I interviewed the CNC manager at the Boston Architectural College. He has years of experience in different fabrication applications and handcraft skills. He created and launched a product aimed at helping people in the architecture, design, and fabrication world. 

SUMMARY

The individual is passionate about innovation in design, creating new things, and transforming napkin sketches into physical objects. Time efficiency in the design process is crucial, focusing on making tool paths and material usage more efficient. The saved time is then allocated to other aspects of a project. He emphasizes the importance of constant improvement and efficiency, especially in a CNC lab, where time savings can translate into financial gains.

In the discussion about AI in design, the interviewee sees potential benefits in using image-generative AI for inspiration, provided credit is given and it's not presented as one's own work. They acknowledge the fine line between human and AI creativity and suggest that creativity might be limited by a person's vocabulary. Regarding advanced AI creating technical drawings, the interviewee is open to the idea but emphasizes the need for human review due to possible errors. 

The purpose of model building outside of school is highlighted, particularly in architecture firms, where scaled models and fabrication techniques remain integral. He discusses the importance of understanding scale and physically interacting with objects in the design process. Defining the human experience, the interviewee emphasizes the visceral and intuitive aspects, relying on gut feelings and a deep understanding of why one appreciates certain things. 

If not in the architectural/design field, the interviewee expresses a strong interest in medicine and the complexity of the human body, citing a fascination with understanding how it works.

What are you passionate about?

I am passionate about innovation in design, um, creating new things, um, creating something from nothing, honestly, taking a napkin sketch and turning it into a physical object. 

If you can save time in the design process, how would you fill that extra time?

So, that happens pretty regularly, especially when you're working on something, like for instance, when I created the Kiwi, the project, or the product that I brought to market we were constantly looking at ways to save time because time was money. By doing so, we were looking at making tool paths more efficient. Looking at different types of tools that could cut the material better, could cut it faster. Looking at the materials that we were actually using and all of those variables.

All those variables in the end, over years of experience, constantly going in and shaving off a couple of seconds per operation, would save us time to allocate, to put towards other things. Like, for instance, with Kiwi, it was a lot of toolpath cutting time and stuff like that, and watching the machine, making sure there were no collisions, no crashes, and stuff. 

And, when we simplified it or made it faster and more efficient, we were able to pay attention to other things that needed our attention, like the finishing process. So I think the simple answer is if you make something more efficient, you dedicate your time to the other things that you're working on simultaneously because we are constantly spreading ourselves around multiple projects.

So honestly, for me, it would be going back and doing research, and looking at other tools to make the process more efficient. Whenever I save myself a couple of minutes somewhere, I always put it back into trying to refine the process.

And what happens if you reach peak efficiency?

And if you reach peak efficiency, then you can go out and treat yourself to a coffee or something. 

There have been times when we are like, ‘This is as efficient as we can get with our limitations.’ There are so many limitations. There are budget limitations, there is human capacity, there is tool capacity, and stuff like that. So I think a lot of it comes down to money. If you have enough money, you can buy, better tools, you can save yourself more time. So, for instance, with projects here [the CNC lab at the BAC], a lot of time is wasted on the CNC machine in between tool paths. When you are switching out the router, you have to go back and calibrate the Z axis. 

A lot of time would be saved if we had an automatic tool changer, which already has the tools loaded into them. So we could just program it into the machining that would save us, that would save us minutes, and over a span of a year, it would be translated to hours.

That in the real world translates to dollars too. The amount of money that you're spending on a project. If you can save the client X amount of minutes, that is a dollar sign attached to it. So, I'm constantly looking at ways of making the process more efficient and that translates over into my personal life and in every facet of life when you think about it. Like, how can I wash the dishes faster? How can I do my laundry faster? 

And if you did not have to allocate the time back to the project, what would you do instead?

What would I do instead? I would watch videos on YouTube, listen to music, or research a hobby. But that's the thing. That is why we strive to make things efficient so that we can have time for ourselves. If we can make our jobs pretty much automated, like for instance, there's a lot of downtime with the CNC machine. You run a cut, the machine is running – you have time. You're just making sure that one machine doesn't blow up, the piece doesn't fall apart, stuff like that. 

But in that, simultaneously, you could also be bettering yourself in some way. Be reading philosophy. I don't know, or you could spend it on Instagram, which is not an efficient use of your time, so I don't recommend that. But, I would say allocating it back into doing more research and studying the tools and stuff like that. 

How do you define design?

Design is critical thinking. It's a combination of common sense, applied knowledge, and luck. There is a lot of luck in design. When you see a problem, identify it, and then create a solution for it. That is where innovation is created. That is where innovation comes from. It's identifying a problem, a need, and then filling that need. 

I would say design is creation. It's innovation. It's identifying problems and finding the solution. 

