Digital Fabrication and the Design Build Studio

This book explores the connection between digital fabrication and the design build studio in both academic and professional studios.

The book presents 17 essays and cases studies from well-known scholars and practitioners, including Kengo Kuma, Joseph Choma, Dan Rockhill, Keith Zawistowski, and Marie Zawistowski, whose theoretical and practical work addresses design build at various levels. Four introductory essays trace the history of the design build movement, exploring the emergence of design build in the pedagogy of the Bauhaus, the integration of technology into architectural design, and the influence of the act of making on the design build studio. The rest of the book is divided into two parts; the first part looks at traditional pedagogical models for the design build studio, and the second part focuses on experimental methods used in design build programs. Together, these works discuss human behavior, social-cultural trends, and motivations in socially minded studios which are based on a service-learning model. They look at component-based studios where innovation allows for an increased level of research and testing of new materials and assemblies, sustainable principles, and zero-energy prototypes.

Illustrated with over 200 color images, this book will be a valuable resource for architecture students, educators, and practitioners seeking to explore the impact of digital fabrication on the global design build movement.

William Carpenter, FAIA, PhD, DPACSA, is the founder and president of the internationally recognized Lightroom Studio in Atlanta. William is also a Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at Kennesaw State University. He has made a lasting, indelible and meaningful impact and contribution to international architectural pedagogies in education and practice through his influential writings, lectures, teaching, leadership, and research on design build education and multidisciplinary practices. His internationally award-winning firm, Lightroom, has designed many projects in Atlanta and works in several disciplines, including film production, graphic design, branding and websites, and modern architecture. He is past president of AIA Atlanta and AIA Georgia and received its highest honor, the Rothschild Medal. He was awarded the National Distinguished Professor Medal, one of the highest honors an educator can receive, from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, and served as chancellor of the College of Distinguished Professors with this organization. He is currently serving as part of the editorial and curatorial team for the Biennale di Venezia Italian Pavilion in Venice, Italy. He recently delivered a keynote address at Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria, one of the most respected design conferences in Europe. He currently serves on the AIA Gold Medal and Firm Award nominations council.

Arief Setiawan is an educator, researcher, and designer based in Atlanta, Georgia. He teaches design studios and history and theory of architecture in Kennesaw State University, USA. His research interests include design thinking and methodology, design pedagogy, hybrid and alternative modernity in architecture and urbanism, and in the congruence of social, cultural, political, and technological factors in informing designs of contemporary built environments. He also works on design projects that problematized the relationship to a place, including a hospital for the underprivileged, educational facilities, and places of worship.

Christopher Welty, AIA, is a professor in the College of Architecture and Construction Management at Kennesaw State University, for the 2022-23 academic year he served as the Interim Chair for the Architecture Department. Over his academic career, he has coordinated the professional program sequence, the thesis sequence, second-year design studios, and the design communication sequence. He has served as the KSU Architect Licensing Advisor for the National Council of Architectural Registration Board. His research centers on learning by making, integrating digital technologies within the design process while embracing the craft of making. His design studio projects have covered a wide range of topics from light and materiality to virtual computer environments and design-build. His professional practice class provides graduates with a road map for setting up and managing a design firm. In 2014, Chris was awarded an outstanding faculty award for his teaching excellence and was honored as the SPSU Teacher of the Year for the 2014-15 academic year.

Chris is a registered architect in Georgia and an active member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 2015, he was awarded the AIA Georgia Bronze Medal for his service as State Treasurer for developing the strategic investment policy and the long-term strategic investment plan for reserve revenue, leading to the current Innovation Grant Award Program. Chris served as the 2019 President of AIA Atlanta and is an active member of the Architecture Foundation of Georgia Board. He is a graduate scholar of the Christopher Kelly Leadership Development Program.

When not teaching, Chris heads his small multimedia design firm, weltyWORLD, which consults in the architecture and construction field. Their work specializes in creating and analyzing spatial experiences linking virtual computer environments and physical installations.