Gramazio & Kohler - Architecture and Digital Fabrication
About us
The professorship for Architecture and Digital Fabrication is a pioneer in the field of digital design and fabrication in architecture, founding world’s first architectural robotic research facility in 2005 at ETH Zurich. Their investigations have radically extended the possibilities of architectonics, creating ‘digital materiality’ — a design process whereby architecture is precisely informed through to the level of material, thus enabling a greater and more sophisticated expression of sensuality.
Through the integrated research and teaching activities the professorship has acquired expertise in the interplay of digital and material processes. The discoveries were demonstrated in numerous award-winning designs that utilise profoundly innovative construction methods.
What motivates us
In this project, viable options for the direct application of mobile robotic units on the construction site are explored. Our approach does not just rely on automation but builds upon innovative man-machine interaction paradigms.
The technical requirements of future building processes are growing increasingly complex, and as such necessitate custom solutions; and computer-controlled prefabrication methods offer one such solution to facilitate the fast and cost-efficient manufacture of customized physical components. As a radically new approach to tomorrow's building requirements, a generic mobile fabrication unit can be used directly on a building site, replacing the specialized and expensive stationary machines used in prefabrication processes in the building sector. Uniting the performance of digital fabrication and in-situ construction offers an interesting alternative to the conventional pre-fabrication of building elements. As the robotic unit can handle local specificities and tolerances, this approach allows flexibility and at the same time avoids costly and unsustainable transportation of large building elements.
