About this ebook
We are now on the brink of a new era in construction – that of autonomous assembly. For some time, the widespread adoption of robotic and digital fabrication technologies has made it possible for architects and academic researchers to design non-standard, highly customised structures. These technologies have largely been limited by scalability, focusing mainly on top-down, bespoke fabrication projects, such as experimental pavilions and structures. Autonomous assembly and bottom-up construction techniques hold the promise of greater scalability, adaptability and potentially evolved design possibilities. By capitalising on the advances made in swarm robotics, the collective construction of the animal/insect kingdom, and advances in physical computational, programmable materials or self-assembly, architects and designers are now able to build from the bottom up. This issue presents future scenarios of autonomous assembly by highlighting the viability of decentralised, collective assembly systems, demonstrating the potential to deliver reconfigurable and adaptive solutions.
Contributors include: Marcelo Coelho, Andong Liu, Robin Meier, Kieran Murphy and Heinrich Jaeger, Radhika Nagpal and Kirstin Petersen, and Zorana Zeravcic.
Featured architects: Aranda\Lasch, Arup, Philippe Block, Gramazio Kohler Architects, Ibañez Kim, Achim Menges, Caitlin Mueller, Jose Sanchez, Athina Papadopoulou and Jared Laucks, and Skylar Tibbits.We are now on the brink of a new era in construction – that of autonomous assembly. For some time, the widespread adoption of robotic and digital fabrication technologies has made it possible for architects and academic researchers to design non-standard, highly customised structures. These techn...
About the author
Skylar Tibbits is the Director of the Self-Assembly Lab in MIT's Department of Architecture. He also teaches graduate and undergraduate design studios and co-teaches 'How to Make (Almost) Anything', a seminar at MIT's Media Lab. The Self-Assembly Lab recently invented and pioneered the field of 4D Printing with Stratasys Ltd and Autodesk Inc. Skylar is the recipient of a 2014 Inaugural WIRED Fellowship, a 2013 Architectural League Prize, The Next Idea Award at Ars Electronica 2013, the Visionary Innovation Award at the Manufacturing Leadership Summit, 2012 TED Senior Fellowship and was named a Revolutionary Mind in SEED Magazine's 2008 Design Issue.
Skylar Tibbits is the Director of the Self-Assembly Lab in MIT's Department of Architecture. He also teaches graduate and undergraduate design studios and co-teaches 'How to Make (Almost) Anything', a seminar at MIT's Media Lab. The Self-Assembly Lab recently invented and pioneered the field of 4...
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