Digitally Conscious Design
From the Ideation of a Lamp to its Fabrication as a Case Study

Carlos L. Marcos1, Mara Capone2, Emanuela Lanzara3
1University of Alicante 2,3University Federico II of Naples
[email protected] [email protected] 3emanuela_lanzara@libero. it

This research by Carlos L. Marcos, Mara Capone and Emanuela Lanzara tries to reflect on the idea of digitally conscious design, from the inception to the manufacturing process of a prototype. A theoretical reflection on the topic is followed by the discussion about the results at two different universities (Alicante and Naples) where students have been proposed a similar assignment: a digitally conscious design of a lamp.

In Alicante, the methodological approach was guided by the relation of the ideation process and the use of specific digital fabrication strategies; students were encouraged to develop and rework their designs taking into account the way in which they should be digitally fabricated. In Naples the teaching proposal involved a disciplinary approach; a deep understanding of the digital fabrication processes including the manufacturing limitations of the machinery employed involving a precise geometric control over the design. In both cases, students had to face a real study case of the design and production making use of digital tools.

This comprehensive approach implied the consideration of the project as a process making students aware of the difficulties of getting their ideas materialized through digital fabrication and how their designs had to evolve in order to step over the problems encountered in the manufacturing process in different ways.