News Archive
July 9, 2024 - Project MA / Final Presentation
On July 9th, we will conclude this semester's design studio, 3D Printing Earth Architecture, with a final critique. We are pleased to welcome Professor Dr. Ena Lloret Fritschi (FMAA, USI Mendrisio) and Felix Dietsch (Positif Studio) as our invited guests.
June 12-13, 2024 - Playing Models - Artificial Intelligence - Architecture - Storytelling
Collaborative Construction - a talk by Kathrin Doerfler at the Playing Models 2024 Symposium, can now be viewed online.
Playing Models Artificial Intelligence - Architecture - Storytelling is a series of yearly symposiums that began in 2022 as a collaboration between the University of Florida and the Chair of Digital Architectonics at ETH Zurich. Currently in its third cycle, the symposium aims to develop a platform to share thoughts on the mathematical, political, and philosophical shifts emerging with the spread of AI and its many faces.
All events are free of charge to attend in person and can be accessed via the symposium's Youtube channel.
June 18, 2024 - Project MA / 2. Midterm Presentation
For the second midterm presentation of this semester's desgn studio, we had the pleasure of hosting Patrick Bedarf (Architected Porosity, ETHZ, Digital Building Technologies) and Joschua Gosslar (Robotic Rammed Earth, TU Braunschweig). They delivered insightful lectures on their respective fields and served as guest critics for our project proposals.
June 18, 2024 - Innovation Zurich
What will the building construction of tomorrow look like? Experts from industry, education, and research answered this question at the specialist event "Innovative Construction Technologies" at the Innovation Park Zurich, with Kathrin Dörfler participating and promoting the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre TRR 277 "Additive Manufacturing in Construction" (AMC). It became clear that climate protection and the shortage of skilled workers require new and innovative solutions.
May 28, 2024 - Project MA / 1. Midterm Presentation
As part of the first midterm presentation of the design studio, we welcomed Sacha Cutajar (Earth Formworks, USI Mendrisio) and Petrus Aejmelaeus-Lindström (Rockprint, ETHZ, Gramazio Kohler Research). The guests presented their research projects and provided feedback on the initial design proposals to the students.
May 21-25, 2024 - ROB|ARCH2024 Best Workshop Award
Our workshop "Collaborative Augmented Assembly: Task Distribution in Human-Robot Collaborative Assembly with Phone-based Augmented Reality" won the Best Workshop Award of the ROB|ARCH2024 conference!
The workshop was led by Lidia Atanasova, Joseph Kenny, Eleni Alexi, Begüm Saral, Kathrin Dörfler, and Daniela Mitterberger, a team from TUM Department of Architecture and Princeton School of Architecture.
For futher information on the workshop check out the conference webpage.
May 21-25, 2024 - ROB|ARCH2024 New Frontiers Paper Award - Runner-up
Our paper “Mobile Robotic Brickwork Disassembly for Material Reuse” won the New Frontiers Runner-up Award of the ROB|ARCH2024 conference! Authors are Begüm Saral, Hanzhi Chen, Stefan Leutenegger, and Kathrin Dörfler from the TUM Professorships of Digital Fabrication and Machine Learning for Robotics of TUM School of Engineering and Design.
Futher information on the conference webpage.
April 23, 2024 - Project MA / Kick-off
We kicked off this semester's design studio titled ''3D Printing Earth Architecture'' with a hands-on workshop focused on building with earthen materials and an exciting excursion to LehmTonErde and their ERDEN Factory in Schlins.
For futher information on the project please check out our teaching section.
April 25, 2024 - Subterrarium
Janna Vollrath presented the research project Timber Earth Slab at the Subterrarium Symposium at the Aarhus School of Architecture on April 25, 2024. Her presentation was part of a diverse program that included research talks and discussions focused on the theme of 'Earth' and its significance.
April 6-8, 2024 - FABRICATE 2024 at CITA: Creating Resourceful Futures
Kathrin Dörfler had the honour of chairing Session 4: Rationalise – Elements and Assemblies of the FABRICATE 2024 conference , hosted by CITA at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen from April 6 to 8, 2024.
