WW2 western suburbs stand in stark contrast to the double brick, pre war houses of the northern suburbs - yet, at the same time, there are also similarities in basic function, and both types of building were designed by someone. Also artefacts, including buildings are designed and made with varying degrees of skill, sometimes by the one person, sometimes by a group with a division of labour.
Designers create structures out of materials to serve human needs .
Lao T'se Materials, structures and human needs are the central concerns of the design professions. The selection of the appropriate materials is primarily what this part of the course is about. It may be conservatively safe to use traditional materials in conventional applications, but this rejects the opportunity to be innovative and improve on what has been done before. Developments in materials present great opportunities to the alert, thinking designer and present great pitfalls to the unwary and ignorant. To use materials intelligently and creatively it is necessary to understand their properties and to adopt a critical, questioning attitude.