Digital Fabrication (Architecture)

The architectural singularity is approaching. It is the point at which buildings become more intelligent than their occupants and designers. This will significantly change the roles of the built-environment professions in the design, fabrication, construction and operation of buildings. By exploring self-organizing behaviour in biological development this article describes the approaching challenges of this architectural singularity. Elements of morphogenetic design have been applied in various disciplines associated with intelligent building (IB), including architecture, engineering and computing. However, these previous discipline-specific approaches have not considered the trans-disciplinary implications of morphogenetic growth processes on the role of the disciplines associated with IB. Therefore, this article introduces a science fiction prototyping (SFP) scenario that proposes a morphogenetic design process for IBs based on Drosophila melanogaster development and grounded in the contemporary technologies of Building Information Modelling, digital fabrication and parametric design. Based on a discussion of the implications for the design team a morphogenetic architecture framework for IB is proposed.

Maker's Factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Current construction methods and materials are losing familiarity with the plasticity of the new architectural forms generated by constantly developing digital design tools and the algorithmic design approach. In order to reunite the processes of design and construction, TektonFluid is envisioned as a construction system that translate bits into atoms through material deposition based on function, creating varied density composites with biotic and abiotic materials. Generators are the fabrication machine, with dual extruders that travel through snail-locomotion during fabrication. Initially fabricated composites are capable of adopting to the changing field-conditions through material computation and bio computation, increasing the life-span of the design object while decreasing waste material. Maker’s Factory is the first hypothesized application of TektonFluid. The factory is a place to design and fabricate at any scale using in-house material production, design center, fabrication units, and post-fabrication storage spaces.

After the earthquake and tsunami occurred in Chile on February 27th 2010, the Technical University Federico Santa Maria was asked to contribute with reconstruction proposals for the commercial infrastructure destroyed in the town “San Juan Bautista”. Located 600 km (~370 mi) away from the continent, this town is not just the home of several endemic species, but is also located next to a National Protected Area and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Within this context, the design problem consisted on the development of a component-based strategy and prefabrication requirements, and to reduce to the minimum the implied logistics and environmental impacts of the new buildings. With a Studio of 23 final year students and the support of the Architecture Firms Association, 11 projects were developed using digital tools such as visual programming and digital fabrication. Finally, technical documentation was produced and delivered to the local and government authorities.

This proceeding presents the process and outputs of a collaborative workshop which was held between Yaoar University in Turkey and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The aim of the workshop was to observe the educational potentials of a custom-made formwork device towards teaching CAD/CAM to architecture students. This flexible formwork, which we call FlexiMold, is a hybrid device that is used manually by following computerized numeric information. The students designed an architectural object which has a complex shape and used this formwork to fabricate it in actual scale. We present the workshop objectives, process and outcomes in this proceeding.

The use of computational formats and digital tools including machine fabrication by indigenous people worldwide to augment traditional practices and material culture is becoming more and more commonplace. However within the practice of architecture while there are indigenous architectural practitioners utilizing digital tools, it is unclear as to whether there is motivation to implement traditional indigenous knowledge in conjunction with these computational instruments and methodologies. This paper explores how the tools might be used to investigate the potential for indigenous development, cultural empowerment and innovation. It also describes a general methodology whereby capacity can be shared between academia and indigenous groups to foster new knowledge through a recently implemented indigenous focused design research entity, SITUA. The importance and significant research potential of what we term 'domain based research' is reinforced through the exploration of emergen...

Option one is the first prototype in the process of construction, based on theapplication of integrated processes of digital fabrication: This methodology was developed through a research project which explores options of rural public housing. The design process is integrated with other variables such as: participative design, directed self-build and the integration of tangible and intangible aspects. Parametric modeling was used as a strategy to create an integrated process of design, production and assembly based on a code created ingrasshopper. Once finished, the housing unit will be handed over to a rural family. This will allow for doing follow-up and evaluation.

The term 'Digital Craft' is commonly applied in the context of craft as exercised with the aid of digital technology. If the application of digital tools and techniques merits the term digital craft, then where does the craft lie in Computer Numeric Control (CNC) making? This article takes the position that craft practice is rooted in the relationship between materials, tools and techniques as an intricate workflow. We suggest that the workflow can be considered as autopoietic in nature, in that it is both self-referential and self-making, at the same time as continuously designing. Through this, digital fabrication can be seen as a practice that

Digital Vernacular addresses the why and how of digital fabrication in hundreds of step-by-step color images, illuminating a set of working principles and techniques that join theory with practice. Authors James Stevens and Ralph Nelson reconcile local traditions and innovations with globally accessible methods and digital toolsets. By combining ethics with hardware, the book will root you in the origins of making, ensuring a lasting and relevant reference for your studio practice.

