Interdisciplinary Faculty Group Publishes Journal Article on COVID-Era Design Leadership

An interdisciplinary team from the College of Arts + Architecture has published an article in the journal Technology|Architecture + Design (TAD), Volume 4, Issue 2. Co-written by Fabrication Labs Director Alex Cabral, art professors Heather Freeman and Thomas Schmidt, Fabrication Lab Manager Robby Sachs, and José Gámez, professor of architecture and urban design, “DIY in Pandemic Times: Design Leadership During COVID-19” relates their collaborative design process as they used 3D printers to mass produce protective face shields for medical workers in the spring of 2020.

“In our case, COVID-19 provided an opportunity to put disciplinary, proprietary, and conventional academic design goals aside in order to meaningfully engage the needs of our community,” the authros write. “In sharing our experiences, we hope to contribute to a conversation about what it means to rethink how we act as designers and how those actions might impact the way we teach in the future.”

TAD Journal is a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to the advancement of scholarship in the field of building technology and its translation, integration, and impact on architecture and design. Learn more at tadjournal.org.

Pictured: CNC milling an aluminum billet for PPE. Photo by Hardik Patel.