change going on in the world of construction: the shift from assemblage to fusion. In material terms this translates into a shift from mechanical to chemical attachments. More simply, things are built without bolts, screws, nails, or pegs; instead, they are glued," Greg Lynn. Adhesive bonds are used in building many things that are structurally robust and intended to weather the elements, like planes, cars, trains, and offshore oil rigs. In the construction industry, adhesives appear in wood construction (cross laminated timber, glulam beams, plywood); finishes (carpet, tile, roofing); and to some extent in fiber and other composite structures. This paper argues there are more opportunities to use adhesives in architecture, specifically in the area of structural metal skins. The study details a collaborative process between students and faculty in architecture and chemistry to formulate and test a custom-made adhesive at multiple scales ranging from extra-small test coupons to furniture to a small pavilion. It argues that the use of glue instead of welds or mechanical fasteners has advantages to project workflow, enabling greater fluidity between physical models, digital simulations and full-scale construction. The fluidity hinges on the ways seams are represented and constructed, and the capability of digital models to use appropriate parameters to describe breaks and overlaps in sheets of material.
Space, Time, and Materiality - an Investigation of the Lap : How Mother-makers and Designers Connect to Place Through Object-making
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kelly Malec Kosak, Kelly DeVore
This work investigates how the adoption and challenge of gendered expectations influences the spaces in which mothers design/create, the processes and materials they choose, and the time that they have to devote to their work. Throughout this year-long research project, we have both embarked on making endeavors that are contained in the lap: one to connect to the past, and one to connect to the present. Making in the same way that women have made for centuries, we are further connecting to the space, time, and action of mother makers. A Note on the Division of Labor by Sex defines this women’s work as, “The (woman) is not obliged to be far from home; the tasks are relatively monotonous and do not require rapt concentration; and the work is not dangerous, can be performed in spite of interruptions, and is easily resumed once interrupted” (Brown, Judith K., 1970). Connecting to the work we create, a series of stories will be gathered from mother designers and makers. Alternative histories, how stories are told, and how these stories are collected is investigated.
Three Exhibitions, Three Interviews, Three Archives - Yes, but Why? : Idiosyncrasy as a Metadesign Tool View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Angeliki Sofia Mantikou
This paper is on subject-object oriented research in a postindustrial socioeconomic condition. Idiosyncrasy will be used as a methodological tool in a researcher’s personal archive. This archive consists of everyday design objects from 1920 till 2020 that have been exhibited in museums and art institutions such as MoMA, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Franco Albini Fondazione, the curators’ interviews of these exhibitions and rare archives such as Greta Manguson Archive and S. Delialis Archive. Firstly, there is the definition of idiosyncrasy. Its references extend from the aesthetic theory from the romantic period till contemporary object-subject oriented theories (S. Zizek), to interdisciplinary references of pathology, psychiatry and neurology, which interconnect idiosyncrasy with the function of human sensory system. Secondly, the researcher’s collection will be organized and read as a cloud. The characteristics of idiosyncrasy create a two metric systems of reading that cloud. The first one relates to norms of ideological design and the second to aesthetic values and social symbols. Through this methodology each object of the cloud is reorganized in new ideological categories. So, each object is connected with different objects, ideas and words that all together consist of a new hyper object narrative, responsible for the design of cultural footprint. The aim of the research reflects the timeless value of design nowadays, when everything is said and done. Through the value of the meaning of idiosyncrasy in design everything matters and design is sustainable in another point of view. So yes, we advocate design through idiosyncrasy.
Crossing Boundaries : A Critical Examination of the Value of Global Design Thinking and Local Craft Practice
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Patty Johnson
Working with craft communities brings into relief the disparities of information, contextual knowledge, and design cultures that skilled craftsmen negotiate daily in an increasingly globalized world with complex routes to market. Within this context, development agencies and academic institutions both foreign and local, contract designers and architects to advise craft communities on how to adapt and engage within the shifting landscape of contemporary consumption. The central issue in these interventions remains their long term sustainability and thus economic capacity building for artisan communities. This paper explores and questions the role of design in the development and sustainability of small-scale enterprises. The presenter examines the value of global thinking and local practice through a series of project case studies that look at different models of work all of which aim to connect traditional craft practices to sustainable futures.
