ABSTRACT
In a period of architectural production giddy with the euphoria of computer-generated form, the messy facts of construction—weight, material, weather, touch, and smell—have been supplanted by clean virtuality. This chapter outlines the pedagogical position that making at full scale is not simply a means to an end, but is actually a powerful design tool that can provide specific feedback distinct from other modes of design inquiry. Schools of architecture across the country have responded to the gap between the virtual and the real by offering students opportunities to engage in real construction through designbuild studios. The use of conventional architectural drawings and processes are minimized in favor of working through the materials directly. Embodied making is a way of re-discovering what has been lamentably obscured in the education of the architect—the rich dialogue between intentions, materials, techniques, and form.
