Axel Kilian

Design Approaches Through Augmented Materiality and Embodied Computation

With the increase of research experiments engaging the potential uses of industrial robotics in architecture, it becomes necessary to categorize the components of these exercises within a number of directions and motivations which can be related in the field, and to their larger consequences within the architectural discipline. In this chapter, we present a number of approaches to robotic design/fabrication exercises that deal with information, interactivity, and material dynamics. We outline the concept of ‘informed operator’ fabrication, in which computer numerical control (CNC) is used as a means for providing information to the operator in addition to the conventional use of providing instructions to the machine. Building upon this, the concepts of embodied computation and augmented materiality are discussed within the context of robotic manipulation. Embodied computation is introduced as enabling a protraction of the design/fabrication sequence beyond the scope of digitally controlled tools, such that robotic or human actions trigger ongoing material responses. Augmented materiality is presented as the human occupation and influence upon this “material in the loop” procedure, as enabled through interactive and digitally mediated interfaces.

Conceptual Design of a Single-Crease Origami-Arc Inspired Movable Footbridge Structure

Origami, the craft of folding paper, has been a source of inspiration for developable foldable systems in various engineering disciplines. Origami-inspired segmented plate systems result in lightweight and stiff structures that change shape by folding. With curved-crease origami, a three-dimensional change in shape can arise from a single fold mechanism. In this paper, the curved-crease mechanism of a single-crease arc is investigated as the driver for the conceptual design of a movable footbridge. The folding mechanism is investigated using particle-spring models and small-scale physical models. The structural feasibility of a 40 m radius curved-crease origami-inspired movable footbridge is investigated using finite element analysis. Static analysis and sizing according to US footbridge design code are presented for the critical configurations of the footbridge. Results show that the footbridge can meet typical civil engineering design criteria and illustrate the potential of curved-crease folding mechanisms to inspire the development of movable structures.

Material driven design for a chocolate pavilion

This paper presents a study of chocolates structurally unusual material properties and a parametric design-to-construction approach for an architectural chocolate pavilion. Chocolates rheological properties suggested exploration of four structural typologies: a pneumatic form, an inverted branching form, a saddle form, and an inverted hanging cloth form. Material tests revealed a compressive strength/weight ratio 24 times smaller than standard concrete. To use unreinforced chocolate, this restriction dictated a form with minimal bending: an inverted hanging shell with voids. An integrated form-finding, void-optimization and mold layout process was employed to minimize self-weight. Pre-casting planar pieces allowed for best control of material quality but added further design constraints. Prototypes demonstrated how the parametric workflow allows design exploration driven by adjustable material constraints, further integrating design and construction into an interdependent process. Determination of structural properties of compound chocolate.Physical exploration of material appropriate structural systems for chocolate.Parametrically integrated design-to-construction process for free-form chocolate shell structures.Integration of material specific structural, manufacturing, and construction constraints into the design process.

Designing Natural Wood Log Structures with Stochastic Assembly and Deep Learning

Advances in contemporary 3D scanning and bespoke robotic technologies have enabled architectural structures to be directly constructed from naturally grown wood. However, design precedents using natural wood logs are still dominated by design approaches using predefined geometric models. The limit of this approach lies in the necessity to model the form of every structural member based on the captured geometries of all the materials before design begins. Moreover, human designed rules for joining irregular components are limited and solutions are prone to be limited by empirical knowledge. In this paper, we introduce a method for assembling natural wood log structures with higher goals autonomously using robotic stochastic assembly and deep learning. The novelty of this method is that the design of structures does not rely on prior-knowledge of the to-be-assembled materials but is generated by assembling materials iteratively. A vision system with a position suggestion network based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) was implemented and trained to drive an industrial robotic arm for negotiating between the topological changes from potential connections and the local assembly constraints of the log. A robotic hand-eye coordination database recording the assembly of birch logs has been established and small-scale wood structures were built by the trained robot. Results show that our robot can find desired structural configurations autonomously and can assemble unfamiliar batches of wood logs. The cost and gain of using stochastic assembly and deep learning as a design strategy are discussed and future research on using different learning strategies and large-scale implementations are laid out.

Prototypes as Embodied Computation

The development of computational constructs that span the physical and digital realm opens up a new domain referred to here as embodied computation, a term introduced in my research at Princeton University. The role of prototyping is shifting from that of the confirmation of design assumptions in the early design stages to that of the embodiment of a design idea deployed into the world at large and continuously tested and updated digitally and if necessary physically throughout its lifetime. Feedback and control based on sensors and network-based information is enabling relatively simple mechanical structures to perform a wider range of tasks. There is a shift from mechanical complexity towards algorithmic complexity resultant from this change in many areas. In this article a number of prototypes are discussed in developing the concept of embodied computation through material and actuated constructs.

Developing Architectural Geometry Through Robotic Assembly and Material Sensing

Advances in robotic fabrication and computational geometry have opened up new possibilities for including robotic assembly and material selection into the loop. We introduce a method for computing and constructing architectural geometry through the negotiation between the design intention and the constraints of assembly and materials. A small scale experimental structure has been modeled and partially built from EPS foam sheets, using an industrial robotic arm to pick, cut and subsequently assemble the components of the structure. To reduce waste, a sensing procedure was developed to generate component based on the form of the found material piece and fit it in the existing structure, similarly to how the Caddisfly Larvae builds its cocoon exclusively with found material. We aim to investigate how the sensor enabled waste control can potentially adjust the form of the assembled structure.