The book opens with the origins and principles of the digital vernacular, then outlines digital vernacular tools including computer numerically controlled (CNC) mills, laser cutters, and 3D printers. You'll even learn to create your own digital fabrication tools out of inexpensive materials. The book concludes with the processes of the digital vernacular, including techniques for removing, joining, forming, and adding.

A companion website at make-Lab.org hosts additional step-by-step processes and project outcomes.

Written for architectural educators, this paper discusses whether digital fabrication can be usefully employed in early architectural education. The paper uses examples from a course that aims to introduce the fundamentals of digital architectural design to first-year students. To achieve this, the course integrates digital fabrication as the core element of the production workflow. Challenging but rewarding, early adoption of digital fabrication exposes students to the process- and material-based thinking of contemporary architecture at a time when they form lasting attitudes to designing.

The current, digital-fabrication revolution is based on widespread adoption of complex, digital techniques, which contrasts with the seemingly impossible worlds
conceived by the previous revolution. But the proliferation of digital techniques ended up replacing personal design agendas. A strange sense of similar complexity was perceived in the indexing of the structural forms of common algorithms that
were being applied across different design agendas and cultures. One can argue that this sense activated certain reactionary positions in architecture, which then tried to
reclaim the essence of design culture—positions later identifi ed as the post-digital.

As critical recognition of such positions, the post-digital attitude can be understood in two different ways. One way frames the post-digital as a negative dialectic
reaction by simply replacing the digital with an architectural culture independent from technology—an eclecticism that, interestingly, aims to construct a visual,
critical synthesis out of a collage of cultural projects and techniques, and thereby reactivates a problematic post-modernism. The other way frames the post-digital
as an attempt to establish design authorship at higher levels of representation—an attempt that sought to engage with a deeper understanding of computation and to avoid visual historicism. This attempt was based on earlier efforts to recognize, and critique, the spread of computation as the emergence of a new renaissance. 1
By now, it is crucial to establish a retroactive and, simultaneously, a continuously expanding project for computation; we must critique both its widespread structuralism and its cultural simplification. One cannot separate technology from culture since revolutionary architecture necessarily involves critical integration and
innovation at both levels. As part of this scenario, the cultural role of the architect necessarily changes: contemporary architects will engage with the coding of reality, expand design authorship to computational systems, and become more relevant in the development of new technologies. They will take uncomfortable leads, as architects so notably did during the Renaissance with perspective, by developing an
architecture of architectures, and by expanding design authorship to the conditions and parameters that explicitly reference architecture. In other words, architects will confront the emerging definition of the architecture of information.

This paper proposes a new construction system consisting of double frame crossed panels, to be used for the design and construction of free-form architectural structures. The aim of this study is to combine geometric, productive and constructive aspects with form-finding processes, keeping their selfcompatibility with designers' intentions, Pottmann [1]. For this purpose, a parametric tool has been developed to adapt the cross-panel system to a wide number of target surfaces, by changing the joints angles and, at the same time, maintaining the orthogonality between panels. The experimentation went on with a case study involving a production and assembly phase using digital fabrication tools, for the construction of a temporary wooden pavilion.

The report contains a study on the current state of 3D printing technology usage
within the field of architecture with cross reference and investigation of the past and
possible technological future for a better contextual background. It is written as a final
Bachelor dissertation for the international Architectural Technology and Construction
Management course at VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark. The aim of this
report is to analyze and describe 3d printing’s technological state and relevance in
order to attempt to answer: “What is the current state of 3d printing technology
usage within the field of architecture?”
The research focuses on the issues which still keep 3d printing technologies
unreachable by smaller parties such as small architectural offices. As “the next
industrial revolution” it does not seem to have the same appeal within the architectural
field industry. Mock-up modeling is simplified by 3d printing technology, in theory,
but its slow adoption might extend towards other less obvious variables.
The first part of the paper creates a contextual background for the main section in
analyzing 3D printing technology advancement since inception. The main part of the
paper is focused on the current state of 3D printing technology usage while the third
part of the paper creates a possible future direction and vision.
The interpretation of data is based on secondary research methodology using
information found on the internet, but also based on primary research, such as a
questionnaire sent to approx. 100 Danish companies who are already possibly
engaged in the technology. The questions span categories such as: costs, materials
and printing accuracy, input/3D data, advanced printer capabilities and other
general aspects.
A further study on an actual small scale three-dimensional print of common small
architectural project such as single-family houses is made. Further analysis is
complemented by a personal interview with maa. Architect Carsten Primdahl of
CEBRA, Aarhus, Denmark.

