Material driven workshops are the key to design innovation. What we know through experience about building materials dictate how we utilize them. When someone mentions steel, we think of large steel wide flanges, soon to be hidden and never seen again. Wood reminds us of something stained and coated, to demonstrate the natural beauty of the grain. However, when we limit ourselves to these preconceived ideas we miss out on opportunities to make our architecture innovative. Not necessarily in the sense of conceptual innovation, but in terms of a broader understanding of the physical nature of materials. What is innovation and why is it important? Innovation is a new idea, device or method (1)  . According to Blaine Brownell, author of Material Strategies: Innovative Applications in Architecture, innovation implies novelty and positive change (2). In architecture, innovation is the key to positive problem solving; without innovation we fail to evolve. The question that remains is how do we push ourselves past these initial preconceived building material ideas? One answer: through material workshops.

What is a material driven workshop and how does it stimulate innovation? Material driven workshops must consist of two parts: developing a complete understanding of a material followed by experimentation. To completely understand a material one must learn the new and old processes, methods, physical limitations, and properties of the material through hand performed work. Once the material is understood, new processes, methods, uses and connections can be explored through physical mockups in the experimentation phase. The active learning process, established through the physical crafting and experimenting of the material, allows us to develop the understanding necessary to use materials in an innovative manner (3).

By working with the material we begin to understand its limits, which allows us to begin to push the boundaries of its limitations. Typically this can be costly, involves engineers, and years of research (4). However, by prototyping we can discover new ways of using materials quickly and affordably. One could compare the prototyping process to making architectural models in order to experiment with design. According to Anna Lindgren, partner of Front, it is important to push the boundaries of new materials, but sometimes common materials are the ones that have the most interesting outcomes (5). A prime example of this is a table that Lindgren made out of branches under high pressure. What would usually be a byproduct of lumber and turned into mulch was instead fabricated into an elegant piece of furniture. Although pushing the limits of familiar materials was not a primary objective for the Design+Make studio this year, we’ve begun to discover how to utilize old methods in new ways.