To bring an end to the Dark Ages, meant to expand knowledge, often employing the Socratic method of learning. Experimentation, pushing materials and nature to their furthest limits is what began the Enlightenment. Today, design alchemists use the tools of our day, CAD and laser cutters, to create a single experimental prototype. Computer imaging in three dimensions, another significant cultural undercurrent, going back to nature for inspiration has yielded techno-ganic hybrids. Complex forms are broken down to their most essential structural forces and rendered on the computer. This trend has also yielded the quest to dematerialize form, leaving once solid masses perforated.