Digital Craftsmanship
When we talk about “digital craftsmanship” what do we mean?
For some, the technology applied to crafts is still to be considered “Craftsmanship”, it is not my point of view, but we will talk about this maybe at another time.
Adrian Cheng, founder of K11 and the undisputed point of reference on new distribution models in China, believes that the Chinese industry has long since reached European manufacturing in terms of technological innovation, creativity, and design. Cheng reiterated that the only aspect on which Asian producers cannot compete with Europe is precisely that of know-how inherited from tradition.
But tradition alone is not and will not be enough to compete in international markets and so we can and must speak of “digital craftsmanship”. Words can be misleading. It is not a question of replacement and/or completion of the manufacturing process by the machine, but only and exclusively of support to the process in the two phases of design and distribution.
What will change is how the products will be presented and consequently chosen by the consumer. Moreover, thanks to the new technologies it will be possible to virtually talk to the craftsman about the customization of the product. Aided by technology, artisans will thus be able to do what they are masters in satisfying the desires of very demanding international customers, creating unique pieces.
The combination of digital and craftsmanship may seem incoherent but in reality, it is the only way to recompose an alliance between creativity and traditional manufacturing and different generations that need to find points of contact. It is precisely on the management of these (apparent) opposites that “digital craftsmanship” is based.
