Professor Ingeborg M. Rocker of Rocker-Lange Architects and students at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA, have used a robot to build an undulating double-wall structure.
The robot arm was programmed to place 4,100 wooden bricks to create complex double-curvature walls.
The project, called On the Bri(n)ck, was a collaboration between the school’s computer-aided design and computer-aided construction departments.
The wall is on show at the school until 30 June.
Here’s some text from Rocker-Lange Architects:
–
“On the Bri-n-k”
Professor Ingeborg M. Rocker, Rocker-Lange Architects – developed with students at the GSD, Harvard University a robotic built wall
May 2009, Boston
The exhibition currently shown at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, presents a digitally generated and fabricated wall consisting of wooden bricks.
The Project is the outcome of a synthesis of computer generated design and computer aided construction research at the GSD under the guidance of Professor Ingeborg M. Rocker.
The aim of the project was to produce a 1:1 scale wall using the GSD’s Robotic facilites.
Going beyond the model scale, and working with the Robotic arm set up new design challenges which were tightly linked to the construction techniques, material constraints, and structural limitations encountered in full scale building modus.
Using a modular unit of the masonry brick the team developed a systematic aggregation creating a wall consisting out of 4100 bricks.
The wall’s double layered running bond varies from a straight line to a maximum undulation, which creates an inhabitable space.
The emerging space and pattern is the resultant of a set of principles (algorithms) applied to a simple rectangular brick module, taking into account its material and technical parameters.
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 had to be 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.
Inspired and advised by Professor Rocker the project became realized through the enthusiastic work by student team leaders, Jeff LaBoskey, Teresa McWalters, Misato Odanaka, Benjamin Franceschi, and the Students of the March1, 1st year.
The teams work was made possible through the coding by Jessica Rosenkrantz, Jesse Louis-Rosenberg and Christian J. Lange, Rocker-Lange Architects.
The studio design by Mathew Swaidan and Jeff LaBoskey served as an initial inspiration for the wall’s scheme.
Overall the project hopes to highlight the potential of digital fabrication techniques and the role these have in the education of architects.
Images: Anita Kan
Location:
The Pit
Harvard University
Graduate School of Design
48 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
May 11th, 2009 at 12:11 am
professors Gramazio- Kohler are doing this at the eth since years…
May 11th, 2009 at 2:18 am
yep, pretty much the same approach as Gramzio & Kohler at ETH
May 11th, 2009 at 2:26 am
… and presented this in the Venice Biennale last year in the swiss pavilion.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:07 am
This is really screwed up…outsch…cheap copycats of Gramazio- Kohler’s work!
May 11th, 2009 at 3:26 am
seems like a robotic eladio dieste ripoff.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:55 am
Actually the first two pictures are my images as you can see on my flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrosenk/3451142784/
they should be credited to Jessica Rosenkrantz
May 11th, 2009 at 6:35 am
wooden bricks……. with a computer and robot…… seen that before with normal bricks at the ETH in Zurich… This doesn’t make a sense, does it?
May 11th, 2009 at 7:25 am
it is nothing new… Look the last biennale swiss pavillion..
The is Eth is already doing this..
please
May 11th, 2009 at 7:38 am
now out of wood…
maybe it is time for the robot to try new tricks. undulating walls are pretty, but once you’ve seen one (*cough*venice biennale switzerland pavilion*cough) you’ve seen em all.
May 11th, 2009 at 7:39 am
WTF?
http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/web/d/lehre/81.html
http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/web/d/lehre/83.html
http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/web/d/lehre/131.html
…
May 11th, 2009 at 8:18 am
true. http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/web/d/lehre/81.html
though they don’t claim anything special, i think it’s good to know some 2 years old history…
May 11th, 2009 at 8:24 am
that was the first thing i thought – about the eth. but i guess someome doing something doesn’t negate others trying and learning about the same technique (as long as they don’t claim to be the first)
May 11th, 2009 at 9:02 am
nice, eladio dieste style…. but the above mentioned is right:
nothing new…. was presented at smartgeometry 2008 my Gramazio- Kohler.
and they are way ahead…
May 11th, 2009 at 9:08 am
dfab at the eth (zurich) started it 5 years ago and do it on-site now.
http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/web/d/forschung/135.html
May 11th, 2009 at 9:09 am
edit: oops. didn’t watch the previous comments.
