Digital Tectonics

Book excerpt: The old opposition between a digital culture of sensuous, ephemeral images and a tectonic culture of pragmatic building has given way to a new collaboration between the two domains, a 'digital tectonics'. Computer linked fabrication techniques of many kinds have become an integral part of the design process, while new digital tools are allowing engineers and architects to understand in far more detail the behaviour of load carrying surfaces, and to generate new architectural forms. Digital and computer-linked design techniques is one of the hottest topics in architecture and in an ever-expanding world of digital technology this book tackles the practical elements of the field.