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Human-Robot Interaction for Carbon-free Architecture
Full text linkThe Spool CpA #6 issue on Human-Robot Interaction for Carbon-free Architecture reviews current tendencies in autonomous construction and human-robotic interaction in architecture. It aims at affirming and/or challenging research agendas in the domain of architectural robots and attempts to answer questions about (i) the fundamental framing of post-carbon autonomous construction, (ii) the interdependencies between machines, humans, and materials, and (iii) the different imple-mentation timeframes ranging from continuous transformation to leapfrogging
Advancing Sustainable Approaches in Architecture by Means of Design-to-Robotic-Production
Full text linkThe construction sector accounts for about 40% of material-, energy- and process-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions , which can be reduced by introducing data-driven Circular Economy (CE) approaches . For instance, Design-to-Robotic-Production (D2RP) methods developed in the Robotic building lab, at Technical University (TU) Delft are embedding data-driven systems into building processes. Their potential to contribute to sustainability through increased material-, process-, and energy-efficiency has been explored in several case studies that are presented in this paper. The assumption is that by using these methods and reclaimed wood to minimize demand for new resources and reduce deforestation along the way, CO2 emissions can be considerably reduced
Therblig to Robot: Action Packages, Robot Motion and Human-Robot Collaboration in Domestic Environments
Full text linkIndustrial robotic arms commonly require specialist knowledge for machine functions. Specifically, training cobots for work sequences is time consuming and complex when task complexity increases, such as through differentiation in tool adaptations or work processes. This research explores robot versatility for a context of domestic environments (such as a kitchen/workshop), where work processes are approached as a hybrid scenario, with setup for integration of a tool variety whereby human-robot teams collaborate. The paper discusses a) novel workflows based on a palette of work tools adopted for robot tooling to translate manual human tasks to human-robot tasks; b) an initial script series for work processes that represents modelling, planning, simulation, and implementation; c) a framework for task division through action sets based on Therbligs that supports users; and d) an empirical evaluation of the approach through a series of user studies. In a post-carbon context, previously autonomous robots are required to become more versatile in terms of productivity, scalability, safety and skill criteria and environmental impact. This research extends beyond traditional kitchens to include workshop and fabrication scenarios characterised by the complexity and variability of task applications, guided by detailed action packages that explore robotic work for modular components or fluid and liquid materials; heat and assembly-based processing; and bridges from food preparation to fabrication and manufacturing tasks
Dialogues on Architecture #6
Full text linkDialogues on Architecture, published in various issues of Spool CpA, is a series of dialogues between researchers and practitioners, who are embracing the intellectual model of high technology and are involved in its advancement and application in architecture. Dialog #6 presents discussions risen during an online symposium on challenges of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, which is facing a threefold challenge involving the (i) digital transformation of all design and planning processes, (ii) automation of construction processes, and (iii) reconsideration of energy, process, and material use.
These challenges involve issues with respect to productivity, scalability, safety, labour skill shift, and environmental impact. Acknowledging that there is a particular urgency in transferring effective solutions from research to building practice to meet significant carbon reduction goals by 2040, the one-day symposium organized as an online event in 2022 , Human-Robot Interaction for Post-Carbon Architecture (HRI4PCA), was an opportunity to make an inventory of current tendencies in autonomous construction and human-robotic interaction in architecture. It aims at affirming and/or challenging research agendas in the domain of architectural robots
In-Situ vs. Prefab 3D Printing Considerations for CO2-free Pop-up Architecture
Full text linkThis paper revisits existing pop-up typologies in architecture to identify opportunities for new shelter models to address current housing demands and future habitation requirements on Mars. It presents advancements in design to production methodologies based on computational and robotic techniques to meet current requirements and affordances while integrating sustainable and adaptive functionalities. The main goal is to advance pop-up architecture by developing methods and technologies for rapidly deployable on- and off-Earth habitats while addressing challenges of carbon-free architecture by means of 3D printing. By reviewing state-of-the-art in-situ vs. prefab 3D printing approaches with a particular focus on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) supported Design-to-Robotic-Production-Assembly and -Operation (D2RPA&O) methods developed at TU Delft material, process, and energy efficiency using locally sourced materials is achieved
The migrating walls: Continuously reconfigurable interlocking modular discrete structures assembled by mobile robots
