Design of Robotic Fabricated High Rises

Abstract

Despite a growing interest in robotic fabrication in academic research, its impact on the design of large-scale architectural typologies has not yet been explored. At the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore robotic fabrication was integrated in a design research studio to produce 1:50 scale models of mixed-use high-rise typologies. Its methodology aimed for the reconsideration of the traditional architectural model by directly linking the digital design process with physical manufacturing processes and tools. As such, it established a strong correlation between computational tools, material systems and robotic fabrication strategies. Since high-rises are strongly rooted in the industrialization of building, with repetitive elements stacked along the vertical axis, they represent an interesting architectural typology to be challenged by a new fabrication paradigm (Gramazio and Kohler 2008: Digital materiality in architecture. Lars Müller Publishers, Baden). This chapter presents customized robotic fabrication processes and tools that were developed in the 2 year long design research studio.