The Developed Surface: A Critical Exploration of Architectural Design and Research Cultures through 3D Printed Ceramics

The balance between the artistic and technological aspects of architectural practice has a long and tempestuous history. From the split between engineering and architecture in the 18th century, to the ongoing academization of the field since the mid 20th century, architectural design and research cultures have been drawn along the lines of either the techno-scientific disciplines or the humanities.

The technologists are often accused of overlooking the discourse on the artistic aspects or historic continuity of architectural design, while the humanists are charged with having an indifferent attitude towards new technology and a nostalgic view of building crafts. This, as well as increasing specialization within the field as an academic discipline, challenges what was at certain points in history considered an erudite profession based precisely on a careful balance between artistic, technical and social concerns.

This PhD thesis attempts to test methods that bridge the divide. Through a series of design experiments in the form of 1.1 scale prototypes, 3D printed ceramic architectural cladding systems and bricks are used as the central vehicle for the study. Undertaken within a methodological framework of Research through Design, the experiments and the resulting prototypes are analysed and discussed, presenting design methods that can be adapted and used by researchers and practitioners with an interest in a multifaceted approach to architectural design.

There is a focus on Gottfried Semper’s theoretical writings as well as late 19th century architecture and the subsequent ideas that followed in the same vein. Semper’s Principle of Dressing and the notion of the textile origins of architectural surfaces form the theoretical basis for the experiments, as well as a framework for analysis.

Practitioners such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and a selection of subsequent architects and researchers who work in innovate ways using with ceramics and concrete as a cladding material are studied. These studies provide the basis for an artistic approach and discourse when designing when using 3D print technology. The thesis suggests the methods of architects of the pre-modernist era are a strong basis for contemporary architectural design and concludes with an argument that artistic and technological problems should not be viewed as separate issues.