Digital Architecture

Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zürich, Switzerland 

New paradigms of the automatic Robotic timber construction in architecture

Advancements in robotic fabrication technology combined with the utilization of sustainable materials, particularly wood, offer a glimpse into a future characterized by innovative construction methods that prioritize renewable and potentially locally-sourced resources. 

This integration of cutting-edge technology with eco-friendly materials not only holds promise for revolutionizing the aesthetic and structural possibilities of architectural design but also underscores a commitment to environmentally conscious building practices. In their groundbreaking research, Jan Willmann, Fabio Gramazio, and Matthias Kohler of Gramazio Kohler Research at ETH Zürich introduce pioneering interdisciplinary approaches aimed at enhancing the flexibility and sustainability of timber constructions. 

Through a series of empirical experiments, they explore the transformative potential of automated robotic assembly methods, unlocking new avenues for large-scale digital timber construction. By employing a locally differentiated aggregation of materials, their work not only enhances structural efficiency but also promotes the development of integrative computational design methodologies and techniques, paving the way for a more sustainable and technologically advanced future in architecture and construction.

Automated assembly processes

‘The Sequential Wall’ was one of the first projects to investigate the architectural and constructive potential of additive robotic

(The image above - The Stacked Pavilion’ represents a further stage of development and is conceived as a temporary spatial structure and consists of 16 elements made from 372 wooden battens. The)

The integration of robotics into the assembly of complex timber structures at the building scale represents a promising yet nascent development, posing numerous challenges to the field of architecture. Addressing these challenges, the Gramazio Kohler Research group at ETH Zürich embarked on a series of investigations in 2008 focused on robotic assembly techniques for intricate timber structures. 

These endeavors mark a departure from conventional construction practices reliant on standardized elements like bricks, instead embracing the potential of non-standard timber components. Through minimal customization of individual components, both aesthetic and functional possibilities are unleashed, as articulated by Gramazio and Kohler in 2008. By employing robotic machining and assembly, these structures amalgamate the flexibility of bespoke fabrication with the efficiencies of mass production, obviating the need for repetitive processes while ensuring consistent quality and affordability.

Central to this approach is not merely the streamlining of fabrication processes but the exploration of innovative timber constructions and their intrinsic relationship with design flexibility, structural integrity, and robotic assembly methodologies. Initially focused on layer-based systems, wherein customized timber members are robotically added to non-standard walls and structures, the research has evolved over the years to encompass the free aggregation of elements in space. This advanced technique enables precise placement of materials according to digital blueprints, eliminating the necessity for repetitive or standardized construction routines characteristic of traditional manual methods. Consequently, this approach not only minimizes material wastage but also fosters additional savings by obviating the need for auxiliary scaffolding or external building references. In essence, the research conducted by the Gramazio Kohler Research group represents a significant stride towards unlocking the full potential of robotic timber construction, paving the way for sustainable, cost-effective, and architecturally innovative building practices.

• Integration of robotics into assembly of complex timber structures at building scale is a nascent development.
• Challenges include theoretical, practical, and methodological aspects for architecture.
• Gramazio Kohler Research group at ETH Zürich initiated investigations into robotic timber assembly in 2008.
• Departure from standard building elements to non-standard timber components for aesthetic and functional liberation.
• Customization of individual components enables flexibility while maintaining advantages of mass production.
• Focus on exploration of novel timber constructions and their relation to design freedom, structural performance, and robotic assembly.
• Research initially focused on layer-based systems, gradually expanding to robotic aggregation of elements in space.
• Precise placement of materials according to digital blueprints eliminates need for repetitive construction routines.
• Approach minimizes material wastage and reduces reliance on scaffolding or external building references.
• Represents significant progress towards sustainable, cost-effective, and architecturally innovative building practices.

The Sequential Structure

This unique approach to spatial timber assemblies has been extensively investigated within the framework of the SNSF NRP 66 'Resource Wood' research program, leading to the development of pioneering experimental demonstrations. These demonstrations, showcased in the initial phase of the research, highlight the innovative methodologies and technologies devised to explore the potential of timber as a versatile and sustainable building material.

