Assisted automation: Three learning experiences in architectural robotics

Abstract

Fueled by long-standing dreams of both material efficiency and aesthetic liberation, robots have become part of mainstream architectural discourses, raising the question: How may we nurture an ethos of visual, tactile, and spatial exploration in technologies that epitomize the legacies of industrial automation-for example, the pursuit of managerial efficiency, control, and an ever-finer subdivision of labor? Reviewing and extending a growing body of research on architectural robotics pedagogy, and bridging a constructionist tradition of design education with recent studies of science and technology, this article offers both a conceptual framework and concrete strategies to incorporate robots into architectural design education in ways that foster a spirit of exploration and discovery, which is key to learning creative design. Through reflective accounts of three learning experiences, we introduce the notions "assisted automation" and "robotic embodiment" as devices to enrich current approaches to robot-human design, highlighting situated and embodied aspects of designing with robotic machines.

Non-Standard Robotic 3D Printing for Architects - A comprehensive digital fabrication lab pedagogy integrating non-programmable material effects

“…Recent publications on pedagogies within a digital fabrication lab setting confirm this observation. The main focus is on the provision of digital skills and practical training in the use of a given digital fabrication machine (Llach, Bidgoli and Darbari, 2017;Radziszewski and Cudzik, 2019;Allam and Allaçam, 2021).…”

“…Recently, broad access to 3D printing has triggered its wider adoption in architectural education. However, a closer look at course curricula and literature on the topic reveals that 3D printing pedagogies mainly target its introduction as a tool for precise manufacturing of an architectural model, within the constraints imposed by the material (Cardoso Llach, Bidgoli and Darbari, 2017;Allam and Allaçam, 2021).…”

Hybrid Embroidery: Exploring Interactive Fabrication in Handcrafts

“…The concept of "hybrid fabrication," which Laura Devendorf and Kimiko Ryokai developed, emphasizes the possibility of supporting "meaningful making" through interactive workflows that reconfigure the roles between humans and machines [8]. Also significant is the notion of "assisted automation," which emphasizes the roles humans play in processes that are imagined as autonomous, such as robotic fabrication, opening ways for visual, tactile and spatial exploration [9]. Interactive fabrication thus opens avenues for combining manual and artistic practices with digital fabrication, broadening the scope of digital craftsmanship [10].…”