Convivial Fabrication: Towards Relational Computational Tools For and From Craft Practices
, Cornell Tech, Cornell University
Conditionally Accepted to Appear in Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Computer-Human Interaction Conference (CHI’26)
Our interviews reveal three interconnected orders of convivial relations in craft practices.
Abstract
Computational tools for fabrication often treat materials as passive rather than active participants in design, abstracting away relationships between craftspeople and materials. For craft communities that value relational practices, abstractions limit the adoption and creative uptake of computational tools which might otherwise be beneficial. To understand how better tool design could support richer relations between individuals, tools, and materials, we interviewed expert woodworkers, fiber artists, and metalworkers. We identify three orders of convivial relations central to craft: immediate relations between individuals, tools, and materials; mid-range relations between communities, platforms, and shared materials; and extended relations between institutions, infrastructures, and ecologies. Our analysis shows how craftspeople engage and struggle with convivial relations across all three orders, creating workflows that learn from materials while supporting autonomy. We conclude with design principles for computational tools and infrastructures to better support material dialogue, collective knowledge, and accountability, along with richer and more convivial relations between craftspeople, tools, and the material worlds around them.
BibTex
@article{batra2026convivial,
title={Convivial Fabrication: Towards Relational Computational Tools For and From Craft Practices},
author={Batra, Ritik and Zunder, Roy and Cheatle, Amy and Kwatra, Amritansh and Mandel, Ilan and Roumen, Thijs and Jackson, Steven J},
journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.04393},
year={2026}
}
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our 23 participants for sharing their expertise and wisdom with us: Kathrin Achenbach, Paul Anderson, Gregory Beson, Trevor Cross, Kathy Creutzburg, Jody Culkin, John Fletcher, Lori Gaon, Christophe Guberan, Eric Hagan, Patty Harris, Kolin James Schmidt, Sally Jenkyn Jones, Ann Kronenberg, Fernando Laposse, Gabriele Meyer, Rosie Reyes, Jackie Riccio, Charlie Ryland, Yukako Satone, Moeineddin Shashaei, Scott Van Campen, and Che-Wei Wang. We also thank Niti Parikh, Sebastian Bidegain, and the Craft@Large community for the early conversations and introductions and our labmates in the Computing on Earth Lab and Matter of Tech Lab for their feedback on the paper.
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Contact
If you have questions about this work, contact Ritik Batra:
ritik at infosci dot cornell dot edu