The proceedings are now available to download for free through UCL Press and Riverside.
February 27 - 28, 2024 - Timber Earth Slab Project meeting
The second project meeting took place in Switzerland where we visited our project partners Blumer-Lehmann AG and Oxara AG.
We first had the opportunity to see an ongoing Blumer-Lehmann AG project in Basel. In the project, a wooden beam ceiling with a rammed earth arch in between is being produced on site (Hortus ceiling). After the tour of the field production, we went to the construction site to inspect the installed end product. In the subsequent project meeting, many relevant topics and possible solutions were discussed. These will now be examined in detail as the project progresses.
Our meeting concluded with a visit of Oxara AG in Dietikon. We learned more about the current status and development of the product range. The presentation ended in an informative exchange about the material properties of clay based materials.
Many thanks to Blumer-Lehmann AG and Oxara AG for the exciting insights.
December 20, 2023 - Future of Construction 2023 Symposium - Videos Now Online!
With our Future of Construction Symposium 2023 at the Technical University of Munich and Munich Urban Colab we saw, experienced and discussed many ideas by leading scientiests, industry experts and start-ups how the future of construction may look like. We want to cordially thank all contributors, supporters, attendees for this meaningful event, and for all the work and dedication. As a little gift from our side, please find the recordings now uploaded on Youtube Playlist at TUM School of Engineering and Design (ED).
Merry X-Mas and see you in Mendrisio in 2024!
November 24, 2023 - AMC Enters Second Funding Phase
The collaborative project “Additive Manufacturing in Construction” (AMC) explores new perspectives for the construction sector. Research on 3D printing in construction at the Technical University of Braunschweig and the Technical University of Munich will receive four more years of funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Conventional construction processes are characterised by inefficient material usage, high environmental impact, and stagnant productivity. With a growing global population and an increasing demand for housing, the construction sector is reaching its limits. Faced with these challenges, the question for the future is central: How can we create necessary housing and infrastructure with minimal material and emissions? This is what the Collaborative Research Centre TRR 277 “Additive Manufacturing in Construction” (AMC) is researching.
October 25 - 27, 2023 - Research Retreat 2023
In October, our AFAB team gathered once again at theTUM Friedrich N. Schwarz Research Station in Berchtesgaden for a rejuvenating retreat, gearing up for the upcoming season.After a dynamic and exciting year, we dedicated time to bonding through various workshops and social activities, to strengthen our team bond and recharge collectively.
October 01, 2023 - Newly funded research project
Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (FNR) funds a new collaborative research project - Timber Earth Slab (T.E.S.)
As part of the T.E.S project, industry experts from the fields of timber construction and earth building are joining forces with professors from the Technical University of Munich to initiate a fundamental contribution to CO2-neutral construction in multi-storey timber construction.
For futher information on this project please check out our research section.
September 15, 2023 - Future of Earthen Construction Workshop
The Future of Earthen Construction workshop, organised as a 4-hour interactive Think-Tank session, aimed to raise and record key perspectives on what building with earth could look like in the future. Such include the ways of interpreting highly tactile analogue techniques into robotically controlled processes, the implications of material performance and durability and the capacity for upscaling and adapting earth techniques across different geographies. These broad and complex questions were discussed between guests and participants from industry and academia, sharing perspectives and encouraging new interdisciplinary insights.
More details can be found on the website of the workshop.
September 13-15, 2023 - The Future of Construction 2023 Symposium
The symposium provides a platform to discuss novel Human-Machine Teams for Design and Sustainable Construction. Together we will raise questions about how complementary skills—the accuracy and speed of machines and their ability to crunch large amounts of data, jointly with our capacity as humans to solve problems creatively, flexibly, and collaboratively—can affect the ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable development of the built environment. It is a continuation of a series of events that first took place at ETH Zurich in 2022 and is now brought to the Technical University of Munich.
More details can be found on the website of the symposium.
December, 2022 - BFS annual report spotlights the research project "Climate Active Envelopes"
In a move towards climate-resilient urban design, the "Bayerische Forschungsstiftung" (BFS) introduces "Climate Active Envelopes," a cutting-edge project featured on page 46. Leveraging robotic fabrication, this interdisciplinary research crafts site-specific building envelopes, offering sustainable solutions for evolving urban environments.
