How Does Sound Shape Knowledge?
Western thought has long assumed a special relationship between vision and knowledge: Seeing is believing. But what about the traffic between sonic experience and ideas? How do inherited beliefs abo(…)
In Tom Bessai’s engaging artist talk, he delves into the dynamic role of architects and designers amidst the advent of digital fabrication and technology. With a background in architecture and a deep involvement in technology, Bessai offers valuable insights into how these fields intersect and evolve.
Throughout his talk, Bessai covers a range of topics, starting with the essence of ideal digital fabrication projects, emphasizing the importance of geometry, order, and meaning. He then delves into the practicalities and challenges architects face, such as technology integration, workflow optimization, and the relationship between digital design and physical fabrication.
Another key aspect Bessai addresses is the emergence of a digital fabrication ecosystem, exploring how spaces, devices, and education intersect to shape the future of design and fabrication. He discusses issues like organization, accessibility, and the democratization of technology, envisioning a landscape where collaboration and experimentation thrive.
Bessai illustrates his points with examples from various projects and initiatives, showcasing innovative approaches to material testing, generative design, and machine feedback. He highlights the potential for collaboration between academia, industry, and the broader community, emphasizing the importance of shared spaces and resources in fostering creativity and innovation.
This presentation was part of the symposium Unhanded. In this panel we ask about the variety of new relationships with materials that emerging with the increasing ubiquitousness of digital technologies. With the increased complexity of tools we wonder how do we learn about materials? How do we get to know them? How do we share this knowledge? We can now know the molecular structure of wood or metal without touching it. Is this a more intimate relationship than working directly with our hands? Does it matter? If the objects coming out of digital and mechanical processes are more removed from our handywork, how might they carry the mark of the machine? Should we be able to read the machine in the material?
Tom Bessai, BA, BArch, MArch, OAA, MRAIC
Tom Bessai is a registered architect and an Assistant Professor at the Daniels FALD. He holds an MArch from UCLA and is completing a MSc from the University of Michigan’s Taubman College with a specialization in Design and Material Systems. His research and teaching explore computation and digital fabrication strategies for adaptive architecture. His essay, Ideal Models Vs. Hybrid Models will appear in the forthcoming publication, Paradigms in Computing: Making, Machines, and Models for Design Agency in Architecture, to correspond with the ACADIA 2014 conference, Los Angeles. Denegri Bessai Studio Architecture was established by partners Maria Denegri and Tom Bessai in 2008. Work from the office has won numerous design awards, and has appeared in a range of local and international publications. They have recently established DBS Fabrication, an on-site research and production lab. It greatly enhances the computing and prototyping facilities of the practice, and supplements teaching and research.
Redundancy has become a really important kind of thing that people are looking for in this design world. How do we create systems that are playful, that overlap in various ways?
Western thought has long assumed a special relationship between vision and knowledge: Seeing is believing. But what about the traffic between sonic experience and ideas? How do inherited beliefs abo(…)
This discussion brings together artist, scholar and Director of Creating Knowing and Sharing: The Arts and Cultures of First Nations at the Canada Council for the Arts, Steven Loft; craft historian Sandra Alfoldy; architect Tom Bessai; and fashion designer, Valerie Lamontagne, to consider the way we talk about making.