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Translating Technology Between Design and Craft
Fulbright proposal 2005/2006
Richard Nelipovich
Country: Netherlands
Field: Design/ Metalsmithing
I have discovered a country where craftsmen design products for mass production. I have found a culture where an
individual with this combination of skills fits an archetype. Unlike my experience in the US, where separation by
specialization has isolated design from the crafts, in Holland the crafts have thrived as an alternative means of
production for designers. At this moment, the virtual-physical relationship of objects is being radically transformed by
technological developments, and this hybrid designer-craftsman model will exemplify future form-giving by integrating
emerging technology. I propose an experiential investigation of designer-craftsmen in Holland as translators of
methodology and technology between the worlds of craft and design, focusing on how recent developments in
available technology for visualization and materialization are transforming working methods as they negotiate the
virtual-physical relationship of objects.
In the US, the crafts have tended towards the romantic, following Ruskin and the Craft Revival while moving away
from the industrial object. Holland provides a different model, one where design and craft overlap in expressive and
pragmatic ways. From Vermeer's experiments with technology to contemporary Droog design, craft has been an
applied art in Holland with close connections to design. By fostering the dialogue between these two applied arts, a
shared vitality will be sustained as we create new ways of thinking and making. In the translation of imagination to
actualization designers and craftsmen share a common challenge, and therein lies the symbiotic development of new
technologies. The hybrid who understands both virtual design methods and the material processes of making will be
an important link in integrating this technology in meaningful ways.
This project will include an experiential submersion in Dutch culture, developing a visceral understanding of a
context where the relationships of design and craft are valued, while being exposed to designer-craftsmen
established in that context. This will involve an investigation of historical and contemporary designer-craftsman in the
Netherlands via collections, archives, and interviews in order to better understand these individuals and the culture
that sustains this hybrid. To support this work, I have arranged to work with the Stedelijk Museum and the
Netherlands Gold, Silver and Clock Museum. Additionally, I have been awarded an office that will serve as my base at
Leiden University, in the Department of History of Applied Arts and Design, the sole department of this specialization
in the Netherlands. Working with experts in the field to identify key individuals who bridge the disciplines of design
and craft, the research will involve an in-depth investigation of these individuals to develop an understanding of how
designer-craftsmen in Holland function as communicators between the fields of product design and craft. This will
include an investigation of contemporary metalsmiths who continue to bridge the worlds of craft and design, such as
Gijs Bakker and Bruno Ninaber van Eijben. Interviews will be conducted with contemporary designer-craftsmen to
better understand their working philosophy and methodology.
Concurrently, the project will involve a hands-on exploration of inventive uses of new tools for visualization,
prototyping and manufacturing, including an ongoing search for new CAD/CAM technology being developed by
industry and technical universities. For this, I will be working with the Technical University of Delft in the Department of
Engineering and Design to participate in the application of existing technology, and to share in investigations of new
technologies currently being developed. Of particular interest is a project at Delft developing a radically new system
for automating the sheet-metal forming processes of silversmiths and panel-beaters.
I will apply a multivalent approach towards this investigation of individual designer-craftsmen and applied
technologies to feed my own work while in Holland. I will be traveling with a laptop loaded with CAD software and
intend to integrate and respond to the expanding knowledge base that develops as the program progresses. I will
create prototypes and test ideas through the technical tools I uncover, challenging the relationship of concept and
object through innovative application of technology. As I assimilate the processes, I will develop specific projects to
expand the integration of technology in metalsmithing.
In addition to the research described above, I will be assisting related research within Leiden University and the
Technical University of Delft, all the while gaining a deeper appreciation of the Dutch heritage in design and craft as
well as a greater understanding of the methods of research and development in these areas. At Leiden, I am in
discussions with Professor Marjan Groot about assisting a project researching designers educated at the Arnhem
Academy. In Delft I am working with Professor Imre Horvath to establish a role in a project developing interactive
processes for forming sheet-metal shell structures where I will be involved in developing the technical understanding
of the needs of metalsmiths.
It is important that I understand Dutch culture as well as its language, and during the coming academic year I will be
studying Dutch via language courses on CD-ROM. Additionally, I will complete an intensive course in Dutch at Leiden
University in August. The year-long research project will then begin in September, 2005.
Through this research program, the relationship between the fields of Design and Craft will be deepened and
solidified. Through my active participation in the Industrial Design Society of America and the Society of North
American Goldsmiths, I will lecture and publish the findings as well as encourage ongoing cultural exchange. I will
return to the US carrying a wealth of interconnected knowledge about emerging processes and their application.
Incorporating these tools into my professional work, designs will evolve that build on the inter-connections of design
methodology and craft sensibilities. With a better sense of how to operate in the world as a hybrid between craft and
design, I will create work that informs both fields and adds to their historical symbiosis.
