Materials of Resilience: Building Resilience Through Material Practice

This thesis entails the exploration of the potential of material practice in building resilience. The research is presented as three phases, firstly, the characterization of resilience as explored through material practice. Heuristic making, making as reflection, disassembly as learning, collaborative making, and reflective writing are used as the primary methods. Secondly, the characteristics and actions of practice as constructed through the emergence and definition of a resilient design practice. This emergence was structured by the characterizations of craft by both David Sennett and Richard Pye. The actions conducted were grounded by questions regarding what constitutes a resilient design practice. Thirdly, this course of research explores making as a mode of reorienting personal value systems by connecting the actions of practice that are corresponding to characteristics of resilience. This is presented through the design of a series of exercises compiled in a workbook. The discussion then leads to the position of a resilient designer as a Local Designer and the benefits of adopting resilient practices in individual practices and the potential to extend outward as distributed networks.