Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques (Architecture Briefs) [Paperback]

Lisa Iwamoto (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1568987900 | ISBN-13: 978-1568987903 | Publication Date: July 1, 2009 | Edition: 144 p.

Architectural pioneers such as Frank Gehry and Greg Lynn introduced the world to the extreme forms made possible by digital fabrication. It is now possible to transfer designs made on a computer to computer-controlled machinery that creates actual building components. This "file to factory" process not only enables architects to realize projectsfeaturing complex or double-curved geometries, but also liberates architects from a dependence on off-the-shelf building components, enabling projects of previously unimaginable complexity.

Digital Fabrications, the second volume in our new Architecture Briefs series, celebrates the design ingenuity made possible by digital fabrication techniques. Author Lisa Iwamoto explores the methods architects use to calibrate digital designs with physical forms. The book is organized according to five types of digital fabrication techniques: tessellating, sectioning, folding, contouring, and forming. Projects are shown both in their finished forms and in working drawings, templates, and prototypes, allowing the reader to watch the process of each fantastic construction unfold. Digital Fabrications presents projects designed and built by emerging practices that pioneer techniques and experiment with fabrication processes on a small scale with a do-it-yourself attitude. Featured architects include Ammar Eloueini/DIGIT-AL Studio, Elena Manferdini, Brennan Buck, Michael Meredith/MOS, Office dA, Mafoomby, URBAN A+O, SYSTEM Architects, Andrew Kudless, IwamotoScott, Howeler Yoon, Hitoshi Abe, Chris Bosse, Tom Wiscombe/Emergent, Jeremy Ficca, SPAN, Urban A&O, Gnuform, Heather Roberge, Patterns, and Servo.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Digital Fabrications presents projects designed and built by emerging practices that pioneer techniques and experiment with fabrication processes on a small scale with a do-it-yourself attitude." --Dexigner

"During 2009 I had the chance to visit Iwamoto Scott in San Francisco, a practice lead by Lisa Iwamoto and Craig Scott. At their office I could see first hand the study models for some of the projects the firm has been involved, such as a mockup for their P.S.1 proposal, Coral Reef, or the lightweight wooden pieces that structure the massive Voussoir Cloud installation at SCI Arc. These small pieces had a lot to tell, not only about the specific project they were part of, but also their iterations. The firm has a recognized expertise in digital fabrication, presented by Lisa Iwamoto at the AIA Convention 2009 during the Emerging Voices forum, and also on her book `Digital Fabrication' edited by Princeton Architectural Press under their Architecture Brief series. The book presents in a clear way (with very good examples) the methods behind digital fabrication: sectioning, tessellating, folding, contouring, and forming. For most of us these words are pretty much obvious and we often use them as design principles of our projects. But to get the full scope of what they really mean, or for those that want to start understanding -and using- them, this is a recommended reading." --Arch Daily

"Because Digital Fabrications concentrated on the experimentation of these fabrication techniques and the processes of creating forms using these techniques, I didnt feel that the book was just another architectural image catalog of abstract forms with descriptions encoded in archi-babble. The book was written in a concise manner that was sufficiently descriptive and intelligently thought provoking." --Blue Architecture

"If I had to recommend you one book about the use of digital tools in architecture, it would be this one. Written by an expert who is also a successful practitioner (Lisa Iwamoto, a leader in the field of digital fabrications, is associate professor of architecture at UC Berkeley and a principal of IwamotoScott Architecture), Digital Fabrications is pleasantly approachable. First, there's the visual appeal of the publication. It is a light, compact book shock full of fabulous pictures and concise yet precise descriptions of the many projects covered. The most engaging characteristic of the volume however is its content. The author has chosen to highlight the innovative and DIY attitude that reigns among designers and architects who use digital technologies. Many of the projects are detailed and made comprehensible with graphics and pictures making it a great inspiration for other architects as well as for students. In fact, students projects are also featured in the book." --World Changing

"Going through the projects in Lisa Iwamotos newly published survey, Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques (Princeton Architectural Press, 2009. 144 pages) gives me the impression that much of the contemporary outlook in architecture, especially in its schools, has a lot to do with the rediscovery of Gottfried Semper. Here you have a frenzied revelry in the assembly of various independent components into elaborate skins, an exploration of the textile and foldable properties of materials, and a recovery of surface as something wanting a glorious independence from mundane structures." --Javierest

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 144 p. edition (July 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568987900
• ISBN-13: 978-1568987903
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphic Design > CAD
  • #93 in Books > Professional & Technical > Architecture

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't be ashamed to sleep with this book under your pillow., October 9, 2009

By 

Madeline Gannon (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques (Architecture Briefs) (Paperback)

Contributing to the discussion on the role of digital and emerging technology in the discipline of architecture, Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques documents a series of recent projects with an integral relationship between the act of designing and the act of making. Iwamoto organizes these works in a manner that draws commonalities between their material, tectonic, and spatial innovations, presenting these independent projects as a coherent collective that is innovating architectural thinking, teaching, making, and designing. This curation captures the vanguard spirit of the 1:1 experiments by focusing on smaller-scale projects (fabricated within the past five years, and by relatively young, small firms or even students,) as their prescribed restrictions (the availability of space, budget, materials, and/or tools) promotes innovating standard, accessible materials and machinery to achieve a new, unanticipated affect.

Throughout Digital Fabrications, the emphasis is design + fabrication. Iwamoto excludes purely tectonic projects, as well as unbuilt designs, as the true ethos of these experiments in architectural design/fabrication is how the two processes integrate and inform each other. The projects included are in continuous contact with material and fabrication techniques during the various stages of development. The design (and designer) works in congruence with the computer, as well as the tools and methods of fabrication, to conceive and realize their work. The included projects exemplify how open, synchronous communication between design and manufacturing can, and has been, expanding spatial, material, and tectonic possibilities within the discipline.
Written for "anyone who wants to know how digital fabrication works, why architects use it, and how it promotes innovative design" Iwamoto documents the design process, as well as the material and fabricating techniques used, in order to disseminate these concepts. The structuring of the book, the categorization of projects by their means of their fabrication reinforces the idea that tooling and material techniques are an integral process of the final design. Each of the five parts (sectioning, tessellating, folding, contouring, and forming,) begins with a brief definition of the operation, its historical precedents, its most useful application, as well as its more innovative applications. It is here where Iwamoto takes the opportunity to cite built larger and smaller scale projects, putting the featured projects into a larger context of work while also emphasizing their ingenuity and inventiveness.

The projects featured in Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques are eliminating the boundary between conception and actualization, and are innovating solutions to recurring architectural problems. The digitization of the fabrication process has challenged designers to not only redefine the uses of traditional building materials, but to also redefine the limits of space, and redefine their role in the life of the design.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book!, April 2, 2010

By 

R. M. Montgomery "handsome rob" (savannah, ga) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques (Architecture Briefs) (Paperback)

this book is great for understanding the methods behind creating some of these amazing shapes and forms. Great digital process and fabrication methods.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars clear, concise, well writen, August 4, 2011

By 

fablabgab - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques (Architecture Briefs) (Paperback)

An amazing introduction for the novice, yet extremely engaging for those in the field. A great mix of small scale projects, and big theory. There is an inherent gap in the practice of building, and that of designing, this book addresses how digital fabrication, and the various techniques and processes are addressing and working through that gap.