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Issue 10.1

In Defense of the Poor Prototype: 3D Printing and the Reclamation of the Commons

Adam Boggs
Peer Review

The techniques and hardware in 3D printing, including open-source platforms and affordability, opened a space for design to resist late capitalism. Early experiments with 3D printing were based on the sculpting of liquid polymer with light. Later, the mechanical logic of the print head combined with the material deposition of thermoplastic, like coil building in ceramics, to simplify the technique. This simplification ostensibly democratized the technology by reducing the cost of participation and increasing its accessibility. The accessibility of open-source 3D printers signaled a shift in how the masses interact with and interpret the material world, one where the “poor prototype” resists the perfection demanded by industry. The “poor prototype” extends Steyerl’s argument on the “poor image,” the JPEG copy in motion.

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TAD is a journal of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and published by Taylor & Francis. Select issue content can be viewed on the press website here.

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