Design and automation at the end of modernity: the teachings of the pandemic

Abstract

Many in the design community have long claimed that digital mass-customization is cheaper, faster, smarter and more environmentally sustainable than the mechanical mass-production of standardized industrial products; and that the electronic transmission of information is cheaper, faster, smarter, and more environmentally sustainable than the mechanical transportation of people and goods. The global pandemic has tragically proven that a computational alternative to the modern, mechanical way of making, working, and living, now exists, and it is viable. When we had to shut down corporate offices, global megafactories, suburban shopping malls, and intercontinental airports, we did. We did because we had to; but also because today's technology already allows us to do so.