For the full entry, follow this link!
December 05, 2022 - Symposium “Neues Bauen”
On the 5th of December, Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler will participate in the third part of the symposium "Neues Bauen" hosted by the Chair of Urban Architecture.
More details and access through Zoom can be found on the website of the Chair of Urban Architecture.
October 19, 2022 - Newly funded research project
BFS funds a new collaborative research project - Climate Active Envelopes
We are happy to collaborate with our industry partner Leipfinger Bader Ziegelwerke, and reasearch and design partners Climateflux and studio molter. Together we will develope s a design tool for architects, designers and/or planners to introduce robotically fabricated site-specific and bespoke building envelopes to positively contribute to our urban mircrocimate.
For futher information on this project please check out our research section.
November 10, 2022 - Episode 5 of the Podcast “Baustelle Zukunft”
Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler shares insight into robotics' potential and limits on construction sites in Episode 5 of the podcast Baustelle Zukunft, "Robots on the construction site - colleague or competitor?".
Follow up on the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcast to learn more about the digitalization of the construction industry!
October 23 - 25, 2022 - Research Retreat 2022
In October, we enjoyed a retreat at the TUM Friedrich N. Schwarz Research Station in Berchtesgaden to recharge as a joint AFAB team for the new season. After an eventful and thrilling year and a team that keeps growing, we spent some quality time together at several workshops and social activities.
October 11, 2022 - AdvanceAEC Autumn School
As part of the AdvanceAEC Autumn School, the workshop “Additive manufacturing in construction: In situ retrofitting using AM with mobile robots” was held at the University of Stuttgart on the 11th of October. A testing scenario was set up, in which parts of an incomplete - unfinished or broken - building component were completed by utilizing the AM technology of in-place extrusion 3D printing.
You can find more details on the workshop here.
October 6 - 8, 2022 - Biennale Svizzera del Territorio
As part of the Biennale Svizzera del Territorio, Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler will participate in the round table "House Keeping: From Architecture to the Planet, the Urgency of Care" chaired by architect and urban planner Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, along with architect Anna MacIver-Ek and historian Monica Rhodes.
Details can be found here.
September 26 - 28, 2022 - Design Modeling Symposium 2022
This year’s Design Modeling Symposium „Towards Radical Regeneration“ will take place at the University of the Arts Berlin between the 26th and 28th of September with a keynote speech by Prof. Dr Kathrin Dörfler and a paper presentation on “Collective AR-Assisted Assembly of Interlocking Structures” by our research associate Lidia Atanasova under the topic area "B - Design with Digital & Physical Realities”.
For details, visit website https://design-modelling-symposium.de/.
September 19 - 23, 2022 - Computational Design and Fabrication Workshop Part 3 @ TUB
After two workshops at TU Munich and TU Delft, the third and final workshop of "Computational Design and Fabrication", our cross-university seminar under the Collaborative Research Center "Additive Manufacturing in Construction" (AMC), was held at TU Braunschweig around the topic "Upscaling and demonstrator fabrication". The prototype bridge was fabricated with the great help of our students and collaborators.
We are very grateful to everyone who participated in our research. Thank you!
July, 26 - Design Studio "From AM to Architecture” Final Reviews
The final reviews of our master's project "From AM to Architecture", in cooperation with Prof. Florian Nagler from TUM, as well as Prof. Helga Blocksdorf and Prof. Dr. Norman Hack from the TU Braunschweig, took place on July 26th at the Haus der Bayerischen Landwirtschaft in Herrsching, am Ammersee, with Bruno Knychalla from Additive Tectonics and Prof. Pierluigi D'Acunto as guest critics.
Thank you to our amazing tutors Julia Fleckenstein and Anne Niemann (TUM) and Moritz Scheible (TUBS), our students for their amazing projects, and our guests crits for their participation!
