Making Design

Abstract

There are designers, and there are makers. Each responds to different considerations when working their craft. A designer is largely concerned with form and beauty, crafting objects and images. The designer may be heavily reliant on a third party maker to bring their objects to production or market. A maker is similarly dependent on the designer to provide a level of creativity to craft a product. The maker is well versed in material properties and the physical restraints provided by real-world forces, such as gravity and the consumer use and abuse of the product. When the designer and the maker collaborate, we are afforded excellent products that are as beautiful as they are sturdy and usable. We find examples of this in the architecture of I.M. Pei, his concrete structures could not be created without a solid relationship between concrete worker and architect. Design-build is essentially the convergence of designer and maker in the discipline of architecture. The design-builder is competent in material studies as well as construction techniques, with a strong background in design. This field of knowledge coupled with physical building capability sets the design-builder apart from the architectural designer. The process of design deserves the same consideration that final design receives. For a design-builder, a rigorous method of creating form is equally comforting and frustrating. Building materials such as dimensional lumber and plywood have, with industry standardization, become ubiquitous thus rendering them inconspicuous. Is it possible to use these anonymous materials in a celebratory manner as cladding, skin, weather protection, or simply decoration?