May 11th, 2009 at 9:37 am
GSD tried to be more swiss then their “inspiration”, building the brick wall in wood !
Check the really amazing and original work of Gramazio Kohler´s studio at ETH:
http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/web/d/forschung/142.html
May 11th, 2009 at 9:50 am
… and eladio dieste didn’t need a robot to build his church in atlantida back in the late fifties.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Ehh, ETH Zurich 2006…
May 11th, 2009 at 10:30 am
yep:
http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/web/e/forschung/142.html
May 11th, 2009 at 10:37 am
As said before, this is beening done at the ETH for years now. They even did it with real bricks and made a building out of it.
Their double curved wall was expositioned at the Vience Bienal this year!
YOu are a bit too late there.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Yes…. as the comment above says, this is not at all original, simply a rather bland copy of what Gramazio & Kohler have done at the ETH in Zurich… they presented it beautifully at a lecture with Frank Barkow at the AA a few months back…. They had done a rather wonderful study into the issues of process, materiality and construction, and have even exhibited the work I believe at the Venice Biennale!
In fact after reading the text, this is uncannily similar… hmmmm… DeZeen Readers, what do you think??
See…. Gramazio- Kohler @ ETH / http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/
May 11th, 2009 at 11:13 am
what the hell… at least they should reference gramazio kohler for their work.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:14 am
yes, and G+K do it much better…
May 11th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Exactly, Gramazio & Kohler have been working on digital fabrication techniques for a lot of time, and they have built several objects and installations with their robot installed at the ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich). http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/
May 11th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Yes, this seems to be a little rip of from the Biennale design from ETH. And with bricks it’s way cooler…have a look http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/web/d/forschung/142.html
May 11th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
the point is quiet simple: how can a robot or caad improve the thinking about construction and the quality of architecture in general? in both mentioned cases, gramazio/kohler and the team around Ingeborg M. Rocker, the results of their resaerch are still in a very early stage of creativity. the potential is much bigger than what they have been producing up to now. the church in atlantida designed by eladio dieste is a perfect exemple: it has been built half a century ago, without computers.
today our best minds are still working on tools instead of open up their minds to real new fields of thinking about architecture. anyone agrees?
May 11th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
the swiss pavilion ar Venice Biennale was entirely about this building method with some great examples…why is this presented as something new…looks like somebody is reinventing the wheel
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/3932/venice-architecture-biennale-08-swiss-pavilion.html
May 11th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
YES GUYS! BUT BUT BUT H A R V A R D DID IT.
That has to count something!?!?!
just ridiculous… another example for the retarded state of design in the US.
Last piece of innovative design dates back into the 70´s (Corvette)!!
Apart from Apple thou…
cheers
May 11th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
ohhh btw:
C H E E R S F R O M T H E E T H
May 11th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
you students should get off dezeen and go back to work. who cares about ETH doing this first? this construction idea didn’t start with them.
this technology is fast becoming mainstream. posting on dezeen helps raise awareness about the impact on these new technologies on architecture. nobody but you cares who did it first and whether or not it was shown at the biennale. thats not the point.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I have to agree with Rodger. I often see people commenting that x designer is just doing what y designer did 2, 3, or 5 years ago, therefore x designer’s work is of no worth. The problem with this is that although the reach of the our knowledge is global, our daily physical experience is not. This is especially true of architecture, since it is not transportable. If y designer had a good idea, it should be implemented in a number of places so that many people can experience it, even if it means x designer making something similar. To say that because ETH did this, Harvard should not do this is kind of like saying that because Apple made an elegant sleek laptop, no one else should make a similarly designed laptop.
The other issue with dismissing this work for having its sample project be similar to ETH’s is that we don’t know the specific algorithms used. Harvard’s may be at an earlier stage but have more potential.
