Larry Sass Lecture

Larry Sass a professor from MIT lectured last Thursday on using the power of digital technology and applying it to the building process.

It would be hard for anyone to say they weren't impressed with Larry Sass's lecture. While most architecture lectures seem a like an hour of ego stroking and explaining design ideas that really aren't that revolutionary, this lecture broke away from the pack. In discussing building techniques that he had helped develop with students at MIT Mr. Sass, walked us through ideas that were on the cutting edge. The basic concept of his work was to apply to the digital technology that has opened up new worlds for more exact and interesting design and apply that to construction. The system that was developed was a system of interlocking wood pieces.

By using the computer to create pieces that snapped together, a building could be created completely out of plywood, plastic, and glue. The designer must create every individual piece on a computer. Once the pieces are created they are sent to a machine that is essentially a large laser cutter. The piece are cut into plywood and plastic boards and shipped to the construction site. There the piece are fully cutout and assembled. The building created is stronger then conventional stud wall construction and more exact. The beautiful thing about this system is anyone can now put this building together not just a contractor. Also the since the actually construction piece were created on a computer the building is very precise. Mr. Sass talked continuously about taking error out of the construction process and with computers the natural human errors that occur in construction can almost all be eliminated.

The idea of this new construction is tantalizing. Now architects can watch their exact designs be built and not buildings that are partly representative of interpretation and skills of contractors. These techniques are promising and a important thing to continue to study going forward but they have lots of question marks surrounding them.

This process is not cheaper or more efficient then the standard building methods employed today. It may be stronger and faster, but none of the prototype buildings has survived long in bad weather. A new material or better plywood must be developed for these structures to make sense. And then their is the design point of view. An architect now must create every structural piece of a building, this costs time and money and a master builder could probably build as fast as it takes to create every piece.

Mr. Sass's work should draw the attention of everyone in the architecture world. His work is important and holds significant promise. A lot of questions remain around his work, but that doesn't lower the necessity to be looking for new and better construction methods. I believe his work is leading us in the right direction. I believe Mr. Sass's philosophy of bringing the computer that revolutionised the architecture design process, to the building process is a logical and important step.