342 Paradoxical Territories Paradoxical Territories of Traditional and Digital Crafts in Japanese Joinery INTRODUCTION When Torashichi Sumiyoshi and Gengo Matsui wrote their 1989 book ttled Wood Joints in Classical Japanese Architecture, Computer Numerically Controlled technology (CNC) and digital fabricaton methods as we know it today were stll in its infancy. While Japanese join- ery has tradi tonally been reserved for solid heavy tmber, the increased use of both CNC and engineered tmber (CLT, Glulam, LVL,..etc) as a sustainable material and an alternatve to concrete and steel gives rise to number of interesting questions. While one can argue that a certain tradi tonal craf such as Japanese Joinery should remain adhered to its pro- cesses, materials and methods, others could see potental possibilites that might be explored through applying contemporary technological advancements such as digital fabricaton and engineered tmber. This can only leave us with more questons than answers; what are the advantages and the possibilites? Where do we draw the line between traditonal and con- temporary crafsmanship? Two accounts may profoundly frame these questons; frst Renzo Piano ofen refers to technology in architecture—and the term “techne”—as the art of join- ing or the art of making things. 1 Second, In his famous 1954 essay on technology, Heidegger explored the meaning of the word “technology,” tracing it to the ancient Greek technikon, meaning that which belongs to techne (art, skill, craf in work). With reference to Piano and the fabricatore idea, Heidegger also makes two observatons about techne: First, the word is applicable not only to the talents and skills of the crafsman but also to the world of the intel- lect and of the fne arts. Secondly, Heidegger says: “techne belongs to the bringing-forth, to poesis; it is something poetc.” 2 In this paper we atempt a contributon to the open-ended dialogue between traditonal and digital fabricaton through an experimental study investgated by students of architecture. Students were asked to study traditonal Japanese joinery, in partcular the work of Sumiyoshi and Matsui, and to select two wood joints: a splice joint and a connectng joint. The task was to recreate the same joints in full-scale with real wood materials and CNC technology. Instead of heavy tmber, however, the students were to use laminated engineered wood composite. Through the process of understanding how a traditonal handmade joinery could be created AHMED K. ALI Texas A&M University While one can argue that a certain traditonal craf such as Japanese Joinery should remain adhered to its processes, materials and methods, others could see potental possibilites that might be explored through applying contemporary technological advancements such as digital fabricaton and engineered tmber. This can only leave us with more questons than answers; what are the advantages and the possibili- tes? Does technology ofer a “one size fts all” soluton to any building material, or are there profound limitatons? Where do we draw the line between traditonal and contemporary crafsmanship?