Το τέλος του 20ου αιώνα σηματοδοτεί μία ραγδαία εξέλιξη στιςτεχνολογίες των υπολογιστικών συστημάτων και δικτύων, τα οποία μετατρέπονται από πειραματικά μοντέλα σε μαζικής χρήσης εργαλεία. Η συνθήκη αυτή επηρεάζει ένα σύνολο κλάδων και πεδίων, και ως επακόλουθο και τις αρχιτεκτονικές θεωρήσεις και πρακτικές. Μέσω της σύμπραξης της τεχνολογικής επανάστασης και ενός προϋπάρχοντος αιτήματος για εννοιολογική και μορφολογική συνέχεια στις αρχιτεκτονικές πρακτικές, εκκινεί στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 90’ αυτό, που ο Mario Carpo, ονομάζει, “ψηφιακή στροφή” στην αρχιτεκτονική. Η ψηφιακή αρχιτεκτονική, αναφερόμενη σε ένα σύνολο θεωρήσεων και τεχνικών που διαφοροποιούνται, μετεξελίσσονται και μετατοπίζονται μέχρι και σήμερα, επιφέρει ριζικές αλλαγές στις διαδικασίες και στον τρόπο σχεδιασμού και παραγωγής αλλά και στο ρόλο του ίδιου του αρχιτέκτονα. Παρόλαυτα η ίδια η έννοια του ψηφιακού ταυτίζεται ,ως επί το πλείστο, με τα ψηφιακά εργαλεία που χρησιμοποιούνται στο σχεδιασμό, δημιουργώντας μία συγκεχυμένη αντίληψη του
ψηφιακού ως το τεχνολογικά νέο και του αναλογικού ως το τεχνολογικά παλιό.
Στην ουσία τους, οι έννοιες του ψηφιακού και του αναλογικού προϋπάρχουν και ξεπερνούν την τεχνολογική επανάσταση του τελευταίου αιώνα, καθώς αποτελούν θεμελιώδη θεωρήματα που αναδεικνύονται στην ιστορία της φιλοσοφίας και της πολιτικής, σε μία προσπάθεια κατανόησης του κόσμου και της ύπαρξης, ως
αποτέλεσμα διαχωρισμού ή σύνθεσης, αντίστοιχα. Μέσω της μελέτης του έργου συγκεκριμένων φιλοσόφων που αναλύουν την ψηφιακότητα και την αναλογικότητα, η παρούσα ερευνητική εργασία στοχεύει αρχικά να ορίσει τις έννοιες αυτές, και τα επιμέρους χαρακτηριστικά τους, αποδεσμεύοντας τες από την εργαλειακή τους ταυτότητα. Ποια είναι αυτά τα χαρακτηριστικά που ορίζουν ψηφιακές και αναλογικές διαδικασίες σχεδιασμού, και πως συνδέονται με την πρόθεση της αρχιτεκτονικής για διαφοροποίηση ή συνέχεια; Πως και σε ποιο βαθμό συνυπάρχουν στις αρχιτεκτονικές διαδικασίες το ψηφιακό και το αναλογικό; Μέσα από την ανάλυση του έργου δύο επίμαχων και αντιθετικών
αρχιτεκτόνων, του Patrik Schumacher και του Pier Vittorio Aureli, προσεγγίζονται τα ερωτήματα αυτά, με στόχο την εξαγωγή συνολικότερων συμπερασμάτων για τις αρχιτεκτονικές διαδικασίες ως διαδικασίες διαχωρισμού ή ενσωμάτωσης.

This paper reports on three approaches to the translation of Gaussian surface models into scaled physical prototype models. Using the geometry of Eladio Dieste's Gaussian Vaults, the paper reports on the aspects encountered in the process of digital to physical prototype fabrication. The primary focus of the paper is on exploring the design geometry, investigating methods for preparing the geometry for fabrication and constructing physical prototypes. Three different approaches in the translation from digital to physical models are investigated: rapid prototyping, two dimensional surface models in paper and structural component models using Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) fabrication. The three approaches identify a body of knowledge in the design and prototyping of Gaussian vaults. Finally the paper discusses the digital to fabrication translation processes with regards to the characteristics, benefits and limitations of the three approaches of prototyping the ruled surface geometry of Gaussian Vaults.

