The Nature and Art of Workmanship [Paperback]

David Pye (Author), James Pye (Editor), Elizabeth Balaam (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1995

This book explores the meaning of hand skill in a thoroughly mechanized age.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

This is a digital reprint of David Pye's original 1968 edition. Within it he argues that the aesthetic quality of our environment depends as much on its workmanship as on its design, and that workmanship has been largely ignored. Mr Pye shows how and why we are conscious of finish and workmanship, goes on to ask why so much of our environment is impoverished and asks what can be done about it. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

David Pye was an internationally known architect, industrial designer, and craftsman. For many years he was professor for furniture design at the Royal College of Art, London. He is also the author of The Nature & Aesthetics of Design. He died in 1993.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing; Revised edition (July 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964399903
• ISBN-13: 978-0964399907
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,245,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Workmanship as a personal statement, September 7, 2004

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Nature and Art of Workmanship (Paperback)

Pye knows that understanding comes in two steps. The second presents the new knowledge, but the first step clears out old fallacies to make way for the new facts. To do that, he starts this book by thoroughly confusing the question of what is hand work, and what is done by machine. Once that is shown irrelevant, he starts on the points that truly matter.

First, the terms "craft" and "craftsmanship" have been co-opted and corrupted by so many authors that, with regret, he abandons them. Instead, he defines new terms. The first opposed pairs are the workmanship of risk and the workmanship of certainty. Certainty is knowledge that a piece of work will surely complete in the way intended, as is typical in mass manufacture. Risk is the chance that any workpiece could be damaged or destroyed at any step in its handling - a chisel could clip, a hammer could damage the surface, a saw cut might be placed wrong. It doesn't matter whether the tool is a simple hammer or a complex milling machine: either a reliable process or a fallible workman defines the result.

Pye's second distinction is "regulated" versus "free" or "rough" fabrication. Regulated work meets fine tolerances, has precise geometries and surfaces. Free work allows the workman to vary the workpiece somewhat. Free workmanship allows expressive notes, perhaps tool textures or subtle changes of shape. Rough workmanship goes farther. A wood fence, for example, may be straight and strong enough, with coarse shapes, knots in the wood, and even some checking.

None of that distinguishes good workmanship from bad. Good workmanship carries out the practical and esthetic intent of a design, or improves on them. Bad workmanship detracts from the design's usefulness or beauty. In something like a rural stone wall, excessively regulated work might even be considered bad, if it's the one exact geometry in a generally relaxed environment. A rough-hewn bench may be just as good, in its way, as an inlaid Victorian table.

Pye ends this wise book by reviewing what Ruskin and Morris had to say about craft. I won't repeat his arguments, but he points out the reams of nonsense they interleaved between pages of meaningful thought. As with everything he analyzes, he carefully highlights the worthwhile, and elegantly tears up the romantic silliness.

Pye is truly dedicated to workmanship and to dedicated workmen (and, implicitly, women). I recommend this book to anyone who creates anything, whether professionally or for the personal reward in the act of making.

//wiredweird

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book that lives up to expectations, December 18, 2000

By 

Myron Smith (Greeley, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nature and Art of Workmanship (Paperback)

In this book David Pye accurately and concisely differentiates between hand craftsmanship and modern machine done work. He writes his philosophical yet practical, personal ideas on craftsmanship. It is a great discussion for anyone interested in fine workmanship. It attempts to answer questions (or at least provide an entry point into discussion) of why hand workmanship is important, why it appeals to us, and want makes it fundamentally different from machine build crafts. It does not focus on any specific craft (thought Professor Pye is a woodworker himself), but is meaningful and accessable to anyone interested in crafts and hand workmanship. This is a great book.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lucid, practical, a classic, April 6, 2000

By 

George Oliver (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nature and Art of Workmanship (Paperback)

I love this book. Pye, in concise and often beautiful language, defines the idea of workmanship as he sees it -- its history, its implications, how it might develop. He gives interesting commentary on the Arts & Crafts movement vis-a-vis Ruskin and Morris as well.

Pye really is a master of the old school, and I would encourage anyone to buy this book for both its own ideas and for a look at a wonderful mind. A great companion to Krenov.