Abstract
This paper discusses the development of an emergency shelter that can be inexpensively mass-produced and rapidly deployed to disaster relief sites. A seeming simple project wrapped in multiple shrouds of complexity, the project demanded that we not only design an object, but also devise the process for its production, determine how it would be constructed and sourced, identify the most efficient assembly sequence, and outline a strategy for the shelters’ distribution. The authors saw this project with its equal emphasis on design, assembly and production as the perfect opportunity to apply the concept of versioning, a strategy that borrows heavily from the disciplines of industrial and packaging design. Versioning utilizes digital tools to combine form finding, the assemblage of materials and the means of fabrication in a single feedback loop that informs multiple iterations. Similar to rapid prototyping, versioning moves the design process towards a system of vertical integration whereby the designers drive how space is both conceived and constructed. This paper discusses the methodology of versioning and positions it within the larger concept of design intelligence. It then looks at it’s application to the design and fabrication of four generations of prototypes used to develop a flat pack emergency shelter. Finally, the authors speculate as to whether this methodology can be expanded into a pedagogical model for interdisciplinary design studios for architects and engineers focused on small, community-based, design-build projects.
Keywords
Collaboration, construction, design, design build, fabrication, pedagogy, public engagement
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.003
Citation
Arens, R.M.,and Salikis, E.P.(2013) Versioning: full-scale prototyping as a prototype for design education?, in Reitan, J.B., Lloyd, P., Bohemia, E., Nielsen, L.M., Digranes, I., & Lutnæs, E. (eds.), DRS // Cumulus: Design Learning for Tomorrow, 14-17 May, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.003
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Versioning: full-scale prototyping as a prototype for design education?
This paper discusses the development of an emergency shelter that can be inexpensively mass-produced and rapidly deployed to disaster relief sites. A seeming simple project wrapped in multiple shrouds of complexity, the project demanded that we not only design an object, but also devise the process for its production, determine how it would be constructed and sourced, identify the most efficient assembly sequence, and outline a strategy for the shelters’ distribution. The authors saw this project with its equal emphasis on design, assembly and production as the perfect opportunity to apply the concept of versioning, a strategy that borrows heavily from the disciplines of industrial and packaging design. Versioning utilizes digital tools to combine form finding, the assemblage of materials and the means of fabrication in a single feedback loop that informs multiple iterations. Similar to rapid prototyping, versioning moves the design process towards a system of vertical integration whereby the designers drive how space is both conceived and constructed. This paper discusses the methodology of versioning and positions it within the larger concept of design intelligence. It then looks at it’s application to the design and fabrication of four generations of prototypes used to develop a flat pack emergency shelter. Finally, the authors speculate as to whether this methodology can be expanded into a pedagogical model for interdisciplinary design studios for architects and engineers focused on small, community-based, design-build projects.