# Crafting the Future: The Role of Handmade in Modern Design How traditional crafts are finding new life in contemporary design - **Source:** [design archives | designboom | architecture & design magazine](https://brifing.si/source/11868f8d-1e20-41ac-bc2d-8c5af32d721b) - **Published:** 2026-07-13 - **Topic:** [Design & UX](https://brifing.si/c/design) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/b58fc8f4-4d73-472a-aaad-71f4ecab29e3 ## From Traditional to Modern Craft Crafts have evolved beyond being a relic of the past. Today, they represent a way of thinking that offers innovative approaches in design, architecture, and technology. Figures like Kengo Kuma and Alberto Cavalli emphasize craft as a means to build deeper connections between architecture and place. ## Living Materials Modern designers view materials not as passive resources but as living systems with their own rhythms and behaviors. Designers like Teresa van Dongen and OXMAN collaborate with biological processes, adding new dimensions to the creative process. ## Heritage in Motion Craft is no longer just about preservation but also about adapting cultural heritage to new contexts without losing its depth. Projects like GUNIA Project and Karl Monies blend traditional techniques with contemporary realities. ## Transformation and Afterlives Artists are exploring the capacity of materials to be reborn. Figures like Ben Tuna and Jacques Monneraud challenge notions of permanence and perfection by repurposing discarded materials and objects with visible histories. ## The Intelligence of the Hand In an age of automation, the hand remains a sophisticated tool for observation and invention. Designers like Sophie Lou Jacobsen and Miwa Ito reinterpret traditional techniques in a contemporary language. ## Communities of Making Craft has become a dialogue among communities. Figures like Fernando Laposse and the Visteria Foundation show that craft is rooted in relationships with communities rather than objects alone. ## Experience and Adaptation Designers continuously refine their material experiences. Figures like Lewis Prosser blend traditional basket-making techniques with humor and experimentation to create new forms of expression. ## Shaping the Future Craft and design are not just about inventing the future but shaping it through shared and transmitted knowledge. This approach ensures cultural knowledge remains alive by continuously evolving. ## Sources covering this story - https://www.designboom.com/design/what-we-learned-crafting-the-future/ — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._