The material architect: physically engaging the design process

The contemporary architect operates within a profession which is detached from the physical processes undertaken during the making of architecture. The emergence of two-dimensional representation as the architect’s primary mode of communication and design is deeply embedded within architectural praxis. The fundamental physical reality of architecture requires that the architect have an experientially based understanding of architecture’s conceptual drivers. This situation necessitates re-conceptualizing the process of creating architecture. By reverting to a tangibly based method of design the creation of representative and demonstrative artefacts can aid in developing a stimulating and exploratory design process. The proposed method of design imbues the designer with a direct corporal experience of architectural ideas heightening an awareness of existent and emergent complexities in manifesting architectural works. The maturation of an architectural intuition steeped in the material reality of architecture developed through the fabrication of architectural prototypes is a critical tool in the arsenal of the contemporary architect.