Crafting as a Design Attitude: A Case Study of Embodied Knowledge and Roles in Craft-Industry

This paper explores the relationship between design and production as a space for innovation, reinterpreting crafting not as a nostalgic practice, but as a design attitude capable of guiding industrial processes through craft-driven design methodologies. The study is based on a case analysis conducted at Atelier Vierkant, a Belgian family- owned enterprise specialising in design research on mass-produced artisan ceramics. This context provides an ideal observatory for examining how industry can both preserve and regenerate craftsmanship within a space where design and production coexist and influence each other. Adopting a focused ethnographic methodological approach that combines contextual inquiry and action-reflection practices, the research investigates how embodied knowledge, belonging, and intergenerational learning acquire value through collaboration and spatial proximity. The findings reveal that, within an organisational model in which design and production coexist in the same physical and temporal space, an immediate and informal dialogue arises between designers and craftsmen, who constantly renegotiate their roles and boundaries of responsibility. What emerges is a widespread co-authorship, in which making becomes a cognitive and morphogenetic process, and craftsmanship a strategic resource for cultural and productive innovation.