photo by Uncle Buddha

Today I read a post by Chad Dickerson, the CTO of Etsy on the newly launched blog Code as Craft.  The engineers of Etsy consider their work a fusion of craftsmanship and engineering.  They see themselves as part of a lineage linked in spirit from the stonemasons, glasscutters and woodcarvers whose individual contributions over decades resulted in the monumental cathedrals of the Middle Ages.

This blog allows them to share their experiences building and running Etsy in a public voice and their craft of engineering.  This lovely passage from their front page embodies where the inspiration for how they think about their work as art:

The construction of software should be an engineering discipline. However, this doesn’t preclude individual craftsmanship. Think about the large cathedrals built in Europe during the Middle Ages. Each took thousands of person-years of effort, spread over many decades. Lessons learned were passed down to the next set of builders, who advanced the state of structural engineering with their accomplishments. But the carpenters, stonecutters, carvers, and glass workers were all craftspeople, interpreting the engineering requirements to produce a whole that transcended the purely mechanical side of the construction.  It was their belief in their individual contributions that sustained the projects:  We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals. (Quarry worker’s creed).

Etsy is a handmade market place on the front end, the intersection of creativity and aspiration.  How nice to see the equation balanced on the back end as the intersection of craftsmanship and engineering.

What I like is that they see themselves as craftspeople.  What impresses me is that they think of their blog as signing their work as artists.

This is how good work is done, one cathedral at a time.

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world,  please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee