Hybrid Design-to-Build: Fusing Two Cultures of Makers A thesis submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of: Master of Architecture School of Architecture and Interior Design College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning 2017 Thomas Covert Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering Technology College of Engineering and Applied Science University of Cincinnati April 2014 Committee Chair: Elizabeth Riorden, M.Arch Committee Member: Udo Greinacher, M.Arch ABSTRACT This thesis proposal investigates the shortcomings between the craft, the making, and the building within the architectural design process and promotes the possibilities of a more simultaneous approach to making architecture. The outcome will be the evocation of a skillset such as that of a hybrid between architect and builder, and will study and analyze the impacts of the proposed process on a specific project and the community in which it resides. The argument will be for a more synchronized approach when producing architecture and will attempt to curtail the amount of “copy and paste” drafting, and coordinating, while integrating the actual – the tectonic building, the innovative making, and the embodied craft that is so sequential and arguably nonexistent within today’s typical architectural practice. The methodology within the architectural practice is inherently flawed, specifically related to the lack of control and understanding related to construction. There is an obvious disconnect between the entities of the builder and the architect. As a result, architects typically rely on books of graphic standard details, digital libraries of detail components, and 3D building information modeling software to convey their now “standard” intent. This linear process enables habits of “copy/paste” architecture resulting in standard buildings with standard detailing- no uniqueness, no response to context, just a homogeneous state of basic repetition no matter where the demand lies. By integrating explorations of building, craft, and “making” into the design process, one can argue the positive effects that it will have on the design, the architect, the builder, and the community. TABLE OF CONTENTS IMAGE CREDITS INTRODUCTION 01 IMAGE 01 By Author HYPOTHESIS 08 IMAGE 02 Kieran, S. & Timberlake, J. (2004). Managing Intelligence. Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Methodologies THE GAP BETWEEN ARCHITECT & BUILDER 09 are Poised to Transform Building Construction. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 22. EDUCATION 12 IMAGE 03 By Author THE PRODUCTION BASED DESIGN PROCESS 15 IMAGE 04 By Author THE IDEATION BASED DESIGN PROCESS 22 IMAGE 05 Ford assembly line, 1913. Accessed March 17,2017. https:// THE HYBRID DESIGN-BUILD PROCESS 25 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_production RECONNECTING TO LOCAL TRADES 31 IMAGE 06 Traditional Design- Bid-Build. Accessed March 17, 2017. http:// www.architectmasterbuilder.com/advantages.html. VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE & REGIONALISM 36 IMAGE 07 By Author THE PROJECT 38 IMAGE 08 Architect-Led Design-Build. Accessed March 17, 2017. http:// SITE SELECTION & ANALYSIS 41 www.architectmasterbuilder.com/advantages.html. TYPOLOGY & PROGRAM 45 IMAGE 09 By Author CONSTRUCTION METHOD AS A DRIVER 49 IMAGE 10 By Author COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 53 PROJECT By Author IMAGES THE PROJECT OUTCOME 55 (PP 39-62) GLOSSARY 63 BIBLIOGRAPHY 66 INTRODUCTION IMAGE 01 - Diagram illustrating the two extremes within the architectural design process, linear and sequential typical production based process to the design through making & experimentation based process 03 04 There exists a problem regarding the relationship between the intent of architectural “Why is the architect not more of a part in the construction process? …Can the excitement of building, the drawings and the way they are comprehended. For example, this problem includes the builders themselves, and the construction site become part of the education process and, inevitably, the practice of transition from a drawing to a building, the lines on the paper being representational but not an architect? How can a didactic practice that resides, as two so separate parts for nearly 1500 years be more 2 always accurate, the unclear graphical communication, and most importantly the enormous complementary?” amount of time that is lost when explaining the often-misunderstood assemblies. There is a Innovation typically does not happen in the architectural capacities, but is often put in the general perception that the architect has seldom tested the drawing and lacks the knowledge hands of product engineers or consultants, contractors, or craftspeople miles away, disconnected of construction; their understanding of the physical makeup is lost. On the other end, the from the very minds that conceive it. Bob Sheil, of the Bartlett School, states that architectural contractor misunderstands the intent; the lines are representational but not true, nor accurate. As design does not end as the tools of fabrication are put into action. Making is a discipline that can a result, complications include the notion that builders do not understand drawings. There is a investigate rather than merely solve ideas; in other words, a design process. 3 misrepresentation demonstrated by the architect, the intent is lost due to this misunderstanding, Similarly, David Pye states that design of any kind is a matter of trial and error. There are and because of the architect’s lack of knowledge in assembly, builders are responsible for always some trial assumptions which no calculation or drawing can verify. Evidence of this theory conveying the intent based on what they are familiar with, not what is intended. There is a was apparent last summer when a classmate and I designed a conference table off a mere sketch, perception that an architect’s inability to relate to the very hands that are responsible in carrying not knowing the limitations of the materials until tested. The tests became the process. 4 out the design results in a disconnect between the design of the space and skill-set of the craftsperson. The embodiment of craft and its articulation is lost in the translation, or worse Through the often improperly executed architectural intent, there are apparent failures in never conceived. A potential solution for combating this problem would be to increase the level the built environment, specifically the materials interacting with other materials and the logic of of understanding related to construction, its methods, and techniques as a means of design. assembly. Is this the fault of the designer or builder? My own educational experience reveals a This is not an argument to prove or deny any certain established design method of practice, but harsh divide between architect and builder. With a back ground as a residential builder, eventually simply an effort to create mindfulness of the impacts and possibilities of design happening within transitioning to engineering school to study architectural engineering technology, and currently the craft and building process. These often-practiced habits disregard the realities of material, concentrating on architecture while pursuing Master of Architecture, the inevitable ideologies of assembly, and their limitations. This results in a lack of innovation, creativity, and embodied craft. my past are hard to deny. In the past, I encountered the opinion that the architect does not know “Construction sites reveal the way a building is made. The life of a structure is marked when the materials are what they are drawing, however now I hear architects stating that the builders do not know how stacked, when some order is assembled amid the chaos of activity at a site. Building sites are intriguing because to interpret what has been drawn. The literal sense that was so much a part of my life cannot of their potential; the materials could become anything.” 1 be ignored and should not be, even though now I find myself among the architectural world of abstraction and sometimes fantasy. This means of making architecture is often praised and very Construction can often be the designer’s most exciting moment, a design that was on paper much should be, to inspire although knowing that some of these proposals are so far from reality coming to life, a figure that was once an imagination now able to give presence, but as designers that it is lost in all the algorithmic and parametric provocative volumes that make up the intrigue we are not part of this process, in fact we are expected to make essential decisions through emails or phone calls. 2 Carpenter, W. (1997). Learning by Building: Design Construction in Architecture Education. New York. Van Norstrand Reinhold. 14 1 Carpenter, W. (1997). Learning by Building: Design Construction in Architecture Education. New York. Van 3 Sheil, R. (2005). Design through Making. Great Britain. 8-11 Norstrand Reinhold. 107 4 Pye, D. The Nature and Aesthetics of Design. (1978). London. Herbert Press. 90-96 05 06 that infatuate us. Although very grateful to be a part of the digital parametric age, I see it as lead construction and the impacts that it could have on empowering a community. removed from making, constructing, and producing architecture of evident human qualities that can be spiritual and cultural symbols. I must ask myself is this how I want to practice? – shall I ignore the years prior to architectural school and ignore the realities and constraints of the built HYPOTHESIS actualities that were