We are in age of technical precision. Automation, prefabrication, computer aided design and modern tooling mean our production and construction accuracy is at a level unimaginable even decades alone, let alone when the Romans were constructing community infrastructure we're still talking about in engineering colleges.
There's also a growing acknowledgement of the importance of messiness to the creative process. We need new solutions to unsolved problems, and creativity is an essential component.
How to bridge the gap between two apparently opposed ideals?
The starting point is to ditch the "either/or" dichotomy and adopt an "yes and" approach.
We want our design process to be messy. To be creative. To uncover the new.
Yes!
And.
We want our construction to be precise. To be accurate. To minimise waste. To perform well.
Yes!
And.
We want precise design that delivers. And messy construction that is creative.
Precisely messy design. And messily precise construction.