Computational making

Introduction

In a conference paper (Johnson, 2017: abstract), Johnson argues, that “the maker movement generates much more stuff to consume. A school may purchase a 3D printer for educational purposes, only to have its student-makers simply download and print other people's models without learning to make their own. To prevent this kind of situation, educators must capitalize on the maker movement in ways that facilitate what we call computational making, which involves both meaningful cognition and the making of artifacts.”

More formally, Knight & Vardouli (2015), define "computational making" in two steps: “On a conceptual level, we use ‘making’ as a keyword for action-centric, process-oriented attitudes toward the production and use of material things”. “With regard to the ‘computational’ in Computational Making, we interpret the term broadly as the use of formal, mathematical systems, theories, and methods, as well as tools and technologies developed on the basis of such systems. Computation includes systems and tools for designing (for example, generative and parametric systems, or visualization and modeling systems) and for making (for example, fabrication and construction systems). Computation may include, but is not limited to, the use of digital computers.” (Editorial Computational Making)

Computational making languages

Name	Type of artefact	Type of language	URL	Author
BlocksCAD	3D	Visual block language	Example	Example
OpenSCAD	3D	Functional language	Example	Example
Madeup	3D	Turtle language	Example	Example
Beetle Blocks	3D	Visual block turtle language	Example	Example
Turtlestitch	Embroidery (laser cutting)	Visual block language	Example	Example
MakeCode	Electronics	Visual block language	Example	Example
Twoville	2D SVG (laser cutting)	Logo-like programming language	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example	Example	Example

Links

• Computational Making (MIT)
• Design Studies, Special Issue: Computational Making

References

• Knight, T., & Vardouli, T. (2015). Computational making. Design Studies, 41, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2015.09.003

• Rode, J. A., Weibert, A., Marshall, A., Aal, K., von Rekowski, T., El Mimouni, H., & Booker, J. (2015, September). From computational thinking to computational making. In Proceedings of the 2015 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (pp. 239-250).