Following these experimental endeavors, the focus shifted towards industrial implementation, culminating in notable projects such as the 'Sequential Roof'. This large-scale demonstration exemplifies the practical application of the research outcomes, requiring the development of novel computational design and construction processes seamlessly integrated with automated fabrication procedures. 

The successful realization of such projects underscores the transformative impact of comprehensively automated assembly processes on the design, performance, and expression of architecture at the building scale. This research trajectory signifies a significant paradigm shift in timber assembly practices, with implications for future sustainable construction endeavors.

• Spatial timber assemblies explored within SNSF NRP 66 'Resource Wood' research program
• Development of experimental demonstrations showcasing innovative methodologies and technologies
• Transition to industrial implementation phase, exemplified by projects like the 'Sequential Roof'
• Novel computational design and construction processes developed
• Seamless integration with automated fabrication procedures
• Successful realization of projects indicating transformative impact on architecture at building scale
• Paradigm shift in timber assembly practices towards sustainability and efficiency

Section templates.

Mafoombey
Martti Kalliala, Esa Ruskeepää,
with Martin Lukasczyk, 2005

Mafoombey was the winning entry in a design contestarranged by the University of Art and Design in Helsinki in 2005. The competition brief called for a space for listening and experiencing music within the set dimensions of two and a half cubic meters. The project was executed with 3D software and scale models. The design builds up from a simple architecturalconcept: a free-form cavernous space that is cut into a cubic volume of stacked material. 

Finished exterior.

The low resolution of form and the perception of weight achieved through a layered structure were determined to be the key issues. Research into various materials suggested corrugated cardboard as optimal for its low cost and excellent acoustics. Furthermore, the material has a strong aesthetic appeal, which the designers felt had not been fully exploited at the scale of the project.

Program and equipment void diagram sections.

Mafoombey consists of 360 layers of seven millimeter corrugated cardboard, adding up to 720 half-square sheets. The sheets, 2.5 meters by 1.25 meters, are cut one by one using a computer- controlled cutter. The structure sits under its own dead weight without fixing. The lightweight assembly details ensure relatively easy transportation and quick construction.

Axonometric diagram of interior voids.

Assembly

Detail of surface.

Book Reference:

Digital Fabrications Architectural and Material Techniques by Lisa Iwamoto 
https://amzn.to/3Gt0s2u

Detail of connections.

A Change of State

Georgia Institute of Technology/Nader Tehrani, 2006

This installation is the result of a one-year research process conducted by Nader Tehrani with a core team of students during his time as the Ventulett Distinguished Chair in Architectural Design at Georgia Tech. The task of the project was to analyze and develop a three-dimensional installation whose fabrication method was limited to a two-dimensional material.

The underlying mission, therefore, was to radicalize the potentials of sheet material by provoking it to take on structural, spatial, programmatic, and phenomenal dimensions while adopting techniques that bring this variety of agendas into organic alignment. From the perspective of technique, the most important aspect of this project was the awareness that two-dimensional surfaces gain access to a third by way of the ruled surface.

Final installation showing transition from stacked to expanded system.

 

Book Reference:

Digital Fabrications Architectural and Material Techniques by Lisa Iwamoto 
https://amzn.to/3Gt0s2u

[c]space
Alan Dempsey and Alvin Huang, 2008

The pavilion is a discontinuous shell structure, spanning more than ten meters of thin fiberreinforced-concrete elements, which perform as structure and skin, floor walls and furniture.

The design takes the material to new technical limits, having required extensive prototyping and material testing during the development phase. The jointing of discrete concrete profiles exploits the tensile strength of [fibre-C] concrete, and a simple intersecting notch joint is locked together using a bespoke rubber-gasket assembly. The angle of intersection at each joint varies continuously across the structure. 

Plan.

Digital model describing continuous and discontinuous ribs. // Analysis: Adams Kara Taylor

Book Reference:

Digital Fabrications Architectural and Material Techniques by Lisa Iwamoto 
https://amzn.to/3Gt0s2u

West Coast Pavilion
Atelier Manferdini, 2006

The pavilion is a sandwich of undulating layers that diverge and coalesce around and through its volume. The surface of the skin, combined with the diamond-shaped structure, behaves like three dimensional lacework, creating a dynamic screening and filtering effect.