June - July, 2022 - Computational Design and Fabrication Workshop Part 1 @ TUM
First workshop of "Computational Design and Fabrication", our cross-university seminar under the Collaborative Research Center "Additive Manufacturing in Construction" (AMC), has been conducted online at TU Munich around the topic "Computational Form Finding".
On-site workshops on "Small-scale prototyping" and "Upscaling and demonstrator fabrication" will be held at TU Delft and TU Braunschweig, respectively.
June 26 - 29, 2022 - Digital Concrete Conference 2022
The 3rd RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication (Digital Concrete 2022) took place at Loughborough University, the UK, between the 26th and 29th of June. Our research associate Gido Dielemans contributed with a paper presentation on "Mobile Additive Manufacturing: A Case Study of Clay Formwork for Bespoke in Situ Concrete Construction", and Prof. Dr Kathrin Dörfler with a keynote speech about her review paper "Additive Manufacturing using mobile robots: Opportunities and challenges for building construction", alongside acknowledged experts in the area of Additive Manufacturing in Construction.
Photo credits to Loughborough University.
June 10, 2022 - Brick Award 22, Architecture Symposium
As a speaker for the Architecture Symposium of the Brick Award 22 on June 10th, Prof. Dr Kathrin Dörfler was joined by Lina Ghotmeh, Wilfried Kuehn, Lyndon Neri, and Rossana Hu, with Nicole Stoecklmayr serving as moderator. The topic of the symposium was “Architecture: Connecting Nature and Culture”.
The recordings of the lectures and panel discussion can be found here.
April 02, 2022 - Harvard GSD Studio ‘A Moratorium on New Construction’ Final Reviews
On Monday, 02.04, Harvard GSD studio ‘A Moratorium on New Construction’ by Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Alia Bader and Kathlyn Kao will be holding their final reviews with Prof. Dr Kathrin Dörfler on the jury panel alongside Menna Agha, Marija Maric, Stephen Gray, and Rahul Mehrotra. We wish all the students good luck with their presentations!
You can find more details on the website https://stopconstruction.cargo.site/.
April 19 - 23, 2022 - ‘Robot See Robot Do’ workshop at MRAC - IAAC, Barcelona
Between April 19 - 23, the workshop ’Robot See Robot Do’ was held in the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia with the efforts of Kathrin Dörfler and Lidia Atanasova of our team, Daniela Mitterberger of Gramazio Kohler Research at ETH Zurich, and Timothy Sandy of ETH Zurich start-up incon.ai.
The workshop aims to introduce students to XR development and Robotics using an object-aware AR app and a collaborative robot arm and, by doing so, explore the potential of human-robot collaboration for the in-place assembly of complex building structures.
We thank IAAC for hosting the workshop and all the students for participating! You can find more details here.
Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler elected to the ACADIA Board of Directors
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler was elected to the Board of Directors of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) in the recent 2021 elections. ACADIA is an international network of digital design researchers and professionals that facilitates critical investigations into the role of computation in architecture, planning, and building science, encouraging innovation in design creativity, sustainability, and education.
Congratulations to all elected members and we look forward to working together!
November 21, 2021 - Compas RRC Workshop
The Professorship of Digital Fabrication offers together with lecturers from ETHZ a further one-day Compas Workshop. This time Philippe Fleischmann (NCCR Digital Fabrication) will introduce Compas RRC, a Python communication interface for industrial robots, developed on Compas Fab.
Agenda
10:00-12:00: ABB Simulation workshop with Compas RRC
14:00-16:00: Compas RRC demo and hands-on session at the Fabtory
Open Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher for Digital Building Construction
We are happy to announce that our team is growing, and we, the TT Professorship for Digital Fabrication (Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler) and the TT Professorship for Structural Design (Prof. Dr. Pierluigi D’Acunto), currently look for a postdoctoral researcher in the field of digital construction and structural design at the TUM School of Engineering and Design, associated with the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Center TRR 277 Additive Manufacturing in Construction.
Find more details and how to apply here.
November 16 - December 1, 2021 - BE-AM Built Environment Additive Manufacturing Symposium and Exhibition
Lecture by Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler as part of the BE-AM Built Environment Additive Manufacturing Symposium.
