Tailoring the Detail

Abstract

In Building-in-Time, Marvin Trachtenberg describes premodern construction as a collaborative, incremental effort, contrasting it with modern architectural practice where design and construction are separated and the architect is considered the sole author. This study explores how contemporary practice might integrate design and construction in a shared timeframe and how this affects the architectural detail. It focusses on the Dutch firm Enzo Valerio, a group of architect-builders designing and constructing House V entirely on-site and without a contractor. By merging design with its production, the firm adopts an incremental construction process that echoes premodern methods, facilitating flexibility and collaborative learning. But while in medieval projects the iterative processes created new architectural languages, House V digital tools facilitate detailing in real time and optimize construction methods. The resulting project derives its innovation from on-site experiments, encouraging the architects to engage directly with materials and view construction as integrated in the design process. The insights provide a foundation for rethinking architectural knowledge through detailed making and question the conventional role of the architect in contemporary practice.