The Nature and Art of Workmanship
By (Author) David Pye
Volume editor Ezra Shales
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Herbert Press Ltd
1st April 2008
United Kingdom
Tertiary Education
Non Fiction
Decorative arts
Other manufacturing technologies
DIY: carpentry and woodworking
684.08001
Paperback
144
Width 210mm, Height 280mm, Spine 14mm
374g
A must-read book on David Pye's theory of craftsmanship and design. In this thoroughly mechanised age, what is the point of craft Does it make any sense to work with hand tools when machines can do the same job faster, and in many cases better What visual richness do we lose by embracing a mass-produced world The Nature and Art of Workmanship explores the meaning of skill and its relationship to design and manufacture. Cutting through a century of fuzzy thinking, David Pye proposes a new theory of making based on the concepts of workmanship of risk and workmanship of certainty. And he shows how good workmanship imparts all-important diversity to our visual environment. No-one who works with tools and materials, or who designs things for others to make, can afford to be without this penetrating book. This newly revised edition includes an illustrated foreword by John Kelsey, former editor of Fine Woodworking magazine, on David Pyes own turned and carved vessels of wood beautiful, insightful pieces that embody the truth of Pyes ideas.
David Pye, who died in 1993, was an architect, industrial designer andcraftsman. For many years he was also Professor of FurnitureDesign at the Royal College of Art, London. He is also the authorof Ships and The Nature and Aesthetics of Design.