Recordings of all sessions can be found here.
BE-AM will be held this year in both physical and digital format. This year's exhibitors and speakers will showcase and discuss work from 11 well-known companies in the industry, 9 universities and 2 research institutions. Highlights include 3D printed habitats on the moon, houses, bridges and street furniture from 3D printers, and printed glass at civil engineering scales.
The BE-AM Exhibition will take place between November 16 – 19 at booth 11.0 E26 at Formnext 2021, Frankfurt/Main and the digital BE-AM Symposium on Dec 1 as part of the Formnext Digital Days from Nov 30 to Dec 2.
Register here for free access.
November 15, 2021, 10 a.m. - Founding Ceremony of the TUM SoED
On November 15th, the founding ceremony of the TUM School of Engineering and Design (TUM SoED) took place with opening speeches, teaser videos of the new departments, and an exciting panel discussion co-moderated by the new dean Prof. Dr. Christoph Gehlen and Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler.
Check out the video recording of the event here.
November 2 - 4, 2021 - Project MA - Excursion at FIT AG
Between November 2 – 4, our project team and students have been hosted by FIT AG and Additive Tectonics in their facilities at Lupburg, Bavaria. FIT AG is an internationally leading industry partner for the additive manufacturing of components, and Additive Tectonics is a subsidiary of the FIT AG to revolutionize construction through 3D printing. We got the chance to see their production lines, workflows, manufacturing processes, and facilities. We are very grateful for their hospitality and inspirational inputs for our Project MA.
Check out FIT AG and Additive Tectonics.
October 26, 2021 - Our new robot arrives
We are happy to announce that finally our mobile robotic fabrication platform "Fabtory" has arrived at TUM after some intensive months of conceptual and manufacturing outreach.
HuMoCap: 3D Human Motion Capture for Cooperative Construction Robotics
Tracking human motion from a potentially moving camera is crucial for many mobile robotics applications in unstructured environments such as buildings sites that involve deployment amongst humans or even cooperation with humans: robots need to understand human actions, and importantly also acquire the ability to forecast future movements in order to safely avoid collisions and/or carry out tasks collaboratively, possibly in physical interaction.
Find out more about the project here.
Winter Term 2021/2022 - Project MA - Bridge the Gap
The research-based design studio Bridge the Gap is carried out as a collaboration between the TT Professorship for Structural Design and the TT Professorship for Digital Fabrication. In the design studio computational tools for structural design and novel robotic fabrication, technologies are used to design and build a lightweight pedestrian bridge at the Deutsche Bundesbank in Munich.
Application:
Please sign up via the Project Market or contact us via mail!
Link to TUMonline
September 15, 2021, 11 a.m. - Online Lecture “Robot Co-Builder"
Professor Kathrin Dörfler invites you to her university-public online lecture “Robot Co-Builder–Human-in-the-loop Computational Design and Fabrication” as part of the so-called "Assessment Centre" after the 2nd year of the tenure-track procedure. She will provide insights into her research and teaching activities at TUM to date as well as an outlook on the coming years.
Since June 2019, Kathrin Dörfler is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Munich, setting up a research group for Digital Fabrication in Architecture. At the interface between computational design and robotic fabrication, Kathrin and her group research collaborative fabrication processes, on-site robotics, and fabrication-aware design. They are particularly interested in exploring the architectural implications of mobile robotics and augmented reality for construction processes. Their goal is to strengthen the integration between architecture, robotics, and fabrication and to facilitate access to technological approaches by developing both interdisciplinary teaching methods and open-source computational design tools.
