Modern constructions rely largely on mass produced or processed materials and components. Due to the nature and large capital investments required, the industrialized processes that generate these standardized components by default establish de-facto modules. These modules have significant and lasting impacts on the objects and spaces which are fashioned with these materials. There has always been a tension between the mass-produced module and the desire of the maker to develop new, unique forms and expressions. The great architect Louis Kahn famously expressed the tension this way:
“You say to a brick, ‘What do you want, brick?’ And brick says to you, ‘I like an arch.’ And you say to brick, ‘Look, I want one, too, but arches are expensive and I can use a concrete lintel.’ And then you say: ‘What do you think of that, brick?’ Brick says: ‘I like an arch.”
One common strategy is using an essential material and its module to develop larger modules or components that can then be replicated using similarly industrialized processes. We see this strategy at play in building components, furnishings, modular construction and the ubiquitous suburban sub-division. Many suggest that emerging technologies such as 3D printing have begun to challenge these long held conventions and mindsets — ushering in the age of mass customization. Other than the dimensions of its build area and perhaps its scaffolding strategy, the 3D printer is not governed by traditional or long-standing modules and therefore frees the designer to explore forms and expressions that are too difficult or costly to produce through conventional means.
However, this freedom comes at a price. One of the most difficult challenges any maker faces is what I call the crisis of infinite possibilities. At every turn the maker is forced to choose from an infinite number of options. For example, if a choice is made to use the color blue from the infinite number of color options, the designer must still choose what shade of blue — there are infinite shades of blue. After a particular shade of blue is selected, is it flat, glossy or somewhere in between? Another set of infinite possibilities. To complicate the matter, the way the chosen blue is experienced depends on its size, shape, orientation, the lighting conditions, and the other colors or materials placed around it — each factor presenting another set of infinite possibilities, not to mention their incalculable interactions with one another. In a practical sense, having a brick or traditional module that resists or limits one’s exploration can be a great advantage and comfort.