CNC-routing plywood for inner structure.

Assembled wall, from exterior.

Assembled plywood and MDF wall structure. Photo: Courtesy Neil Leach

Cut, folded, and assembled metal cladding panels. Photo: Courtesy Neil Leach

Laser-cutting metal cladding panel. Photo: Courtesy Jae Rodriguez.

Templates for laser-cutting metal cladding panels.

Completed project.

Completed project.

Book Reference:

Digital Fabrications Architectural and Material Techniques by Lisa Iwamoto 
https://amzn.to/3Gt0s2u

Huyghe + Le Corbusier Puppet Theater
MOS, 2004

To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Le Corbusier’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University—his only North American project—this theater was constructed within the site’s sunken exterior courtyard specifically for a puppet performance by the conceptual artist Pierre Huyghe.

The organic form of the theater was built with five hundred unique white polycarbonate panels, diamond-shaped and interlocking to create a rigid structure; because they are simply bolted together, they are easily assembled and disassembled. Forces dissipate across the assembled surface, which encloses the theater space, and the modulated ceiling panels are turned inside out to create skylights and, like keystones, structural stability. 

Interior view.

CATIA model. Photo: MOS

The panels are three inches in depth and span more than fifteen feet at the center of the theater. Foam inserts placed in the panels stiffen the plastic shell. An exterior layer of moss covers the plastic panels, so at night, when light permeates the edges of the diagonal plastic panels, the moss appears suspended.


Entering the theater from Quincy Street through a soft, flexible opening focused around a tree, the space bulges to form an interior of reflective, glossy, white plastic walls. Undulating white foam seating repeats the patterning and dimension of the plastic panels, creating a uniform vessel.

The interior compresses, looking toward the stage opening. When the puppet performance isn’t playing, there is a view into the Carpenter Center, while the soft entrance frames a single tree as one exits. The theater collapses the synthetic and organic into a single structural surface.

Unfolded panels.

Formed plastic panels and assembly.

Formed plastic panels and assembly.

Moss-filled panel. Photo: Michael Vahrenwald

Assembly. Photo: MOS

 

Book Reference:

Digital Fabrications Architectural and Material Techniques by Lisa Iwamoto 
https://amzn.to/3Gt0s2u

Technicolor Bloom

Brennan Buck, 2007

Technicolor Bloom is a full-scale prototype that produces doubly curved, digitally designed geometry, using completely standard, scalable fabrication technology. It proposes a method and a set of aesthetic principles that extend the architectural potential of topological form by incorporating such architectural systems as structure, aperture, fenestration, and construction directly into the project’s geometry.

Built from fourteen hundred uniquely cut, flat plywood panels, the installation favors intense detail over seamless elegance.

At the same time, it proliferates continuity: continuity of surface morphology, continuity of the structural patterns across those surfaces, and varied interrelationships of depth and color from one surface to the next. 

Laser-cut panels

test mock-up

installation.

The result is a kaleidoscopic study of the literal and phenomenal effects of three-dimensional pattern. These patterns reinforce the geometry they define in one moment and cloud it the next. Finally, the installation proposes a variation of architectural figure that evokes loose, variable associations while remaining in the realm of affect.

Technologically, the project is comparable to the Technicolor film process, which multiplies the visual intensity of film through the superimposition of three primary colors. Technicolor Bloom embraces the geometry of subdivision surfaces and techniques of computation but treats them as a given rather than as motivation.

While adaptive tessellation algorithms were used to produce the initial patterns, parametric design, with its associated discourses of efficiency and automated authorship, was suppressed in favor of specific design intention and the precise control of visual effects. In addition to pattern variations, a series of techniques were used to multiply the affective qualities of the patterned surface.

Surfaces were layered at various depths to produce moirés and other effects, while individual structural members were thickened or trimmed down to emphasize a network of figures that materialize and fade away within the overall pattern.

Panel-cutting templates.

Details showing converging pattern.

Details showing converging pattern.

Tessellation studies. Photo: Brennan Buck

View from above.

View from inside.

Book Reference:

Digital Fabrications Architectural and Material Techniques by Lisa Iwamoto 
https://amzn.to/3Gt0s2u