Join via Zoom:
https://tum-conf.zoom.us/j/63347063391 Passcode: 045186
September 15, 2021, 5:30 p.m. - Opening Ceremony of Design Factory 1:1
Kreativquartier München
Schwere-Reiter-Straße 2h
The Design Factory 1:1 - a research hub of TUM in cooperation with the "Empfangshalle" - extends its existing educational program in the field of architecture and civil engineering through applied studies at TUM. It provides hands-on approaches, implementation and evaluation of innovative concepts and the application of new technologies in the field of building construction and fabrication in one to one scale while cooperating between the faculties within university as well as with external vocational schools, artists and craftspeople
Program:
17:30 - Opening and Welcoming: Prof. Gehlen (Dean of the School of Engineering and Design i.G.), Prof. Dörfler and Prof. Nagler
18:00 - Exhibition of realized projects, music and aperóFree tickets available here
July 20, 2021, 5 pm - LoX Pavilion @ Kunstareal Fest
South lawn of the Alte Pinakothek
LoX, a cooperation between the TT Professorship Digital Fabrication and TT Professorship Structural Design with the Zurich start-up incon.ai, invites people to take part in a collective construction process made possible by Augmented Reality (AR) technology. LoX will be shown for the first time as part of the Kunstareal-Fest in Munich, in which a pavilion will be built collaboratively by students of the TU Munich over the course of two days. The structure will grow continuously and offer visitors different spatial experiences over the course of the construction.
May 18, 2021, 4:15–5:45 p.m.
"Human-in-the-Loop – How Human-Machine Collaboration
Will Shape the Future of Digital Design and Fabrication"
Lecture by Kathrin Dörfler and Romana Rust
as part of the Online Lecture series Talking Matters by Matters of Activity
On Tuesday, 18 May 2021, Matters of Activity will launch the online lecture series »Talking Matters«, in which external speakers from various disciplines are invited by the six cluster projects to provide insights into their research, which is related to central issues of »Matters of Activity«. In addition to researches and students from various disciplines, the lecture series is open to anyone interested in our research.
Access via Zoom:
https://hu-berlin.zoom.us/j/61761755689?pwd=SjN3ckE5NnpEU0VlNHJEZWVyWTNNZz09
Summer Term 2021 - Speaker Series on Mobile Additive Manufacturing, #MAM
This semester, our design studio on Mobile Additive Manufacturing will be accompanied by a speaker series with fantastic guests giving lectures on various topics relating to construction robotics and architecture.
Join us via Zoom ! Passcode: #mam
April 14, 1 p.m. - 2.30 p.m.
Stuart Maggs, CEO, Scaled Robotics
& Carla Matthäus, PhD, cbm, TUM
June 1st, 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Selen Ercan, PhD, Gramazio Kohler Research, ETHZ
& Maria Yablonina, Ass. Prof., University of Toronto
June 22, 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Norman Hack, Jun. Prof., Digital Building Construction, TUBS
& Ryan Luke Johns, PhD, Gramazio Kohler Research, ETHZ
Summer Term 2021 - Project MA - Mobile Additive Manufacturing
In this semester's design-based research studio entitled "Mobile Additive Manufacturing" we will explore how we can use mobile robots for 3D printing on building sites. By combining digital design with mobile robotics, we will explore the design space and implications of this technology on architecture and construction.
Application:
Please sign up via the Project Market or contact us via mail!
Link to TUMonline
March 26, 2021 - Dialogue Series: Kathrin Doefler and Brian Ringley
Robotics Institute, University of Toronto
The Robotics Institute of the University of Toronto is launching a new Dialogue Series, starting with the topic of robotic fabrication in architecture. Under the moderation of Maria Yablonina, Kathrin Doefler and Brian Ringley will present their research on construction robotics and enter into a dialogue with each other and with the audience.
Link to the video recording can be found here!
German Brick Award 2021
The project Climate Active Bricks receives an honorable mention.
April 9, 2021 - Online PowerSKIN Conference 2021 - Simplicity vs. Performance?
We are very happy to see Gido Dielemans presenting the jointly developed publication "Additive Manufacturing of Thermally Enhanced Lightweight Concrete Wall Elements with Closed Cellular Structures" at the PowerSKIN Conference 2021. This research has explored and evaluated the geometric freedom of additive manufacturing of lightweight concrete to integrate increased thermal performance features into mono-material building components.
February 1, 2021 - 1st AAEC Network Member Symposia
Research Insides by the SFB/TRR 277 Additive Manufacturing in Construction
Monday, Februar 1st, 2021, 6.00 p.m - 8 p.m.