What are your thoughts on image-generative A.I. being able to produce beautiful images in a short amount of time?

I think it's great for design inspiration or inspiration. Like, if you hit a wall and you are having trouble coming up with an idea for something, it's not a problem to ask an AI to generate kind of an image to help boost creativity or to get your juices flowing. 'Cause sometimes you hit a wall, you overthink and it creates like a writer's block. So honestly,  I don't mind it. 

I've used it in the past, so, um, so yeah. But I think as a, a good, I think exactly, we’ve used it to create the mascot [of the CNC lab, W.A.I].

As long as you're using it to generate inspiration and not taking credit for what it creates, then I think it's fine. You know, not passing it off as your own, but using it as a basis or a foundation for like generating ideas. 

Would you use this version of A.I. as a tool in your design process? 

It depends on the design process. Some of my designs are fully formed when they are in my brain. When I see a series of problems or a set of variables. And sometimes I have no idea where to even begin with this. So yeah, I definitely would use it. And we have used it in the past. Yeah. We're creating our little spoon mascot [W.A.I.]. I would say, that is not our design.

What, if you have the thoughts of your design, you have the concept and you put it through the AI generation, would that still be yours? 

I guess there's a fine line, right? It is like reading a book, honestly. When you're reading a book, the author is putting the images in your head, right? AI is doing the exact opposite. You're putting the words and images into the A.I. and it's pumping out the image. There's a fine line where this is partially me and this is partially A.I.

 I think there is a balance. It's like you have to give credit to both. Um, yeah. Fair enough. So I guess our creativity is limited by our vocabulary.

Explain more of your thoughts about creativity is dependent on vocabulary, specifically with using A.I. generation. 

I would say its capacity is limited. Yes. Because you are able to give it less specific input. So, I would say it might be limiting or it might come up with something. Maybe sometimes less input is more, and you never know what it could come up with. You could be too specific sometimes. 

What are your thoughts if A.I. was advanced enough to create technical drawings?

If it was able to do that. Say you were, you were like, ‘I want 16-inch on center, eight foot 12 by 16 foot wide, wood stud wall. And it whipped up the drawing, the elevation, the plan, all the dimensions, and everything like that. That'd be phenomenal. There are parametric softwares that do that, like Revit, but it takes your input. I think eventually one day we're probably gonna get there and it's probably gonna be pretty soon. 

So I have no problem with that. I think that would be freaking amazing. If I could feed AI a floor plan, and it could whip up like all the technical drawings. Would I be using that in no time. But of course, there's always gonna have to be human involvement in the review process of it, to make sure that it is actually accurate. Can't just trust it, 'cause there are errors in everything. Even human beings are errored, so there's a review process. 

What is the purpose of model building outside of school?

A lot of architecture firms still use, uh, site models and scale models for their building for their building mockups for clients. They are still making scaled models for their clients. I've done a couple, for local architecture firms here, MIT and ARC, just to name a few. It's still used in the real world. Fabrication techniques such as using CNC milling, if you get into cabinet and high-end cabinetry making, are used all the time. 

Model making in that sense, or fabrication in that sense. That is where this stuff [CNC machinery] comes in. CNC programming is really useful to know because pretty much everything that you see that is made out of plastic is plastic injection molded, such as your phone case. 

Pretty much everything that you see around, like these keyboards, all started as a 3D model and was turned into a tool path, using a mill. So they would mill this out of, out of metal. So I could go basically work as an engineer and create programs for making all of these products. 

It is really an important tool to understand scale. Especially in the real world. You can't just do everything on the computer. You have to actually have to physically sometimes hold things and process them, like see them stand next to them, feel them, touch them, and stuff like that. Interact with them.

How do you define the human experience? 

The human experience for me, honestly it's visceral. It is that feeling you get in your gut when you see something that you like, that you don't understand why you like it, but you just know that you like it. It's your second brain. I think a lot of it comes down to experience, understanding, and insight. 

Understanding why you like painting for its composition and its use of color and style. You feel it in your body. You just know when you like something, you don't have to think about it. And then sometimes there are more complex things like a piece of art or like a piece of music, that you do have to think about. I think the human experience comes down to intuition and trusting your gut.

What would you do if you were not in the architectural/design field? 

Medicine. Oh, I'd be in medicine. I'd be a doctor. I'd be a surgeon. Probably more than likely. I have an extreme interest in medicine and understanding how the body works. The body is such a complex mechanism, it is just constant. Everybody's different. All bodies are different. Nothing is made the same. Understanding just how it all works, just fascinates me. 

There's so much to learn about the human body. I think that's what fascinates me about design too. There's just so much, so many aspects of design that can be brought together. There are different cultures. There are different histories. There are different progressions of designs and the ways things were created. And also the techniques we're making are evolving as well. I think that's what's really fascinating.