ABSTRACT
The Albertian ideal of building as the execution of designs by an infinitely precise skilled craftsman has been used to define the meaning of architecture since the sixteenth century, and it has not yet lost its hold upon our collective imagination of design. The reason is clear enough. Aligned with a long-standing Western tradition of privileging mind over matter, the Albertian split detached the mental sphere of design from the physical sphere of materials, installing the authority of the architect over artisans and builders. Different versions of this ideal underpin the rapidly changing landscape of technologies and technological discourses that since the second half of the twentieth century have shaped the contemporary imagination of design, which is the subject of this book.