Free online live streaming - Register as AAEC member via www.advanceaec.net
Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Ena Lloret-Fritschi, Postdoctoral Researcher, NCCR DFAB, ETH Zurich
Dr. Fabian Meyer Broetz, Head of 3D Construction Printing, PERI GmbH
Winter Term 2020/2021 - Project MA - Participative Digital Fabrication
In this semester project entitled "Participative Digital Fabrication" we will explore how the use of mobile AR technologies allows users to collaboratively build geometrically complex structures solely from instructions via a mobile interface.
For this, we will partner up with incon.ai, a young start-up from Zurich, unlocking people's creativity for construction!
Application:
via TUMonline
Oktober 24–30 - ACADIA 2020 Conference
We are very happy to present our paper "Prototype as Artefact: Open-Ended Collaborative Assembly Processes" at the ACADIA 2020 Conference. "Prototype as Artefact" aims at integrating digital fabrication with principals of craft in order to explore novel human-robot collaborative workflows combining explicit machine intelligence with implicit human knowledge and creativity.
For participating in the conference, please register here! Participitation for students is free of charge!
November 5–6, 2020 - Compas Fab Workshop
R 2350 I Alte Bibliothek & ZOOM
Technical University of Munich
The TT Professorship Digital Fabrication and the Leonhard Obermeyer Center are glad to officially announce the new dates for the COMPAS FAB Workshop with lecturers Gonzalo Casas, Dr. Romana Rust and Beverly Lytle from ETH Zürich. Due to the current COVID-19 situation, the workshop will take place in hybrid mode, both physically and virtually on November 5-6, 2020. The workshop is addressed to PhD students from the TUM Department of Architecture and TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering interested in digital tools for computation and digital fabrication.COMPAS FAB is a robotic fabrication package for the COMPAS framework facilitating the planning and execution of robotic fabrication processes. COMPAS is an open-source Python-based framework for collaboration and research in architecture, engineering and digital fabrication. COMPAS FAB provides interfaces to existing software libraries and tools available in the field of robotics (e.g. OMPL, ROS) and makes them accessible from within various parametric design environments.
Please register for the workshop via email to lidia.atanasova(at)tum.de by October 15, 2020 indicating if you would like to participate physically or virtually.
Attending the workshop will be free of charge. TUM students will be able to receive 1 ECTS, the link to the course will follow.
Climate Active Bricks - Video Out Now!
Climate Active Bricks looks into possibilities for improving the local microclimate in urban areas by creating self-shaded building facades with reduced solar exposure. The project integrates the potentials of computational design, climate simulation and robotic fabrication with the activation of climate-active properties of bricks in building envelopes. Within a design-build summer school in August 2020, a prototype of this concept was produced together with students at 1:1 scale at the Kreativquartier in Munich.
Link to the movie
What is Augmented Bricklaying? Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler in conversation with Kelly Kelch. With a new technology developed by incon.ai, a spin-off of ETH Zurich, local bricklayers in Greece built a 225 m2 facade in less than three months. The highly articulated brick walls show how Augmented Bricklaying combines the advantages of computational design with human craftsmanship and supports a completely new way of fabrication.
Credits: Gramazio Kohler Research
Collaborators: Kathrin Dörfler, Timothy Sandy, Daniela Mitterberger, Foteini Salveridou, Lefteris Kotsonis, Fabio Gramazio, Matthias Kohler, ROB Technologies AG, Kitrus Winery
Summer Semester 2020 - Climate Active Bricks
Welcome to our summer semester module Climate Active Bricks!
As natural or technical phenomena, microclimates are local thermal zones with specific physical and thermal characteristics influencing our level of comfort and experience in urban areas. The local creation of microclimates can be achieved by the careful and purposeful design of spaces by passive heating or cooling methods or by the installment of active technical devices. The research-by-design module CAB will explore the microclimate effects we can achieve with the creation of geometrically differentiated brick structures. We will explore computational simulation methods to support us in the process of design and robotic fabrication to produce architectural prototypes. The module is a collaboration with the Associate Professorship of Architectural Design and Building Envelope and the Chair of Building Technology and Climate Responsive Design.
