Society faces enormous challenges in constructing
high-quality, future-oriented built environments. Construction sites
today look much like the building sites did at the beginning of the 20th
century. Current research on digital fabrication in architecture
indicates that the development and integration of innovative digital
technologies within architectural and construction processes could
transform the building industry -- on the verge of a building industry
4.0. Digital technologies in architecture and construction could
increase productivity creating new jobs.
Many building processes still involve
sub-standard working conditions and are not compellingly sustainable.
Current research on the integration of digital technologies within
construction processes promises substantial contributions to
sustainability and productivity, while at the same time enabling
completely new forms of architectural expression. The multidisciplinary
nature of integrating digital processes remains a key challenge to
establishing a digital building culture. In order to fully exploit the
potential of digital fabrication, an institutional and funding
environment that enables strong interdisciplinary research is required.
Traditionally separated disciplines such as: architecture, structural
design, computer science, materials science, control systems
engineering, and robotics now need to form strong research connections.
During the AAAS 2017 Annual Meeting in Boston, Jonas Buchli, ETH
Zurich -- The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich,
Switzerland, Ronald Rael, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.,
and Jane Burry, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia reveal the latest
developments in digital fabrication in architecture at 1:1 building
scale. In their presentations, they show digital technologies can be
successfully integrated in design, planning, and building processes in
order to successfully transform the building industry.
On Site Digital Fabrication for Architecture
Jonas Buchli, Assistant Professor for Agile and Dexterous Robotics at
ETH Zurich in Switzerland and principal investigator in the Swiss
National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication is
proposing a radical focus on domain specific robotic technology enabling
the use of digital fabrication directly on construction sites and in
large scale prefabrication. He demonstrates how researchers at ETH
Zurich within the NCCR Digital Fabrication -- Switzerland's leading
initiative for the development and integration of digital technologies
within the field of architecture -- are facing the challenge of
developing this technology. They bring a comprehensive and
interdisciplinary approach that incorporates researchers from
architecture, materials science, and robotics. In his presentation,
Buchli will provide insight into current research and the future vision
and development of the In situ Fabricator, a mobile and versatile
construction robot, which in 2017 will be utilized for the first time on
an actual building site.
The New Mathematics of Making
Digital computation has freed designers from the constraints of the
static 2- and 3- dimensional representational techniques of drawing and
physical modelling. Design attributes can be directly linked to
extraneous factors: structural or environmental optimization, or
fabrication and material constraints. Mathematical design models contain
sufficient information even for computer numerical controlled (CNC)
fabrication ma-chines and techniques. Jane Burry, Director of the
Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory at RMIT University in
Melbourne, Australia, explores how these opportunities for automation,
optimization, variation, mass-customization, and quality control can be
fully realized in the built environment within full scale construction.
Burry shows select digital fabrication examples, where research and
innovation have changed construction practice. She will draw on
prominent case studies such as the design and construction of Antonio
GaudÃ's Sagrada Familia.
Building Materials for 3D Printing
Most materials currently used in 3D printing, were developed to print
small scale objects. Ronald Rael, Associate Professor for Architecture
at University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A., reveals how he is
developing new materials that can overcome the challenges of scale and
costs of 3D printing on 1:1 construction scale. He demonstrates that
viable solutions for 3D printing in architecture involve a material
supply from sustainable resources, culled from waste streams or
consideration of the efficiency of a building product's digital
materiality. The methods of such architectural additive manufacturing
must emerge from interdisciplinary research
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