Grouping materials and processes for the designer: an application of cluster analysis

In this paper, an analytical tool — cluster analysis — that is commonly used in biology, archaeology, linguistics and psychology is applied to materials and design. Here, we use it to cluster materials and the processes that shape them, using their attributes as indicators of relationship. The chosen attributes are important to design and designers. The resulting clusters, and the classifications that can be developed from them, depend on the selected attributes and — to some extent — on the method of clustering. Alternative classifications for design that are focused on the technical or aesthetic attributes of materials and the materials and shapes allowed by processes are explored.