Intelligent fabrication - Workshop & lectures

The workshop will address real-scale construction with … straw. Straw has seen a revival in its use for residential buildings as a low-carbon alternative to other construction methods. The workshop will explore the architectural possibilities of using discrete straw bales as building blocks in combination with AI-based methods such as Image GAN’s. To enhance the exploration of possibilities, the students will employ digital workflows for the design, optimisation and manufacturing processes. Can AI help us design a new future using age-old materials? How can traditional low-tech methods be combined and enhanced by new approaches to design and manufacturing? How can calculation methods and digital design be made more robust and closer to real problems by scale 1:1 experimentation? The workshop tries to offer bridges for the gap between theoretical knowledge and 1:1 scale experimentation.

Students will explore parametric modelling via Karamba 3D, a structural analysis tool implemented in Grasshopper's visual programming environment, running in Rhinoceros 3D. In parallel with the digital explorations, they will exhaust the material and test prestressed straw and timber connections to ultimately prototype and assemble a villa with a swimming pool. All projects will be structurally evaluated and receive a carbon footprint assessment for optimisation during conception.

In parallel, a lecture series will host outstanding academics and practitioners involved in the field of digital fabrication, discretised architecture, low-carbon construction methods and parametric geometry.