Conclusions
The experimentation explored the relationship between craftsmanship and technological innovation, verifying the real possible constructive dialogue between two apparently and originally very distant worlds. The synthesis obtained was very encouraging. The application of computer technologies to develop designs and to carry out numeric control operations during some production process phases generated much interest in all those involved. The designers verified the possibility of using tools suitable to generate a complete description of their ideas and to control the total compatibility between the design and the product built. The craftsmen, in their different areas of competence, found a reliable support for producing artefacts that highlight the uniqueness of the know-how of the profession and the intimate knowledge of the material, together with a delicate and fascinating metamorphosis from shapeless mass to finished product. In the relationship with the craftsmanship, the world of modern technologies has found new stimuli to face and solve specific problems as well as new and interesting operating prospects.
The explorations, verifications and results obtained confirmed the validity of the assumptions that gave rise to this experimental research, while also identifying new interesting development prospects.
Applying techniques such as rapid prototyping to fabricate models to use to produce moulds or high-speed computerised numeric control milling to build the moulds directly starting from prefabricated gypsum blocks demonstrated the production reliability, economic competitiveness and preventive control potential of the processing times and the formal quality of the product, highlighting its full integration into the process of “being a craftsman”.
It was also verified that how technologies are applied must (and can) be modified in relation to the characteristics of the design and the consequent construction needs, and can be fully integrated into the actions of doing so typical of craftsman in general and of the ceramist in particular.
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