July 7–12, 2021 - SG2020 Workshop @ Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
Our cluster AHRC: Augmented Human-Robot-Collaboration for Builders will explore object-aware AR technology to enable human-in-the-loop design and fabrication, combining machine intelligence with human tactility and cognition.
Apply here
March 12, 2020 - Public Lecture at RMIT Melbourne: “Towards Human-Robot Collaboration” by Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler
As robot technologies are becoming increasingly smarter, cheaper, and safer to work with, both academia and industry are striving for semi-autonomy: where humans and robots work collaboratively toward a common goal. This lecture will provide insights into how hybrid human-robot design and fabrication methods have the potential to use machine intelligence and robot capacities while at the same time involving the participatory engagement of humans and thus creating mutual gain.
February 28, 2020 - Final Presentations of the Design Research Studio
We are happy to invite you to the final presentations of this semester’s design and research studio "Simple Slab - Design and Robotic Fabrication of Timber-Concrete-Composite Slabs"!
We will start at 14:00h with an introduction by Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler, continue with a talk by DI Ursula Frick, who will give us exciting insights to her work as CAD/CAM specialist for “Free Form” at Blumer-Lehmann AG in Switzerland, and close with the presentations by our students.
In collaboration with:
Tilmann Jarmer I Research Associate at the Chair of Architectural Design and Construction I TUM Department of Architecture
Markus Lechner I Research Associate at the Chair of Timber Structures and Building Construction I TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering
Müller Blaustein Holzbauwerke I Industrial Partner
Invited Jury:
Ursula Frick I CAD/CAM Specialist at Blumer-Lehmann AG
Anne Niemann I Research Associate at Associate Professorship of Architectural Design and Timber Construction TUM Department of Architecture
Prof. Florian Nagler I Professor at the Chair of Architectural Design and Construction TUM Department of Architecture
Dominik Wowra I Head of Sales at Müller Blaustein Holzbauwerke
November 29, 2019 - Symposium on Geometry and Computational Design 6
Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler will speak about “Strategies for Robotic On-Site Construction” at the 6th Symposium on Geometry and Computational Design (GCD 6) in Vienna. GCD is a series of lectures by leading researchers presenting recent developments in geometry, computer graphics, computational design and architectural engineering.
The event will take place on Nov 29, 2019, at TU Vienna, Kuppelsaal. Potential participants are asked to register for the symposium by Nov 25, 2019. Attending the symposium will be free of charge.
November 25, 2019 - Additive Manufacturing in Construction (AMC)
DFG funds new CRC/Transregio at Technische Universität Braunschweig in collaboration with Technical University of Munich!
Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) is a new manufacturing technology that is now introduced in many industrial sectors. If the potential of this technology is transferred to the large scale of construction, new design possibilities and more efficient, resource-saving construction methods can be created. The aim of the TRR 277, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), is to fundamentally investigate Additive Manufacturing in interdisciplinary research for the implementation into construction industry.
The M.Sc. Programm Integrative Technologies and Architectural Design Research (ITECH) is an interdisciplinary, research-oriented, experiment-based programme shaped around contemporary aspects of the built environment and practice. The goal of the ITECH programme is to prepare a new generation of students from different disciplines for the continuing advancement of technological and computational processes in development of the built environment through merging the fields of design, engineering, construction and natural sciences.
September 19, 2019 - Contribution at the São Paulo Architecture Biennale 2019: Care Protocols
Care Protocols, a Mixed Reality Installation for the XII Architecture Biennale São Paulo by Kathrin Dörfler, Romana Rust, Ryan Luke Johns, and Alexander Nikolas Walzer, provides a hybrid digital-physical interaction space that is connected to the act of cleaning. In this space, the most common cleaning devices, namely brooms, act as objects of dual nature. When taken by visitors, they become a magic wand for sweeping the floor filled with virtual rubbish. Care Protocols questions the notion of technology and development as a disruptive force and asks if we can associate it with the notion of maintenance, which deals with cyclicity, care and regeneration. By alienating and gamifying usually invisible maintenance actions, the installation aims to become a playful act of human engagement in our ever-changing and digitally enhanced environment.