A number of essays and interviews published between 1997 and 2008, revised for this edition, which V2_Publishing kindly made available as a complete pdf. The book contains a memorable introduction by the late Detlef Mertins, a number of early essays that were strongly influenced by Paul Virilio, and many discussions of architectural and art works combined with theoretical analyses.

Much has been written on the impact of digital technology and its translation into architectural practice and education. This paper reconsiders this process of integration to question current trends in research and pedagogy. Recent efforts to expand architectural research in schools tend to focus on broadening its spectrum while reinforcing design as research. We argue that the relevance of digital technology to these discussions, and its role in expanding fields of research, depends on different 'research cultures' and their differing institutional contexts. Our interest is in 'cultures' that, as 'lines of thought', broaden the field of architectural research and make it heterodox, thickening a line of research with multiple interpretations. Tracing early experiences in the ‘paperless’ studios of Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, this paper questions how architectural pedagogies are developing in response to the current normalisation of digital design, with a focus on the Architecture Association's Design Research Lab (DRL) and the Strelka Institute in Moscow. Ultimately, the main question is addressed: in what ways can the digital be political? By referring to the DRL and Strelka research programmes, two distinct approaches have been critically explored. On the one hand, DRL has been pushing to the limit the idea of research by design, considering autonomous form as the materialisation of change in the design process, while Strelka has been practicing research as the information for design. If digital technology contributes to form generation at DRL, at Strelka it potentiates opinion generation, and the research product is information, rather than form itself. The triangulation of both approaches could eventually suggest a more thorough political expression by means of a 'digital redux'.

Arsitektur modern mulai menuntut peningkatan tingkat kompleksitas desain dan penemuan bentuk-bentuk arsitektur yang baru. Dasar desain parametrik adalah penerapan geometri dari gabungan beberapa parameter awal dan menghubungkan mereka satu sama lain. Manfaat dari desin parametrik adalah langsung dan mendasar untuk meminimalkan upaya yang diperlukan untuk membuat variasi desain. Seperti penggunaan algoritma dengan teknik komputasi bukan untuk menggambar bentuk tetapi menciptakan variasi kemungkinan desain. Desain parametrik saat ini semakin populer dalam dunia desain arsitektur, hal ini tidak lepas dari mulai banyaknya software-software desain yang mendukung dalam desain parametrik. Desain parametrik erat kaitannya dengan digital fabrication. Hal ini disebabkan karena bangunan dengan pendekatan parametrik dapat diwujudkan secara nyata baru tercapai pasca berkembangnya berbagai software pendukung untuk menggambar. Terlepas dari itu, apakah desain parametrik hanyalah sekedar proses yang muncul dari terbukanya peluang akibat perkembangan software yang tersedia? Karya tulis Ilmiah ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan pemahaman yang lebih baik dari fenomena desain parametrik dan proses yang terlibat dalam merancang dengan parameter serta kaitannya dengan teknologi fabrikasi yang berkembang saat ini dengan metode membuat ulang model bangunan dengan bantuan software pemodelan tiga dimensional.

The chapter develops the notion of a “gothic ontology,” which inverts Deleuze’s baroque ontology of the fold that played such a seminal role in the advent of "digital architecture". Whereas in the universe of the fold continuity precedes singularity, in the gothic singularity precedes continuity. The reversal is based on the notion of the rib, which is the source of Ruskin's “changefulness”, expressed through “millions of variations” of figures. Figures move and change only to interact with or connect to other figures, i.e. to build configurations. Ruskin’s complementary notion of "savageness", usually categorized as an ethics-over-aesthetics, becomes here a notion of craft inherent to matter, not to humans.

Crocheting Algorithms

"The loop stitch is a noeud coulant: a knot that, if untied, causes the whole system to unravel. It is an element in making stockings, in knitting and crocheting, and the particular way it is formed is dictated by the tools employed and the use intended. […] I can only say that it is an extremely refined [art] and yields products whose properties can be achieved in no other way. They carry the elements of their richest ornaments in themselves and in their construction. Elasticity and ductility are the specific advantage​ of these products; this makes them especially suited to close-fitting dressings that embrace the figure and define it without fold."
Gottfried Semper, 'Style', 1860, Getty Publications (2004)

