Abstract
Critical making often assumes that practitioners possess or can acquire sufficient technical and fabrication skills to balance reflective inquiry with material engagement. Yet, as digital and networked technologies grow more abstract and complex, they risk constraining critical making by privileging technical proficiency over critical reflection. This tension raises questions about accessibility and the depth of engagement required for meaningful participation, as reliance on pre-integrated solutions may distance both practitioners and lay participants from interrogating technology’s societal roles. Still, uncovering the components of technological systems remains essential to critical engagement. This article proposes critical assembly as an extension of critical making, to address these challenges within technologically oriented design practice and experimentation. Drawing on observations from the Lumogram project workshop, it explores how critical assembly can unpack layered engagements with technology and mitigate the cognitive and practical barriers that accompany increasingly complex techno-creative practices.
Keywords
critical making, critical assembly, designing with technology
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1612
Citation
Khoo, C. (2026) Critical assembly: Exploring the role of critical making in complex technology relationships, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1612
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Critical assembly: Exploring the role of critical making in complex technology relationships
Critical making often assumes that practitioners possess or can acquire sufficient technical and fabrication skills to balance reflective inquiry with material engagement. Yet, as digital and networked technologies grow more abstract and complex, they risk constraining critical making by privileging technical proficiency over critical reflection. This tension raises questions about accessibility and the depth of engagement required for meaningful participation, as reliance on pre-integrated solutions may distance both practitioners and lay participants from interrogating technology’s societal roles. Still, uncovering the components of technological systems remains essential to critical engagement. This article proposes critical assembly as an extension of critical making, to address these challenges within technologically oriented design practice and experimentation. Drawing on observations from the Lumogram project workshop, it explores how critical assembly can unpack layered engagements with technology and mitigate the cognitive and practical barriers that accompany increasingly complex techno-creative practices.