core.form-ula

Robotically-engineered On the Bri(n)ck creates full-scale, habitable space

Students have transformed 4,100 digitally generated and fabricated wooden bricks into two undulating walls that create an engaging hangout space on exhibition in The Pit. Going beyond the model scale and working with the GSD Robotic facilities, students tackled new design challenges presented by construction techniques, material constraints, and structural limitations encountered in a full-scale building. Overall the project hopes to highlight the potential of digital fabrication techniques and the role these have in the education of architects.

The outcome of a synthesis of computer generated design and computer aided construction research under the guidance of Professor Ingeborg M. Rocker, the project’s emerging space and pattern are the resultant of a set of principles (algorithms) applied to a simple rectangular brick module, taking into account its material and technical parameters.

“This is the type of experience for which I came to the GSD,” says student Teresa McWalters. “I hope to see more of this!” Her teammate, Jeff LaBoskey agreed. “This has been my best experience so far at the GSD—generating a digital design, fabricating a model and then building it in a 1:1 scale,” said jeff LaBoskey.

The scale, precision, and vast number of units of the final design scheme necessitated an automated process based on script and robotic construction. Materials, adhesives, work flow optimization, and production techniques were among the many considerations that students researched and tested prior to and during each stage of the process. Ultimately the design manifests the performative potential of bricks, expressed through the wall’s curvature and porosity as it affects the acoustic and visual qualities of the wall-space created. Using digital technology these affects were pushed to a new extreme.

While the students are familiar with the ETH art installation which was also constructed of bricks and exhibited at the most recent Venice Biennale,  the innovations illustrated by On the Bri(n)ck are the algorithm and unique design it produced.

Leading Team: Jeff LaBoskey, Misato Odanaka, Benjamin Franceschi,Teresa McWalters. Coding: Jessica Rosenkrantz, Nervous System; Jesse Louis-Rosenberg, Nervous System; Christian J. Lange, Rocker-Lange Architects. Core Team: Natalya Egon, Ricardo Munoz, Matthew Swaidan, Tory. Wolcot. Team: Masana Amamiya, Sen Ando, Ben Brady, Julian Bushman-Copp, Lindsay Chandler-Alexander, Brad Crane, Theodore Diehl, Elizabeth Farley, Matthew Fiely, Chelsea Garunay, Jeremy Jih, Tessa Kelly, Jeongyon Kim, Jessica Knobloch, Carl Koepcke, Annie Kountz, Eva Leung, Cara Liberatore, Lesley McTague. Paul Merrill, Brian Militana, Yuhka Miura, Jason Phipps, Alicia Taylor, Jessica Vaughn, Ka Yip. Special Thanks: Stephen Hickey,Martin Bechthold. Funding:  Junior Faculty Grant; and Preston Scott Cohen, Chair, Department of Architecture.

via dezeen

Images: Anita Kan

Location:

The Pit
Harvard University
Graduate School of Design
48 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Popularity: 20% [?]