Idea et Materia Unum

The workshop reflects ideation as part of everyday, purposeful design activity where, in the process of generating and communicating ideas, idea and matter are one. That is, the idea, as an element of thought becomes matter when the idea, abstract, concrete or visual is explained and presented. In this, the workshop keeps alive the tradition of experiment and the range of materials, new and old, with which the designer works using both analogue and digital tools, from freehand sketching to CAG. This, in turn, reflects how the actualisation of design ideas relies not only on the designer but the commonplace effort of engineers, builders, manufacturers and various skilled trades.

New ways of thinking

'If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.' is a quote from Buckminster Fuller, the American designer and innovator (1895-1983). Fuller believed in the power of technology to change society. And so he sought to pursue and develop his ideas for the benefit of everybody. What, then, we may speculate, would Fuller make of GenAI? Fuller said 'the future is anything but defined - it is created by us'. Also, 'the best way to predict the future is to design it'. Fuller again, 'You can't change the way people think, all you can do is give them a tool, the use of which will change their thinking'. And so, it seems, Fuller's notion of a thinking tool is not just about the technology but also the design of the tool. This suggests that Fuller, who described himself as a comprehensive anticipatory design scientist, would take up GenAI as a thinking tool, a tool capable of augmenting design thinking, ideation and innovation. But when asked whether he was bothered by the fact his invention of the geodesic dome was used by the military, Fuller replied: 'How tools are used is not the responsibility of the inventor.' Sources:. https://medium.com/disruptive-design/buckminster-fuller-the-creative-shape-shifter-that-every-change-maker-can-learn-from-a5c4702d644b https://larrygmaguire.com/self-disciplines-buckminster-fuller/  https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/life-verb-applying-buckminster-fuller-21st-century/