Synthetic Fabrications (2024-11)¶

Robotic fabrication has been incorporated in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector due to its distinctive qualities of accuracy, representation and realization of complex geometries, and streamlined production of designs characterized by mass customization. Clay has been widely used in architectural applications, as its characteristics allow for compatibility with multiple forms and fabrication techniques. Projects incorporating clay in architectural and construction applications mostly involve modular structures, where each module is fabricated independently. The resultant complexity of such projects involves: (1) the level of detail of the module, which typically exists in the texturing of the unit and the intricate connections and joinery, and (2) the overall composition and geometry and its associated diversity and panelization system. Some large-scale applications use substructures to assemble 3D printed modules to create architectural components and spaces, such as “Ceramic Morphologies” (Seibold et al., 2018), “Ceramic Information Pavilion” (Lange et al., 2017), and “Ceramic Constellation” (Lange et al., 2018). Other applications devise self-standing and self-supporting architectural structures through clay deposition, and 2D panels attached on structures to cover building facades, such as “Woven Clay” (Friedman, 2014), “Clay Nonwoven” (Rosenwasser et al., 2017), “Robo Sense 2.0” (Jeremy et al., 2018), and others. This paper is concerned with pedagogical approaches involving the seamless integration of parametric modeling and robotic fabrication with clay as a tactile medium for architectural expression. Manipulating and learning from clay before, during, and after the process of making, is becoming increasingly promising for architectural design exploration in educational settings. As opposed to the traditional notion of hylomorphic model of creation, the paper explores the textility of making approach (Ingold, 2010), where forms arise from force-fields and flows of material within a continuously recurring, improvisatory and itinerant generative process. The paper discusses the process and outcomes of a senior digital design course where students are required to translate parametric models into constructible artefacts that can be physically fabricated using robotic clay fabrication, and to achieve suitable workflows that satisfy both aesthetic and technical requirements of naturally inspired designs. The challenge involves (1) achieving a workable parametric model that can be easily fabricated using robotic production, (2) developing a clear understanding of the material properties of clay as the suggested deposited material, (3) developing an understanding of design-to-robotic production workflows and the necessary programming environments that translate parametric models to the robotic fabrication code, and (4) understanding the constraints of the material properties to develop different iterations of a physical artefact. This entails identifying strategies for modeling and appropriation of models for the robotic fabrication process, and demonstrating a clear workflow of modeling to fabrication, including parametric model adjustments, preparation of model, working with clay mixture, robotic code in Grasshopper, all the way to generation of iterations of models and arriving at a final fabricated outcome. Based on the course outcome, the paper assesses how clay-based parametric modeling results in innovative design solutions and aesthetic explorations that merge digital precision with material sensibility and generates custom architectural elements with tactile qualities and intricate geometries.