Crocheting activates a single line - the thread -to generate an elastic surface by moving around and through an empty core. The topology of a crocheted fabric is relatively complex: The thread follows a loopy path along its row, with the loops of one row being pulled through the loops of the row subjacent to it.
The elasticity of a crochet piece is unavailable from woven fabrics, which only stretch along the bias. In crochet, it is possible to create a whole garment of multiple elements from one single thread. Inscribed in the technique is the potential to generate a multitude of volumes, strands, cross references and volumetric sequences without ever completely interrupting the fiberʼs continuous line. Crocheted or knitted fabric specifies local rules of increase and decrease, of temporary pause and subsequent pick up, thus enabling the fabric to splice open and to reunite again later on. It can generate three-dimensional volumes through separating and subsequently braiding, crossing and back-referencing its own materiality.
Different from the majority of computational tools that primarily generate uniform surfaces, the ones created in crochet acquire local specificity through their units while being generated. This results in a distinctive transparency, elasticity, thickness and self-reference.
Crochet fabric generates reinforcements or permeability through the distribution and specificity of its unit, the stitch. The architectural relevance of crochet lies in its ability to move from line to plane to three-dimensional expression in smooth transition. Its structure, tectonic logic and joinery are all expressed through local specificity.

In continuation to the Deceptive Landscape Installation research project (Agkathidis, Kocatürk 2014), this paper investigates the implementation of generative design techniques in undergraduate architectural design education. After reviewing the main definitions of generative design synoptically, we have assessed the application of a modified generative method on a final year, undergraduate design studio, in order to evaluate its potential and its suitability within the framework of a research led design studio, leading to an RIBA accredited Part I degree. Our research findings based on analysis of the design outputs, student performance, external examiners reports as well as student course evaluation surveys indicate a positive outcome on the studio's design
approach, as well as its suitability for an undergraduate design studio. They initiate a flourishing debate about accomplishments and failures of a design methodology, which still remains alien to many undergraduate curricula.

This paper proposes a framework for describing and designing with repetitive modules, driven by recent interest in architectural application of discrete components assembly and digital materials. By combining geometric representation and abstract graph information of individual modules, as well as providing different procedures for modular aggregation, the framework aims at offering a platform for the exploration of discrete design, without need for prior programming knowledge. The framework has been tested in a learning environment, proving to be effective in allowing users to quickly prototype modular assemblies. An outlook of future development is also provided.

Nanotechnology is not new science, but it is new to some extent in the construction industry. Building material properties such as their mechanical strength, energy efficiency and the general concept of sustainability can be achieve to its maximum capacity when nanotechnology is incorporated in the construction industry. Common environmental problems such as global warming or green house effects can be tackled in a sustainable way. This paper will look in some details of areas in architectural composite materials and nanotechnology in architecture. These areas include innovative products and technology for the building skins, advance building skin design and performance of the building envelope.
Building materials that are widely used in the construction industries, right from their resources extraction through manufacturing, use and disposal have become a major component of the general effects on global ecosystem and climatic conditions of the earth. These effects contributed immensely in the deflection of the global climate of the globe. Portland cement alone for example contributed 8% of the total global greenhouse gas effects (David, 2014). Eco materials for building skin are buildings materials that make optimal use of resources, and produce as low as minimum waste to the ecosystem. The building façade most keep out the rain from the structure, a thermal boundary to diminish heat misfortunes and gains, an air obstruction to lessen invasion, and a vapour hindrance to forestall dampness relocation and condensation build-up inside the structure.
In light of the contemplations over, the building envelope is a key part of energy efficient high performance structures. Sunlight based gains, air spills, dampness control and thermal (conduction) misfortunes and increases are all influenced by the configuration and development of the building envelope. The building envelope influences the size and sorts of mechanical frameworks expected to give warming and cooling. With decently planned and built building envelopes, edge warming frameworks can typically be killed in everything except the coldest atmospheres. The building envelope and the setup of spaces inside the building likewise influence the possibility to bring sunlight into the building and to decrease lighting energy utilized. Additionally the successful heat energy stockpiling and discharge can prompt the crest diminishment of building warming and cooling burdens. PCMs have been acquainted as a creative path with diminish the cooling and warming interest of structures by utilizing viable heat energy stockpiling (Yoon, 2013). This research is based on past literature review of some written journals, books, magazine and internet web, it is strongly based on qualitative approach and case study was involved.
Keywords: new materials for the building skin, smart materials, intelligent building envelops, eco materials, kinetic architecture, green walls, Biomicry, digital fabrication, high tech lightweight building envelopes, intelligent sensing, intelligent control, intelligent optimization, building information modelling

