Unity of design and material

'"Right from the beginning I had a clear idea of what to do with that pavilion. But nothing was fixed yet, it was still a bit hazy. But then when I visited the showrooms of a marble firm at Hamburg, I said: "Tell me, haven't you got something else, something really beautiful?" I thought of that freestanding wall I had, and so they said: "Well, we have a big block of onyx" ... "And so we decided to use onyx."' Mies van der Rohe, on designing the German pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, Spain.

Constructivist ideation

Ideation, in the context of learning, can be seen as a form of Constructionism where learning happens most effectively when people are active in making tangible objects. In this way, we don't "acquire" ideas but "construct" ideas through exploring, testing and playing around with materials in the real world. In manipulating materials, then, ideas are given physical shapes and forms (2D/3D). Moreover, when using everyday items and found objects, the manipulation becomes acts of improvisation utilising techniques and processes such as assemblage, bricolage, or collage. Or, if you like, ABC of material ideation. https://www.dropbox.com/s/7orx128gkljfdzl/BEN_DRAFT02.mp4