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Published by Routledge and released on March 5, 2025, Fabricated Plasticity in Aluminum is a new book by Heather Roberge.
Presented as a series of design and architectural case studies, this book argues for the value of the material prototype as a critical site of design innovation. The projects detailed here are material investigations at 1:1 scale. Illustrated by physical objects such as chairs, columns, and building façades, these full-scale material investigations reflect their designers’ deep knowledge of material, manufacturing, and geometry. The projects do not simply express how they are made, rather their designers leverage the capacities of metal forming to exert distinctive influence on the expression and performance of the bench, the chair, the building envelope, and more. Each case study represents a specific and prototypical act of building. Manufacturing processes are embraced, not simply as solutions to material production, but as instruments of material innovation.
Organized in two parts, the first half of the book presents the material framework informing work by Arad, Newson, Heatherwick, Future Systems, Foster, OMA, Rex, Hadid and others. Seven metal forming techniques including Press Forming, Press Brake Forming, Spinning, Panel Beating, Casting, Extruding, and Superplastic Forming are presented alongside work implemented with these processes. The second half of the book presents design research resulting from the author’s pedagogy. Thermoformed aluminum façade systems ask critical questions of The Part: Tessellation, The Mold: Tooling, The Seam, and the Finish: Post Processing, illustrating the potential of design inquiry when techniques of material production alter techniques of design. In each of the cases discussed, aluminum is redefined, inheriting a plasticity which alters the intrinsic qualities of its raw production to invite the external influences of conceptual intent, design technique, and manufacturing technology. Intended for students and professionals in the fields of industrial design and architecture, the book presents an optimistic role for material in the design process.
Presented as a series of design and architectural case studies, this book argues for the value of the material prototype as a critical site of design innovation. The projects detailed here are material investigations at 1:1 scale. Illustrated by physical objects such as chairs, columns, and building façades, these full-scale material investigations reflect their designers’ deep knowledge of material, manufacturing, and geometry. The projects do not simply express how they are made, rather their designers leverage the capacities of metal forming to exert distinctive influence on the expression and performance of the bench, the chair, the building envelope, and more. Each case study represents a specific and prototypical act of building. Manufacturing processes are embraced, not simply as solutions to material production, but as instruments of material innovation.
Organized in two parts, the first half of the book presents the material framework informing work by Arad, Newson, Heatherwick, Future Systems, Foster, OMA, Rex, Hadid and others. Seven metal forming techniques including Press Forming, Press Brake Forming, Spinning, Panel Beating, Casting, Extruding, and Superplastic Forming are presented alongside work implemented with these processes. The second half of the book presents design research resulting from the author’s pedagogy. Thermoformed aluminum façade systems ask critical questions of The Part: Tessellation, The Mold: Tooling, The Seam, and the Finish: Post Processing, illustrating the potential of design inquiry when techniques of material production alter techniques of design. In each of the cases discussed, aluminum is redefined, inheriting a plasticity which alters the intrinsic qualities of its raw production to invite the external influences of conceptual intent, design technique, and manufacturing technology. Intended for students and professionals in the fields of industrial design and architecture, the book presents an optimistic role for material in the design process.
©2025
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