Fulbright proposal 2005/2006
Richard Nelipovich
Country: Netherlands
Field: Design/ Metalsmithing
I have discovered a country where craftsmen design products for mass production. I have found a culture where an
individual with this combination of skills fits an archetype. Unlike my experience in the US, where separation by
specialization has isolated design from the crafts, in Holland the crafts have thrived as an alternative means of
production for designers. At this moment, the virtual-physical relationship of objects is being radically transformed by
technological developments, and this hybrid designer-craftsman model will exemplify future form-giving by integrating
emerging technology. I propose an experiential investigation of designer-craftsmen in Holland as translators of
methodology and technology between the worlds of craft and design, focusing on how recent developments in
available technology for visualization and materialization are transforming working methods as they negotiate the
virtual-physical relationship of objects.
In the US, the crafts have tended towards the romantic, following Ruskin and the Craft Revival while moving away
from the industrial object. Holland provides a different model, one where design and craft overlap in expressive and
pragmatic ways. From Vermeer's experiments with technology to contemporary Droog design, craft has been an
applied art in Holland with close connections to design. By fostering the dialogue between these two applied arts, a
shared vitality will be sustained as we create new ways of thinking and making. In the translation of imagination to
actualization designers and craftsmen share a common challenge, and therein lies the symbiotic development of new
technologies. The hybrid who understands both virtual design methods and the material processes of making will be
an important link in integrating this technology in meaningful ways.
This project will include an experiential submersion in Dutch culture, developing a visceral understanding of a
context where the relationships of design and craft are valued, while being exposed to designer-craftsmen
established in that context. This will involve an investigation of historical and contemporary designer-craftsman in the
Netherlands via collections, archives, and interviews in order to better understand these individuals and the culture
that sustains this hybrid. To support this work, I have arranged to work with the Stedelijk Museum and the
Netherlands Gold, Silver and Clock Museum. Additionally, I have been awarded an office that will serve as my base at
Leiden University, in the Department of History of Applied Arts and Design, the sole department of this specialization
in the Netherlands. Working with experts in the field to identify key individuals who bridge the disciplines of design
and craft, the research will involve an in-depth investigation of these individuals to develop an understanding of how
designer-craftsmen in Holland function as communicators between the fields of product design and craft. This will
include an investigation of contemporary metalsmiths who continue to bridge the worlds of craft and design, such as
Gijs Bakker and Bruno Ninaber van Eijben. Interviews will be conducted with contemporary designer-craftsmen to
better understand their working philosophy and methodology.
Concurrently, the project will involve a hands-on exploration of inventive uses of new tools for visualization,
prototyping and manufacturing, including an ongoing search for new CAD/CAM technology being developed by
industry and technical universities. For this, I will be working with the Technical University of Delft in the Department of
Engineering and Design to participate in the application of existing technology, and to share in investigations of new
technologies currently being developed. Of particular interest is a project at Delft developing a radically new system
for automating the sheet-metal forming processes of silversmiths and panel-beaters.
I will apply a multivalent approach towards this investigation of individual designer-craftsmen and applied
technologies to feed my own work while in Holland. I will be traveling with a laptop loaded with CAD software and
intend to integrate and respond to the expanding knowledge base that develops as the program progresses. I will
create prototypes and test ideas through the technical tools I uncover, challenging the relationship of concept and
object through innovative application of technology. As I assimilate the processes, I will develop specific projects to
expand the integration of technology in metalsmithing.
In addition to the research described above, I will be assisting related research within Leiden University and the
Technical University of Delft, all the while gaining a deeper appreciation of the Dutch heritage in design and craft as
well as a greater understanding of the methods of research and development in these areas. At Leiden, I am in
discussions with Professor Marjan Groot about assisting a project researching designers educated at the Arnhem
Academy. In Delft I am working with Professor Imre Horvath to establish a role in a project developing interactive
processes for forming sheet-metal shell structures where I will be involved in developing the technical understanding
of the needs of metalsmiths.
It is important that I understand Dutch culture as well as its language, and during the coming academic year I will be
studying Dutch via language courses on CD-ROM. Additionally, I will complete an intensive course in Dutch at Leiden
University in August. The year-long research project will then begin in September, 2005.
Through this research program, the relationship between the fields of Design and Craft will be deepened and
solidified. Through my active participation in the Industrial Design Society of America and the Society of North
American Goldsmiths, I will lecture and publish the findings as well as encourage ongoing cultural exchange. I will
return to the US carrying a wealth of interconnected knowledge about emerging processes and their application.
Incorporating these tools into my professional work, designs will evolve that build on the inter-connections of design
methodology and craft sensibilities. With a better sense of how to operate in the world as a hybrid between craft and
design, I will create work that informs both fields and adds to their historical symbiosis.