WK 7 Readings

Antoine Picons, “A Different Materiality, Material by Design” offers vast discussion in regards to the change and development of materiality, what exactly materiality is and finally the involvement of robotization. Picon talks of materials defined by two groups, organic and inorganic, where men saw both in the beginning as merely materials, no differentiation between the two nor a characteristic different between the two. “Today, we are probably returning to a conception closer to the pre-industrial one, with all the researches on composite and smart materials and the tendency to solve more and more problems at the level of material design rather than structural design.”

The development of digital conception tools and robotization has allowed for greater diversity from the use of CNC machines, 3D printers, laser cutters. Although these new tools and advancements in digital software has widened our scope of possible yet complex designs, we are faced with the limitations of packaging and shipping. “unique components require unique packaging and curved elements don’t stack as well as flat ones” this has become the current issue at hand, however, development of on-site prefabrication can overcome this problem yet it is far from being decided on whether that is the method to use.

“Architecture and the Virutal” also written by Picon continues his discussion of materiality but also establishes connections between physical experiences and technology. Digital design is still young, at this point of time it is merely “a supplementary power to the designer”, allowing processes to be executed faster as well as offer new design approaches. He relates the digital to physical experiences, highlighting faults and key elements that prove how digital design is still young.