2013

ABSTRACT | Digital design techniques have radically expanded the “design solution space” available to architects. The speed with which the possibilities for “built” architecture expand, however, is slowing down, in spite of continued advancements in design software development and the dissemination of evermore user-friendly digital design tools. This paper argues that the increasing dissociation between the virtual and built environment lies at the foundation of this slowdown, and uses case studies to advocate a grounding of the digital paradigm in the realities of “contractor space” in order to continue to expand the “buildable design solution space”. The projects show how, through combination of digital design technology and traditional craftsmanship, complex geometry can be built at high speed and low cost with the simplest of means.