This paper proposes a design and fabrication approach based on the conceptualization of architectural formations as spatial assemblies of discrete building blocks to be aggregated through custom robotic procedures. Such strategy attempts to create synergies between different technological methods and to define a new and open design space where discrete design, serial prototyping and robotic assembly can be exploited to create complex reconfigurable structures. With the aim to allow users to explore the field of discrete geometries for architectural application without need for prior programming knowledge, we developed a software framework for representing and designing with discrete elements, different digital fabrication techniques integrated with conventional production processes for serial prototyping of repetitive units, and custom robotic fabrication routines, allowing a direct translation from aggregated geometry to assembly toolpath. Together these methods aim at creating a more direct connection between design and fabrication, relying on the idea of discrete elements assembly and on the parallel between modular design and modularized robot code generation.

FAB/01 es la primera publicación del Laboratorio de Fabricación Digital Montevideo (LabFab.MVD), de la Facultad de Arquitectura de la Universidad de la República.
"Uthopia; the unbuilt" es la primera exposición realizada por el LabFab.MVD en el marco del XVIII Congreso de la Sociedad Iberoamericana de Gráfica Digital (SIGRADI), desarrollado en Montevideo en noviembre de 2014.
En la referida muestra, se buscó cristalizar en concreciones materiales las obras utópicas, y por ende nunca construidas, de distintos arquitectos y referentes mundiales del diseño. La aproximación a ellas, desde la interpretación teórica de destacados arquitectos hasta la apropiación material a través de las nuevas tecnologías de fabricación, constituye un hito en la forma de mirar y comprender las obras nunca erigidas de algunos de los grandes maestros de nuestra disciplina.

Using industrial robots in creative design has generated a wide interest among designers, artists, and architects. While generic, combined with custom or task-specific mounted tools and digital descriptions, these machines have recently become the vehicle of creative explorations in design, architecture, and the arts. Even though numerous researchers and practitioners have proposed applications of robotics in architectural practice, this field is still in its infancy and thus needs more exploration by design and architectural researchers. In this thesis, I have investigated the architectural robotics opportunities by reviewing its design space and characteristics in academia and practice. It resulted in a hypothesis stating that currently available software toolboxes are not sufficient mediums between architects and robots. Accordingly, we need a medium to embed all the constraints that affect a specific robotic system, its mounted tool, and related material system, from early stages of design to materialization. To test this hypothesis, I proposed an analytical grammar to codify spatial design, form finding process, and robotic fabrication behavior through visual computation and algorithmic approaches. The system affordances were later studied through physical prototypes.

In this paper we formulate and define a novel conceptual schema termed MFD: Material-Fabrication-Design. MFD is defined as a computational informing process that enhances tectonic relationships between structure and material within the logic of fabrication technologies. This research investigates, explores and formulates the transition towards the integration of computationally informed processes in design. Beyond simply exemplifying these phenomena, the research explores the state of the art, and formulates and explicates the impact of these developments on theories, knowledge and the processes of design. Through comparative analysis of selected case studies of Material-Fabrication-Design the research identifies and formulates emerging design models, design principles and techniques. By undertaking systematic research into the development of fabrication technologies, their relationship to design, and their diverse strategies we identify the diverse set of Material-Fabrication-Design (MFD) models that represent this innovative field.

Este trabalho traz, em um primeiro momento, considerações sobre processos digitais de projeto em arquitetura a partir da conceituação teórica do Metadesign e as suas decorrências. A manipulação digital de parâmetros de projeto são correspondentes do modo de vida contemporâneo - complexo e dinâmico - assim sendo, este trabalho enfoca em uma segunda etapa o estudo da tecnologia computacional aplicada ao processo de projeto de arquitetura, mais especificamente o Design Paramétrico e as possibilidades que surgem através da fabricação digital. Neste contexto, o designer tem importância direta influenciando o resultado do projeto como também o seu percurso, sendo, portanto, de grande relevância a compreensão das teorias e processos que envolvem a concepção de projetos de arquitetura. Durante o processo, do estudo à fabricação, acredita-se que a mescla de elementos artesanais com elementos digitais tendem a ser benéficas ao projeto, ao mesmo tempo em que ajudam a testar critérios diversos que o projetista estabelecer. Por fim, além da revisão teórica, o auxílio projetual por meio de protótipos e experimentações de ordem prática podem contestar ou afirmar a eficiência de um sistema. O terceiro capítulo explora esta mistura de processos - o analógico e o digital - por meio do estudo de caso do projeto e da construção da Igreja da Sagrada Família, em Barcelona, projeto de Antoni Gaudí e resulta em um experimento de criação de catenárias com o objetivo de se realizar uma análise de ambos os processos.

