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Norman Foster Foundation – Robotics Atelier 2018
Norman Foster Foundation – Robotics Atelier 2018


Norman Foster Foundation – Robotics Atelier 2018

Zero-Waste Geometry, Madrid, 2018
Robotic Atelier 2018 at the Norman Foster Foundation
The robotic processing of granular matter manifest itself through complex inherent material behavior and allows for only a limited prediction of its final aggregation or geometrical formation. This indeterminacy, which presents a special challenge to the designer, can be addressed by sensor technology, which is used to capture the morphological traits of the emerging formations after each single fabrication step, allowing the system to adapt and react. This feedback mechanism leads to a new design paradigm. While traditional building processes consist of firmly joined elements whose position is predefined exactly by the design, building with aggregate materials requires the designer to understand the approximate behavior of the system under the given boundary conditions and to determine algorithmic strategies that allow for gradual adaptation during the fabrication process.

In this workshop, we manipulated earth, sand and clay to create highly informed and geometrically complex formwork elements to cast and construct architectural artefact. We explored the direct relationship between computational design, tooling, feedback systems and robotic motions to steer granular material formations processes. Since the sand formed elements can be fully returned to their original state, this construction system enables the infinite reconfiguring into different architectural forms. As such, it presents a material approach making it possible in the future to use local materials to realize geometrical complex structures while simply producing no construction waste.

The workshop is held at the Norman Foster Foundation in Madrid as part of the Robotics Atelier 2018. Ten students from universities and institutions from all over the globe are invited to develop creative ideas and concepts about the synthesis of computational design, material processes and robotic fabrication.

Credits:
Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich

In cooperation with: Norman Foster Foundation
Atelier Mentor: Prof. Fabio Gramazio
Atelier Coordinator: Ammar Mirjan
Atelier Assistants: Jesús Medina Ibáñez, Kathrin Dörfler, Michael Lyrenmann
Atelier Members: Todd Eckert, Anne Faucheret, Ruairi Glynn, Iñigo Lazkanotegi, Jonathan Ledgard, Antoine Picon, Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen
Scholars: Chris Borg Costanzi, Giulio Brugnaro, Alejandro González García, Laukik Mujumdar, Nikol Nikolaeva Kirova, Tyson Phillips, Zoe Tagboto, Maria Yablonina, Elmira Yadollahi, Shi Yuqing
Sponsors: Rolex Institute




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Gramazio Kohler Research
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