Advanced machinery

Abstract

Advanced Machinery focuses on one fundamental driver of the customization process in the construction sector: the use of advanced digitally controlled fabrication tools. Custom-made architectural systems require tailored fabrication processes, which are described in order to help the designer, with the use of parametric tools to integrate fabrication characteristics in a design. Three main typologies are analyzed: CNC machinery, Robotic Fabrication and Additive ManufacturingManufacturing. This categorization reflects a different approach that the design team should interpret within a project, while recognizing the different technologies of production. In particular, with the employment of robots, there is a shift from specialized industrial means of production like CNC, to versatile machines. This has the potential to revolutionize the current understanding of mass customizationMass customization, allowing architects to experiment limitlessly with a wide range of technical and aesthetic solutions. Moreover, Additive ManufacturingManufacturing has been developing quickly through the last years to accommodate the AEC needs, essentially in two ways: to produce components and sub-components to be assembled and joined to create larger structures, and to “print” large-scale and self-standing architectural elements as a whole. Important research is underway to develop large-scale 3D printersAdditive Manufacturing (AM)3D Printer, along with the simultaneous experimentation of different materials and tectonics with suitable properties to operate on the built environment.