More Than Buildings: Architects as Designers, Technologists, and Innovators

Architects are designers, fundamentally. As designers of functional space for people to inhabit, work, and/or congregate, architecture supports society. However, as explored in More Than Buildings: Architects as Designers, Technologists, and Innovators, architecture is also a discipline defined by the constant evolution of building technologies and the methods to create them. Due to these competing and often contradictory forces, it can be said that architects are not only designers but also technologists responsible for creating the backdrop of our collective culture.

The Rise of Modularity in Architecture

A great example of how the changes in technology define architects, one only needs to look at the vast use of modularity in architecture- standardized shapes, products, and techniques. Modularity arose from the Fordist principles that transformed manufacturing in the auto industry, shipbuilding, watchmaking, and so on. In construction, modularity is responsible for the proliferation of single-family tract homes and high-rises, all unthinkable prior to its industrial adoption.

New Technologies Driving the Future of Architecture

Today, new technologies seem to swirl around us constantly. Many are specific to how things are made and directly affect architecture. Quite a few are used in academia for research and development, while early adopter practices use them to build differently. These new technologies are likewise set to transform the built environment.

One of them is 3D printing, which is now expanding beyond the role of prototype pavilions into a truly deployable building technique, as can be seen in the US and Europe. Another new technology is the transformation of an existing tool that has shaped the profession for over 30 years: BIM (Building Information Modeling). New research in AI is changing how BIM works and creating an opportunity to design better and with more flexibility.

Beyond Buildings: Architects as Designers of Objects

Due to this, architects sometimes need to step outside of the discipline where client-driven projects often take many years to design, construct, learn, and implement in other ways. One such area of exploration and a historically fruitful testing ground for numerous architects is furniture design. As an allied discipline, the cross-over from the design of space to the design of objects, the rapidity of its process, and the low material costs.

Honoring Architects Who Pushed Design Forward

There have been countless architects who have successfully created furniture using the latest technologies that have endured, even more so than the buildings they designed. A few of them are even more well-known as furniture designers than architects. We would like to honor those architects in this article and present their work as inspiration in the spirit of innovation.

Alvar Aalto: Stool 60 – bent plywood

modularity in architecture -Alvar Aalto: Stool 60 - bent plywood
Photographic image © Fargo Vintage & Design