ARC3721H F
Instructor: Zoe Coombes, David Boira
Meeting Section: L0101
Thursday, 9:00am - 12:00pm
Location: TBD

Along with the development of digital tools for making, has come unique aesthetic sensibilities reflective of 21st-century making. Architects often legitimize the look and feel of computational design based on an assumed appreciation for mathematical rigour and respect for the designer's ability to master complexity. However, it is perhaps worth our time to remember that architects are exploring the limits of technological advances against a cultural backdrop that is as excited as it is distrustful of machines. How can design thrive in a world dominated by opposing emotions about the new?

Students will be asked to produce a series of objects that are as modest in scale, as they are rich in atmosphere. Discovering ways of moving back and forth from the computer to the shop is a central activity of this elective. By moving from screen to object and back again, we will think about how to navigate from the familiar to the unfamiliar, the conceptually new to the materially timeless. Through a series of design challenges, we will explore machine making and the cultural anxieties that accompany new modes of production. Readings and exposure to contemporary practices that wrestle with these tensions will accompany this structured process of making.

We will take as a given, the belief that design is received, tested and understood in ways that feel both physical and intellectual. Students are expected to have a basic understanding of surface modelling. Most importantly, students must bring a sincere interest in learning the logic and opportunities presented by the fabrication facilities at Daniels. Prerequisite: ARC 2023H: Intermediate Computer Applications; for students outside of the program, permission of the instructor.