Sunday 6 March 2016

Week 1 - Analogue to Digital

In the Twenty First Century, we are seeing more paperless studios across the world, with architects moving towards computer aided design over the more traditional methods of using paper. Before the fourteenth century when paper was introduced into the architecture industry, architectural drawings were created on ‘papyrus and parchment[1]’, but were ‘merely replicas of the paperless drawings taking place on construction sites[2]’.  Interestingly enough, Architecture had ‘begun as a paperless practice[3]’ and paper itself has ‘kept its position as one of the most significant technological presences in the building and design industry[4]’. ‘The use of paper had accomplished the move from an interpretation of architectural projects based on analogical expressions to the virtues of analogical manifestations[5]’. In the years after, the architectural draftsmen’s drawings ‘evolved into a document of legal status and restricted content[6].  A revolutionary change occurred in the late twentieth century whereby the ‘drawing was no longer a static document, but an evolving bank of parametric data[7]’. With this came a view of the fabrication process, and following the Industrial Revolution, ‘skills became more consistent, specialised and factory based[8]. Although these skills were in high demand at the time, by the twenty first century there was a ‘shift away from specialisation to a world that recognises the virtue of hybrid skills[9].  The evolution of digital fabrication enabled a change that gave the architect the ‘ability to export geometric and binary data in the appropriate format within the software package[10]’. This provided the means to ‘fabricate customised objects of a complexity that would have been prohibitively difficult or costly to make in the past[11]’. Throughout this progression models were often made for ‘descriptive, predictive, exploratory or planning purposes[12]’, often addressing three questions, ‘what was the model made for; what the model was made of; and how the model engaged with time[13]. There are many ways to witness the process of a model, and all too often the ‘building is projected as a scaled-up version of the architect’s model[14], rather than a process of ‘modelling the building[15]’. The twenty first century appears to be turning to CAD to further designs and bridge the gap between many disciplines within the design industry, however, the use of earlier tools and equipment within the industry still play an important role for designers.




[1] Frascari, M., Hale, J. and Starkey, B. (2007). From models to drawings. London: Routledge. p25
[2] Frascari, M., Hale, J. and Starkey, B. (2007). From models to drawings. London: Routledge. p25
[3] Frascari, M., Hale, J. and Starkey, B. (2007). From models to drawings. London: Routledge. p27
[4] Frascari, M., Hale, J. and Starkey, B. (2007). From models to drawings. London: Routledge. p24
[5] Frascari, M., Hale, J. and Starkey, B. (2007). From models to drawings. London: Routledge. p27
[6] Sheil, B. (2005). Transgression from drawing to making. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 9(01), p22
[7] Sheil, B. (2005). Transgression from drawing to making. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 9(01), p23
[8] Sheil, B. (2005). Transgression from drawing to making. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 9(01), p24
[9] Sheil, B. (2005). Transgression from drawing to making. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 9(01), p24
[10] Sheil, B. (2005). Transgression from drawing to making. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 9(01), p24
[11] Sheil, B. (2005). Transgression from drawing to making. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 9(01), p24
[12] Starkey, B. (2005). Architectural models: material, intellectual, spiritual. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 9(3-4), p265
[13] Starkey, B. (2005). Architectural models: material, intellectual, spiritual. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 9(3-4), p.265
[14] Starkey, B. (2005). Architectural models: material, intellectual, spiritual. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 9(3-4), p.271
[15] Starkey, B. (2005). Architectural models: material, intellectual, spiritual. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 9(3-4), p.271

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