Today digital design and fabrication technologies are an integral part of common design workflows and at the basis of architectural practice. The translation/transformation from design to digital and physical matter is shaped by a range of tools and processes which are affected by material properties, technological advancements, culture and skill.

Besides determining the respective boundaries/confines of digital and physical space, this course sets out to explore their interrelation with regard to the way in which things are (virtually) designed and the way things are (physically) made.

Over the course of the semester students will get a brief overview of the historical developments and the current state of the art of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) processes.

By working on various small fabrication tasks, they will learn how to interact and cooperate with the available CNC-Tools at the ddplab: assess and harness the potentials of available methods to increase the diversity of achievable form and material effects in their design and architecture production.

During and after the weekly sessions students will have to execute small tasks covering different available digital design and fabrication processes and „make“ several digital and physical prototypes. 
Additionally to the production of prototypes and a short presentation/demonstration at the end of the semester, each student/team will need to submit a documentation of their progression.

The course is under continuous assessment (at least 80% presence at tutorial sessions is required to pass).

This course is specifically addressed to students with a background in Architecture or students of kkp/dex with a pre-knowledge of 2D and 3D digital tools (e.g. Illustrator, Inkscape, Sketch-Up,…) and want to focus on Digital Fabrication within their semester project.

During the first half of the semester, the course will cover the basics of different 3D-Scanning techniques, manual 3D-modelling with NURBS and (digital) fabrication processes as well as handling of the CNC machinery in the DDPLab (or at kkp/dex) in weekly sessions.
During the second half, students will have to structure their time self-responsively and should be able to work independently on a high level.

max. 20 participants (priority is given to students of architecture (and DEX), who did not participate in the course yet.)

Presence at the first meeting is mandatory for participation.
Participants are kindly asked to use their own Computers/Laptops and Software.