Digital fabrication: From tool to a way of thinking

Abstract

The digital design appears as an integrated process from conceptualization to materialization and fabrication. The main question is: How the new medium changed the workflow in architecture from a linear model to a cyclic model and the role of new materialization as a form of design thinking? This paper is part of a study that investigates the architectural design process and starts from the premise that we should expand the study of design methods to include other approaches. It considers digital fabrication not as a tool, but as an integrated strategy in collaborative digital processes that can allow a better communication along the design process. It presents the development of design methodologies in order to contribute to a greater understanding of the methodology for design projects with caution to the fact that each one reflects the period in which it was developed.