Archicraic: The LBD – The Ultimate Design Tool

One of the first projects I encountered in Architecture was to design a full-scale piece of furniture using only cardboard & cable ties; why? Well my take is that it encouraged us to think outside the box.

Forced to think about the limitations of our materiality, we all created quite wonderful forms of overlapping card that could actually support the weight of a person.

This was the highest marking studio project that’d I’d ever get in university; and I never quite saw the benefits of this project until I became more aware of the relationship between fashion & architecture.

Full scale projects make us think more, because we see the whole design we can see the flaws, we can see how form, function & materiality perform at a 1:1 scale.

This inevitably got me thinking more about how fashion could help us to become stronger architects.

Thus I give you the “Little Black Dress” or “LBD”. It’s fashions ultimate icon & the perfect tool for making us better designers. Why? Simple: It has one massive limitation, it can only be black.

With such a limitation we become forced to create interest using form & texture, using different materials to create contrast, detailing & weight (or lack of weight).

Left & Right: Alexander McQueen

For architects learning the importance of these aspects are key to success & for us nothing is better than working at full scale. I certainly believe that I could have benefitted from learning a little more about design back then so perhaps it’s time we through in a little bit of iconic fashion to help us create some iconic buildings…