Embodied Learning through Fabrication Aware Design

Abstract

The contemporary culture of geometry-driven design stands as consequence of an institutionalised segregation between the fields of architecture, structure and construction. In turn, digital design methods that are both material and fabrication aware from the outset create space for uncertainty and the potential for embodied learning. Following this principle, this paper summarises the outcomes of a workshop developed to investigate the contribution of fabrication aware design methods in the production of a masonry block using both analogue and digital manufacturing. Students were to develop and investigate a design, through assembly techniques and configurations orientated around manual hot wire cutting, robotic tooling and three-dimensional printing. Outcomes were manufactured and compared regarding work precision, production time, material efficiency, cost and scalability. The analysis indicated that the most accurate results yielded from the robotic tooling system, and simultaneously exhibited the most efficient use of time, while the three-dimensional printer generated the least material waste, due to the nature of additive production. Fabrication aware design and comparative analysis enabled students to make more informed decisions while the use of rapid prototyping facilitated a relationship between digitalization and materiality allowing for a space in which uncertainty and reflection could be fostered. Reinforcing that fabrication aware design methods can unify the field and provide guidance to designers over multi-lateral aspects of a project.