How to build (almost) anything customized

Abstract

How to build (almost) anything customized analyzes, through a selection of case studies, the state-of-the-art workflows in the creation of highly customized architecture: unique prototypes for individual customers in specific contexts. Employing computational design tools and high-precision digital machinery, it is currently achievable to build with personalized construction systems, in a relatively limited budget and timeframe. Referential projects in the field of computational design are organized, technologically-wise, by their fundamental focus of customization—skin system, structural application, or interior interface—presenting a wide range of design research, digital techniques, and fabrication strategies. With an overview of the full workflow, that involves different professional actors, production technologies and software interoperability, the case studies are described from design to realization, with particular focus on the advanced fabricationAdvanced fabrication strategies adopted to achieve highly complex architectural systems. Emergent design approaches, some truly experimental and others more consolidated in the practice, are intertwining spatial design with research on new tectonics and material systems to deliver high performance architecture.