RE: Fun to know: Selecting materials in engineering
I have a background in drafting and design, and it is amazing how little though people give to materials and manufacturing processes.My CAD classes were in parallel to manufacturing process classes to make sure we knew how things were made before we drew them in order to allow for things like draft in a mold or sheet metal bend allowances.
Certain products are best produced by certain means, and certain means work best with certain materials. Production volume affects tooling cost calculations for different methods. Cost of materials sometimes requires consideration of alternatives.
In architecture, a dramatic design can be difficult or downright impossible to properly support. Material costs, foundation requirements, insulation needs, heat gain, and other factors need to be considered in a blueprint, not to mention site considerations.
Design and manufacturing are complex processes in an ever-changing field with new technology and fluctuating prices always adding new complications. This is one of the reasons I take issue with the Zeitgeist and Venus Project proponents who want to hand-wave everything with the magic of computers.
I've met cases in which people imagine there are always easy methods of producing whatever we like. Maybe the easy 3d printing has made people think everything is possible. Even though even in 3d printing, there are quite common restrictions based on what kind of equipment you are using.
That would actually be a really good idea to have parallel manufacturing process classes, as they are always bound together in practice. It won't help if you study them both separately, as if you don't understand the connection, you will screw up designing.
I'm happy that the materials and manufacturing processes are evolving all the time, as you said, but as new technologies are slowly adapted we might meet situations when the technology already exists but as it is limited, we can't access it. I've known cases in business where a company just made slight improvements in their manufacturing processes compared to their competitors - and soon they were fully booked for over a year and couldn't take in more orders, as their new methods allowed them to get the required results easier.
What kind of designing and drafting you have been done, as you brought up architecture? :)