(FAB)Bots

(FAB)BOTS. Customized Machines and Robots for Design and Manufacturing is the first of four temporary exhibitions at the FABRICATION LABORATORY, (FAB)BOTS presents a collection of ten projects that explore the continuity between digital design and fabrication through the invention, development and programming of customized fabrication machines. The research, which resulted in this series of robots, demonstrates that by disregarding the optimization normally required of industrial production, it is possible to come up with solutions that can be adapted to different contexts and which are supremely specific in terms of the use of materials.

The projects speculate on the possibility of building customized habitats in remote locations or communities that have limited infrastructure and access to new technologies. In contrast with the standardized, prefabricated solutions traditionally offered, these machines present alternative models of production, economy and sustainability.

The projects investigate the possibility of building customized habitats in remote locations, or communities that have limited infrastructure and access to new technologies. In contrast with the standardized, prefabricated solutions traditionally offered, these machines present alternative models of production, economy and sustainability. (FAB)BOTS. is a selection of projects by students from the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture and the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), developed in two design studios tutored by Marta Malé-Alemany, in collaboration with Jeroen van Ameijde (London) and Victor Viña (Barcelona).

(FAB)Bots Projects

FIBR(H)OUS(E) 


Amrita Deshpande, Saahil Parikh i Akhil Laddha (India)
Architectural Association, DRL v. 12, 2009-2010
Fibr(h)ous(e) explores new solutions for temporary housing through digital design and manufacturing systems. The design is a rapid system, based on the concept of a bobbin winder, for building homes that are self-sufficient and light, that can be put together in one day and are multiaxial and foldable thus allowing for easy transportation.

DREAMWEAVER 


Melat Assefa (Ethiopia), Brian Peters (USA), Joao Albuquerque (Portugal) IAAC (Institut d’Arquitectura Avançada de Catalunya), 2010 
Dreamweaver pirated existing circular knitting machines with an integrated, numerically controlled robot. The objective of the project is to control the knitting machine, so that it can be used for architectural applications, as a fast, in situ construction system.

DIGITAL VERNACULAR 


Shankara S. Kothapuram (India), Mei-Ling Ling (Taiwan), Ling Han (China), Jiawei Song (China)
Architectural Association, DRL v. 12, 2009-2010
 Digital Vernacular explores a design system for the implementation of housing in situ, based on an innovative construction method that uses numerical control devices for depositing paste-like materials, such as clay.

FLUID CAST


Ena Lloret (Denmark), María Eugenia Villafañe (Argentina), Jaime De Miguel (Spain), Catalina Pollak (Chile)
Architectural Association, DRL v. 12, 2009-2010 
After studying the behavior of materials within the logic of digital production, this project explores a technology that hardens material in a phase change that uses water as a catalyst. The goal is to develop a digitally controlled building system, which can form instantaneous structures in the water.

MIMICRY 


Mia Gorretti Layco (USA), Georgia Kotsari (Greece), Tomasz Starczewski (Poland)
IAAC (Institut d’Arquitectura Avançada de Catalunya), 2010 
The object of this project is to use principals of swarm behaviour to create a much more efficient method of production. By creating a system interrelated with; CAD, CAE, CAM, Mimicry presents a new process of production that designs, optimizes and manufactures simultaneously.

SANDBOT 


Joel Letkemann (Canada), Viraj Kataria (India), Fabio López (Colombia)
IAAC (Institut d’Arquitectura Avançada de Catalunya), 2010 
Sandbot explores new modeling processes, that are recyclable and inexpensive, using sand as a mold to produce building components. It was conceived as a portable milling machine, with multiple tools, to sculpt and pressurize the sand and produce complex molds, in which different materials, such as plaster or cement, can be potentially adhered together.

HELIOBOT


Felipe Pecegueiro (Portugal), Jorge Orozco (Mexic0), Kfir Gluzberg (Canada)
IAAC (Institut d’Arquitectura Avançada de Catalunya), 2010
 Heliobot is the prototype of a independently functioning, solar-powered machine for digital manufacturing, in situ. It functions by concentrating solar energy to heat, burn, and cut materials in the process of preparation and / or the construction of elements to be assembled later.

FAB [a]THING 


Jun Huang (China), Jessica Lai (New Zealand), Asim Hameed (Pakistan)
IAAC (Institut d’Arquitectura Avançada de Catalunya), 2010
 Fab[a]Thing is an instantaneous process of design / production in situ, in which the design, the processing and final construction occur almost simultaneously. Conceived as an interactive process CAD-CAM, it gives more control to the end user, since it allows for sketching with an augmented reality interface.

NGPS (Non Gravitational Printing System) 


Ali Basbous (Lebanon), Miquel Lloveras (Spain)
IAAC (Institut d’Arquitectura Avançada de Catalunya), 2010 
NGPS is the prototype of a multilateral deposition machine that deposits droplets of paste-like material (like plaster) in a liquid bath of water and alginate. This chemical solution allows the deposited liquid to form perfectly spherical droplets . The project concept arose from experiments of "molecular gastronomy" by Ferran Adrià, world-renowned chef of the restaurant El Bulli.

PNEUmorphosys (pneumo-morphing-system) 
 


Natalija Boljsakov (Peru), Brian Miller (Peru), Carlos Naranjo (Panama)
IAAC (Institut d’Arquitectura Avançada de Catalunya), 2010
 PNEUmorphosys is conceived as a flexible casing that incorporates an intelligent system of digitally-controlled valves to regulate airflow in a series of separate cavities. The research explores the possibilities of incorporating air into the building process for structural optimization, the distribution if material and as a processing agent.