Current developments in design-to-production workflows aim to allow architects to quickly prototype designs that result from advanced design processes while also embedding the constraints imposed by selected fabrication equipment. However, the enduring physical separation between design space and fabrication space, together with a continuous approach to both design, via NURBs modeling software, and fabrication, through irreversible material processing methods, limit the possibilities to extend the advantages of a " digital " approach (Ward 2010), such as full editability and reversibility, to physical realizations. In response to such issues, this paper proposes a processto allow the concurrent design and fabrication of discrete structures in a collaborative process between human designer and a 6-axis robotic arm. This requires the development of design and materialization procedures for discrete aggregations, including the modeling of assembly constraints, as well as the establishment of a communication platform between human and machine actors. This intends to offer methods to increase the accessibility of discrete design methodologies, as well as to hint at possibilities for overcoming the division between design and manufacturing (Carpo 2011; Bard et al. 2014), thus allowing intuitive design decisions to be integrated directly within assembly processes (Johns 2014)

Industrial robots from the automotive industry are being repurposed for use in
architecture fabrication research in academic institutions around the globe. They
are adapted for a variety of fabrication techniques due to the versatility of their
6-axis arm configuration. Though their physical versatility is an advantage in
research, their computational and sensory capabilities are rudimentary and have
not evolved significantly in the past forty years of their existence. In the meantime
the manufacturing industry has moved on by introducing new forms of
manufacturing namely Industry 4.0. In this position paper we look at the
characteristics necessary to bring architecture robotics into line with Industry 4.0
standards. By presenting the fabrication process as a relationship model of
'tool-process-outcome' we will examine the way in which these entities and their
interrelations might be augmented vis-a-vis Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS),
Social Robotics and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) approaches such as the
Tangible User Interface (TUI).

The paper discusses the advancement in mass-customization of building components, mainly referring to Robot-Assisted Manifacturing. It is presented how the contemporary approach to free-form architecture is mainly based on software post-optimization of geometry to fit industrial machinery, and how the employment of Robotics offers a flexible alternative to this production system. Different Robot-Assisted fabrication methods are discussed through built experimental case studies at different scales. It is finally argued how Robotic production in architecture can significantly shift the paradigm, from an object based customization, to a process of production mass-customization. 1 Non-Standard Architecture and typical criticalities Traditional construction methods in building industry are based on the principles of mass-production: standardization, modularization and production lines. It is well known that compared to other fields, construction industry has not been characterized by the process of evolution which invested the manufacturing industry over the last decades with the massive introduction of innovative technologies, such as CNC Machines. With the use of these tools is gradually getting possible to produce amount of completely unique and different pieces, with comparable level of energy and material required in standard serial production. Considered this potential, the building industry seems to be particularly resilient in adapting to this production paradigm shift. Buildings are normally assembled from sets of these components which are gathered from catalogues provided by the industries. Therefore, the design has to be based on the components available from these catalogues. The use of digital design tools have expanded the design frontier considerably over the last two decades, but still the construction of digitally generated complex forms often meets a variety of difficulties. For the purpose of spatial and formal representation , architects produces digital 3D models based on the visible architectural interfaces and ignore the underlying structure of an architectural object. These virtual models tend to neglect manufacturing structures and feasibility constraints, causing on a later stage the involvement of engineers and consultants in converting information from implicit to parametric representation, in order to specify the construction design according to production and physical requirements. Essentially due to the fact that architecture cannot be built in one piece, and requires the prefabrication of components, it is automatically determined the crucial importance of the discretization of complex shapes. Computer-aided Design software

The paper investigates the potential of auxetics in architectural applications by means of computational design and additive manufacturing. This class of metamaterials expresses interesting behaviour related to the unusual characteristics of a negative Poisson's ratio. Different patterns have been studied through a design workflow based on parametric software and the use of Particle Spring systems to support the form-finding process of bending-active auxetic structures. An advanced understanding of their bending capacity is explored with the use of variable infill patterns informed by structural analysis. Furthermore, principles for the design and fabrication of auxetic gridshells are discussed.