Steering of form—New integrative approaches to architectural design and modeling

Architectural applications have received increasing interest from the Geometric Design and Computer Graphics community in the past years, mainly in connection with problems related to the design and fabrication of large-scale architectural freeform structures. New challenges in modeling arise through a new understanding of the relation between architectural design, material properties and structural behavior. It becomes increasingly evident that the state-of-the-art 3D modeling tools are not sufficiently well-suited to solve these challenges. New tools that integrate shape, design, function, structure, and fabrication have to be developed. This special issue sought to publish the most innovative and advanced research results in this new field. It aimed at bringing material and physical constraints of structural design andmaterial implementations into the CAD community, and to stimulate research in this direction. We were looking particularly for alternatives to the topdown descriptive approach to modeling and hierarchical associate parametric modeling in favor of the integration of solvers to achieve multiple goals related to constructability and structural form finding. Of particular interestwere approacheswhich achieve this in a design exploratory way and encourage the development of processes that support design intent and intervention in these processes. The issue consists of six unique and strong papers addressing a variety of aspects relevant to informed computer-aided architectural design. Deng et al. present a novel numerical solver for constrained optimization which forms the core of an interactive tool for shape exploration of architectural freeform structures which are subject to geometric constraints imposed by material, function or fabrication. Williams et al. describe the theory of isotropic membrane stress under gravity load and employ a particle method for its numerical simulation to form finding of shell structures. Fivet and Zastavni present a geometric approach for interactive, constraint-based structural equilibrium design that allows the identification and visualization of solution domains and the possibility of switching dependencies for specific elements of graphic-statics constructions. Jordan et al. describe the selection, definition and implementation of amethod for the design and construction of structures using a novel material: in this case chocolate, forming a part of a growing discourse where computational methods increase the feedback between form generationmethods, material properties and fabrication constraints. Senatore and Piker present a series of design tools for intuitive form finding in the context of design and education by extending real-time physics into structural design analysis. Reichert et al. describe their biomimetic design approach to fibrous structures similar to those found in exoskeletons of lobsters using a fiber laying robotic fabrication process for a research pavilion at the ICD Stuttgart. We take this opportunity to thank the editors of ComputerAided Design for having invited us to edit this issue. It is a great opportunity to bring our field of research and practice to the attention of a newandwider audience. Last, wewould like to thank all contributors for being part of this special issue andwriting highquality papers, but also all reviewers whose comments helped to improve the papers significantly.

Erzeugung eines digitalen 3-D-Modells

Wir alle haben schon digitale Architekturmodelle von groser Komplexitat in verschiedenen Darstellungsformen gesehen. Aber wie beginnen wir? Wie konnen wir unsere Ideen mit Hilfe eines Computers verwirklichen? Was sind die geometrischen Grundlagen, die es uns ermoglichen, ein digitales dreidimensionales (3-D-) Modell zu erzeugen? Viele Werkzeuge und Prozeduren fur die Erstellung von 3-D-Modellen werden von modernen CAD-Systemen (CAD steht als Abkurzung fur Computeraided Design) zur Verfugung gestellt. Um die existierende Software effizient einzusetzen — und um daruber hinausgehen zu konnen — ist ein gutes geometrisches Wissen notwendig.

Polyeder und polyedrische Flächen

Polyeder und polyedrische Flachen sind geometrische Objekte, die durch ebene Facetten begrenzt werden. Sie sind von fundamentaler Bedeutung fur viele Modellierzwecke und werden auch gerne in der Architektur verwendet (Abb. 3.1) Open image in new window Abb. 3.1 Polyeder und polyedrische Flachen in der Architektur. Links: die offentliche Bibliothek in Seattle (1998–2004) von Rem Koolhaas und Joshua Ramus. Rechts: Teil des Glasdachs im Dubai Festival Centre (2003–2007) von Jerde Partnership und HOK (Bild freundlicherweise zur Verfugung gestellt von Waagner-Biro Stahlbau AG). . Tatsachlich enthalten die meisten architektonischen Werke polyedrische Flachen, denn ebenflachig begrenzte Teile lassen sich leichter bauen als gekrummte. Wir beginnen mit klassischen Polyedern, wie Pyramiden und Prismen, die durch Extrusion eines Polygons erzeugt werden konnen. Um zu verstehen, warum nur wenige Polyeder mit lauter kongruenten, regularen Polygonen gebaut werden konnen, studieren wir platonische und archimedische Korper und ihre Eigenschaften. Einige archimedische Korper konnen auch erzeugt werden, indem wir die Ecken von platonischen Korpern abschneiden. Einer der platonischen Korper, das Ikosaeder, dient uns als Grundpolyeder, mit dessen Hilfe wir geodatische Kuppeln erzeugen.

Kurven und Flächen

Kurven und Flachen treten in vielfaltiger Weise in Architektur, Kunst und Design auf (Abb. 7.1) Open image in new window Abb. 7.1 Kurven und Flachen sind Grundelemente der Architektur. (a) 30 Street Mary Axe (1997–2004) in London von Norman Foster. . Die Kenntnis grundlegender Konzepte fur Kurven und Flachen ist auch fur das Verstandnis der folgenden Kapitel sehr wichtig. Aus didaktischen Grunden wollen wir dabei zuerst Kurven studieren, einschlieslich ihrer mathematischen Beschreibung.