[Statement]
[Co-Chair]
PARKE MACDOWELLParke channels his background in the building trades to expand the role of the architect – strategically collapsing the architect/builder divide. Parke frequently consults on issues regarding complex geometry, scripting, and methods of full-scale fabrication and material prototyping. At Payette, he leads in-house fabrication initiatives and works across a range of projects within the firm to explore and implement innovative design strategies. With a special interest in the community-building potential of architecture, Parke also leads many of the firm’s pro-bono and outreach initiatives. Parke was previously at NADAAA, where he spearheaded their in-house fabrication and design-research studio.
[Founder & Co-Chair]
JAY NOTHOFFJay Nothoff is the Fabrication Studio Manager at Sasaki. Born and raised in the industrial midwest, he comes from a long lineage of individuals who helped to modernize the automotive and manufacturing industries in both Flint and Detroit. In his professional life, Jay has worn several hats: barista, sign shop fabricator, art director, shop manager, and IS/AV systems integrator, among others. Each career choice built upon the lessons of the last from economies of motion to design through prototyping, implementing improvement through practice, systems thinking, and understanding material properties, emerging as common themes. He has happily been driving machines through materials or otherwise getting them to do his work for him for the last 20 years. At Sasaki, he enjoys the challenge of supporting projects of various types and scales while working closely with teams across the AEC, EGD, and Technology Industries to facilitate the integration of digital fabrication into the design process.
[Participants]