I will agree though that they should have cited their references.
May 11th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I have to say that just because someone had already programmed a robot to stack bricks, it didn’t make it any less interesting for me as a student to figure out a way to do write a computer program for generating the code to run the robot
you should look at the scenario like this. Harvard sees Gramazio and Kohler’s work and buys the robots. Students see the robot but no one knows how to use it so it sits around. Junior faculty member says, hey why don’t we con some other faculty member into giving us money to buy some materials so we can try and make something with the robot. Oh and let’s have it be done in 2 weeks even though we all have school and are 1st year students.
And then some third party writes a press release trying to make harvard look as good as possible but sort of missing the point that yeah, no one thinks this is innovative but they were just happy they got to physically make something and learn a new tool.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
oops…my comments all gone tits up. I wish I had a robot to do this for me, I am a total incompetent
May 11th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I guess what is really REALLY funny, as that separated by thousands of miles, and executing it 2 (?) years apart (their is a lot of exchanges between ETH and Harvard, so they must have known what each other is doing)
BOTH STUDYS LOOK THE SAME!!!
Apart from a brick for a block of wood… but they are both rather the same no??? limitation of the machine and the disconnect between the imagination limited by the computer and the physical world as Prot Says I think….
May 11th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
makes me remember the work of the Uruguayan engineer Eladio Dieste made with bricks.
http://www.mtop.gub.uy/salasaez/dieste/atlantida6.jpg
more + info : http://www.mtop.gub.uy/salasaez/fotosdieste.htm
May 11th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
gramazio & kohler actually make ENTIRE STRUCTURES with the robot, not just walls.
you should see the pavilion they made recently, its far more advanced than this playing around….
http://jargonetcetera.blogspot.com/2009/04/gramazio-kohler-installation-west-fest.html
theyre also pioneering a variety of wall structures and assemblies from many different materials.
May 11th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
bearth and deplazes …
May 11th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
i wish i had access and opportunity to play with robots to make complex double-curvature walls when i was in graduate arch school. seeing this done as a student (not as a practitioner) would open all of us up to newer and disparate possibilities not beholden to client budgets and schedules. well done, first-year students !!!
May 11th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
i dont think anyone has a monopoly on assembling architectural structures with robots. its not something that some swiss guys invented. the swiss invented the cheese and the pocket knife. much respect for that.
May 12th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Uterus plan?
That machine should set up dominos.
May 12th, 2009 at 1:36 am
what do they mean by “first year students”?
As far as i know GSD offers postprofessional & professional master degrees…
In any case the wall is preety good but they should strictly reference G&K work. Moreover they should clearly state what’s their own prototypical contribution to the already existed research agenda.
G&K did it but there is no doubt that someone can work on it and extend it if possible. Unfortunately I cannot see any unique contribution at this work. It’s a pity for such a university.
U.S. universities have a lot to be done in order to catch European state of design…
Try harder!
May 12th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Evolution shows that people often attain the new discoveries within a few years of each other in different places on the planet…it is some kind of idea that we are all connected subconciously. There was once a study about people locked away and given crosswords from a newspaper to do-when they did the one from ‘yesterdays’ newspaper their results were amazing. Its just today that the net allows us to see all too quickly
May 12th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
@kos:
The GSD offers a number of different Masters degrees. For many of them, however, students need no prior design education. ‘First year’ architecture students are indeed often embarking on their first architectural experiments.
ps. check the link given in the Dezeen post. The GSD press release does reference both the ETH studies and G+K’s work at the Venice Biennale. Granted it does try to spin this work as innovative despite these predecessors… Still, I’m glad the GSD is using its robots at an early level and am looking forward to the Surfacing Stone assembly.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Wood-Bricks are very intriguing, however no word in the text about the material itself or the transition of wood as an organic material into the state of either compaction or burning (according to the definition of bricks). What is the point of using wood then? Just to be different from the ETH? Or is it just cheaper? Or do the high-tech facilities at GSD not support ancient fabrication techniques such as brick making at all?
May 12th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
at least double curved
May 14th, 2009 at 1:52 am
not to mention that the form itself is very richard serra-ish.
