Robotic Materialization of Architectural Hybridity

Abstract

Considering both architectural and constructional aspects of the built environment, hybridity or multi-materiality is essential to generate functional habitable spaces. Buildings consist of subsystems that each require different and sometimes conflicting material attributes and behaviours. In this context, expanding the solution space for material properties in architectural applications can be achieved through the integration of innovative design computation and production methods. With this focus, the paper presents prototyping processes and frames a discourse on robotic materialisation of architectural hybridity, ranging from micro or material to macro or component scales. The paper discusses three case studies, each with a specific focus on digital modelling, computation and robotic production of hybrid systems. The conclusion outlines how robotic fabrication of architectural multi-materiality redefines, informs and tends methods of design computation and materialisation.