This paper is a critical review on advantages and disadvantages of contemporary digital architecture, in retrospect to Vladimir Shukhov's design techniques, applied in the early 20th century. After investigating Shukhov's structural systems, this paper explores the relationship between performance and form, questioning the necessity of high-complexity structures. It will present unpublished archive material of his early work and stimulate a valuable discussion by comparing it with contemporary projects designed by renowned architects. The study on Shukhov focuses on his tessellation method of double-curved surfaces using simple standardized elements. The study of present digital approaches revolves around leading architects using computational tools (e.g. Foster and Partners, Buro Happold and Arup), who have materialized high complexity structures composed by irregular units. Our findings highlight advantages and disadvantages of contemporary computational approaches.

BSTRACT
Contemporary architecture in several parts of the world has been produced with computer resources which have allowed the construction of buildings with complex forms. The use of CAD/CAM technology allows obtaining lower costs than the serial ones in the fabrication of unique components in the construction of buildings faster, with more precision and control. In general de use of CAD in design is widely known among architects and engineers. It is known that CAD/CAM in the fabrication of components is used for long time in the naval, aerospace and car industries. However, the use of CAD/CAM in the digital fabrication of unique elements in building construction is yet rare among architects in Brasília. Also, in this context, BIM technology is not very common. This Dissertation aims to demonstrate that digital fabrication is economically promising for the construction industry. We analyzed de role played by architects along history since the time of master builders. Based on the literature review we presented examples of complex buildings designed and built with the aid of CAD/CAM systems. Following that we defined as an object for our research experiment one column of Brasilia’s Cathedral because of its complex form. We analyzed the process through which this Cathedral was designed and built. This column was computer modeled and then it was fabricated manually by a blacksmith and also by CNC machine. We compared the results of the manually and digitally fabricated columns in relation to costs, production time and precision, and its potential for mass customization. This comparison showed that the benefits of the use of CAD/CAM are promising ones.

This paper discusses the way of enriching design methods that embrace a broader spectrum of multiple disciplines in the milieu of digital fabrication. In the first part of this paper, the potential of robotic fabrication and different strategies of design and fabrication are generally discussed; And in the second part a typical case study of robotic fabrication is represented in detail. The Robotic 6-Axis 3D Printing project (Also known as Robotic Extrusion), from Shanghai Digital future 2014 summer workshop, indicates the integration of design concept, parametric tooling, bio-science, materiality and robotic technology.

The introduction of digital design and fabrication
techniques is an increasingly significant process
for contemporary architectural education. The
validity of digital techniques has been
established and the discussion has shifted to the
more meaningful question of how digital tools
are situated in a design education. A successful
introduction to digital techniques occurs
simultaneously with students’ introduction to
manual techniques. This concurrent strategy
prevents the conceptualization of digital tools as
additions to or replacements of manual tools. 1
Accordingly, the constructed polarity between
manual and digital is an outdated and
unproductive fiction. The two are innately
different and should not be compromised
through forced synthesis: Hand making results in
the direct production of an artifact, drawing, or
model, whereas digital making is interstitial to the
production of an artifact. 2
Consequently, digital making or fabrication
should not be conflated with digital imaging or
representation. Architect and theorist Stan Allen
notes in his article Artificial Ecology that the
practice of architecture has always been in this
paradoxical position of being invested in the
production of real, concrete matter yet working
with tools of abstract representation (drawings,
models, computer simulations and so forth). 3 As
architecture is invested in the production of
‘concrete matter’ so must be the introduction of
digital techniques, rather than in the production
of representation.
This paper discusses a Louisiana State University
(LSU) College of Art + Design (CoAD) seminar,
taught in the School of Architecture. ‘Edges: an
Introduction to Analog + Digital Fabrication’ that
tests the pedagogic potential of teaching digital
techniques through the crafting of artifacts. The
course is part of an ongoing conversation at LSU
CoAD about the position of digital tools and

Following upon an ensemble of revolutionary technological developments of the last decade, architectural and design theories are undergoing a process of epistemological shift. As a result, cultural renegotiation and the exploration of new inter-disciplinary discourse are developing in order to reformulate the nature of the digital discipline and its epistemology.

This paper proposes a new framework for digital
design to fabrication workflow to create an effective
collaboration process between human designers and
industrial robots, in order to redefine the relationship
between design and production. This framework aims
at redefining the current one-directional workflow of
design to robotic fabrication that is imposed by the
current robot programming and control systems,
originally developed for engineering product
industries. Our proposed system employs machine
perception, adaptive control, and design libraries to
adapt fabrication processes in real time, in parallel
with human perception, learning, and guidance, to act
as a catalyst of innovation for design practices,
accelerating the design and production of novel
building and industrial components.