May 14th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
hey give them a break…they are american afterall
May 14th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
geez…people have been doing this for years…douglas cardinal actually made buildings, instead of art installations, using this principle…and architects before Cardinal have done this too…the only difference is using a robot – which doesn’t really add anything to the process imo…
May 14th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
relax people,
there are a lot of idea clouds floating around in the air, and also in the water, in the dark and in the bright…..
who didnt do anything in their life, only to find out in a couple of years that someone was there before them doing the same or similiar…..??????
let them do it, good exercise…..you dont make money with it, but later maybe with the ability and experience you collect by going for a challenging task…
the wall is nice, also the ETH wall, dont forget, also the CONTRIBUTION of the students, not always just copy paste names of their professors….the credits always go to the profs….
buuuh, juhuu & a ha
May 15th, 2009 at 9:07 am
How many times do you have to voice your misguided blog-o-sphere notions of what constitutes the “new” in order to feel vindicated.
This boils down to some sort of academic inferiority complex vis a vis Harvard on the part of Dezeen readers and the fact that none of them get to play with a bloody robot.
This project must have been very educational for the students involved, even if only to get a taste of the potential applications of robotics to design and in working at 1:1 scale.
I like when Dezeen has posts about work going on in academic environments. Nice work GSD.
Please keep this up.
May 16th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
As T.S. Eliot – an alumnus of Harvard University, is alleged to have once said, “Good poets borrow, great poets steal.” For any designer in this world to make claims of novelty would take great hubris, which is unfortunately often the case in architecture. One could say that Eladio DiEste and G&K in fact copied the serpentine brick walls in the gardens of the University of Virginia by the American Thomas Jefferson (not to be chauvinistic), but this sort of bickering is counterproductive. The fact is that this is an early experiment at the GSD on the capabilities and limitations of robotic fabrication, which happens to have been largely done by first year architecture students in their free time. The real question here should be, if a fledgling group of students with a new (to them) technology, and a limited budget can do this in a few weeks, what could be done with more experience, time and money? I suspect far more than some petty wall installations, even if with all due respect they are in Venice.
May 17th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Interesting, but people… you are discovering gun powder here!, this was done in the mid 60’s by Eladio Dieste. If you want to see true genius in the use of brick and simple component logic.. google The Uruguayan Engineer.
May 17th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
In this case: borrowing means mere copying. “stealing” means incorporation and advancement of previous acheivements. In other words “stealing” means do it your own way.
@.n It is not too sound to support that GSD (Master) students are mostly first-year architecture students. After all, I know some people entered GSD after 6 years of studying architecture. If you take into account that the overall team that build the prototype consists of 35 people (including some experts), then it is not such a miracle.
If a robotic arm can lead only to such a wall type in both sides of the Atlantic, so computational design and parametric architecture can take on very little comparing to what have promised. I hope not!
It is more than obvious that parthenogenesis does not exist and humankind proceed by advancement based on previous knowledge. Academic Practise is not about playing with bloody robots but it regards to prototypical contribution to a field.
The serpentine wall at Virginia University has little connection to what we are talking about(building technology advancement, component-like architecture e.t.c.). This wall is about mere building, expressing aeshetic theories regarding landscape architecture.
Of course GSD do great at crediting the contribution of students.
Finally @ArchStudent, G&K (as well as Dieste) have realised with this method buildings and pavillions not just bienalle art installations.
P.S. if students really get into the parametric modelling of component-wall or in the programming of g-code it will be very useful for them.
May 19th, 2009 at 7:41 am
@G-had “another example for the retarded state of design in the US.”
this is the point for me.
PS i could learn to code too, but then I would be learning IT or something…perhaps it is the future, but i just hope the students have a firm grib on design first, otherwise the product will be alot of what we see from ^coded^architecture at the moment, almost irrelevant. Still all extremes start as just that, extremes…
September 19th, 2009 at 7:36 am
jeesus you design guys are being pricks! enough with the G&K comments blah blah blah, stop bitching and go do something interesting. well done, students, looks great.