Full text linkThis paper presents a comparison of different workflows for mobile robotic fabrication using modular building blocks. Different localization, locomotion, and interlocking building systems strategies are tested and compared. The work is influenced by related research into ecosystems of building parts, design software, and builder robots to digitize the construction work. For localization, it compares LIDARs, reacTIVision, and ArUco markers. As a mobile platform, a MIR100 robot platform, a 3.3 m linear axis, and a manual trolly are used. Interlocking components such as wood slates, custom-made bricks, and interlocking wood building blocks are used. The research is in the field of collective robotic construction (CRC) using bespoke robots designed in tandem with specific discrete building blocks
Design and Method in Architectural Research: From Objective Quantification to Material Speculation
Full text linkThis issue of SPOOL introduces a new thread: ‘Method and Design’, titled “Design and Method in Architectural Research: From Objective Quantification to Material Speculation”. The issue explores the conventional understanding of method through both theoretical contributions and visual essays. The theoretical contributions discuss methodology, material practice, studio approaches, or design principles. The visual essays are more experimental, allowing for design proposals or artistic expressions that explore specific methods, depict scenarios, or articulate a material logic
On Dreaming Realities: Cultural critique, design speculation and full-scale mock-ups
Full text linkThis essay delves into the installation designed by Hans Hollein for the Künstlerhaus facade in Vienna in 1985. It serves as an illustrative case of material speculation in architecture, particularly regarding the incorporation of ‘historical’ elements in contemporary architectural practice. Through a close reading of this installation, realized in the context of the exhibition ‘Traum und Wirklichkeit, Wien 1870-1930’ (Dream and Reality, Vienna 1870-1930), I discuss how such speculation entails the physical replication of carefully chosen ‘historical’ forms and their reassembly in what would be best described as a ‘fragmentary whole.’ However, the reintegration of historical fragments into the present can manifest in diverse ways. I argue that in the installation that reshaped the facade of the Künstlerhaus, Hollein explored two contrasting modes while tracing the possibilities (and pitfalls) of their synthesis.
(image: Drawing by Hans Hollein for the Traum und Wirklichkeit installation. Credit: Architekturzentrum Wien, Collection
Collective data-based drawings: A common ground for adaptive contributive design
Full text linkThe laboratory ALICE (Atelier de la Conception de l’Espace) at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) advances a comprehensive approach to data-based drawing oriented towards architectural and urban co-design processes. This drawing methodology has been key in the contributive design process they have applied over the last seven years, covering a range of scales and contexts, both within the public and private spheres.
Contribution has become a relational strategy that unites a diverse range of participants, each hailing from various backgrounds and carrying unique needs, which come together around the drawing. For this reason, the cultivation of a robust drawing culture, from their teaching to their research and design activities, has become a cornerstone of ALICE’s philosophy, where drawing is embraced not merely as a representational tool but as a constructive means for design work. Their methodology has now evolved to include data-based drawing techniques, skillfully merging precise surveying with qualitative data analysis, thereby bridging the gap between quantitative and qualitative facets of design.
This article explains this data-based approach to drawing through a series of projects developed in the Greater Geneva region. Throughout them, they explain how ALICE’s situated data-based drawings facilitate intricate coordination among students, leading to real-scale interventions; explore the potential of transforming main roads into landscape infrastructures that promote sustainable mobility and urban development; or offer an innovative lens to comprehend the affective connections between citizens and their urban surroundings, transcending traditional cartographic representations. Finally, these efforts are summarised through the analysis of a single drawing showcased at the 2021 Venice Biennale, illustrating the potential of this methodology to harmonize the collective efforts of various stakeholders
Retrieving landscape: Drawing(s) as key to the development of alternative biographical readings of Nanhai in the Pearl River Delta
Full text linkThis article focuses on two methods employed in the selection, interpretation, and representation of diverse source materials for developing alternative biographies for my ancestral landscape - Nanhai district in the Pearl River Delta in southern China. These biographies aim to approach Nanhai from a long view of continual transformation, as opposed to prevalent readings of the region that focus on the striking spatial contrasts and large-scale developments that have only come about in recent decades.
The chronological reading explores a critical shift in the cosmological understanding of the landscape situated in the 19th century through a selection of historical gazetteer maps, while in the excavational reading the diffuse continuity of the lineage in the present-day landscape of Nanhai is traced. In both methods, the drawing functions as a crucial (research) tool to engage the range of source materials