Unknown Wonders: the hidden potential of materials

Abstract

This thesis explores the relationship of material, idea, and the realization of that idea through model making. It looks at material properties as an impetus and place to start design. It looks at the translation of a pure idea into physical form and pays attention to the design moments that occur during that translation. It examines the work of architects and artists who have developed practices from a similar theory of working closely with material. The thesis examines how personal experience dictates, informs, and changes design. The primary concern that runs through the whole thesis is how architects have become divorced from materiality and how materials intimately inform the work of any designer.