My first Publication Arup_BuildingDesign2020_v2 | Page 30

Contour Crafting is a rapid prototyping
technology which uses a quick-setting
concrete-like material to rapidly build
structures with included structural
components, plumbing, wiring and fixtures,
achieving significant reductions in both
Case Study: Digital Timber Construction
material waste and construction process
emissions.
Koshnevis’ adaptation of computer-
controlled mold printing has significant
implications for the AEC industry as a
whole, particularly with regard to climate
resilience, as the technology could be
used for affordable housing or automated
rebuilding in the wake of natural disasters.
Early evaluations by NASA indicate potential
applications for contour crafting in lunar or
exoplanetary base construction.
Location / Business: Behrokh Koshnevis /
University of Southern California for
public use.
New methods of fabrication
This wooden roof structure for a university
architecture lab would be impossible to
build by hand. Gramazio & Kohler’s design
consists of more than 45,000 individual timber
elements, woven into a complex, free-form
design via automated digital fabrication.
The combination of cutting-edge
digital fabrication technology with a local,
sustainable resource points the way to a near
future where simple, renewable materials
are given new aesthetic and structural
possibilities through intricate assembly
methods. The project showcases an end-
to-end digital planning process, connecting
design, structural analysis and construction
processes.
Location / Business: Gramazio & Kohler,
Architecture and Digital Fabrication,
ETH Zurich. The Sequential Roof, Zurich,
2010-2015 Client: ETH Zurich Building and
Constructions Infrastructure Division
A combination of smart and sustainable materials,
new software and advanced tooling techniques will allow
construction methodologies such as prefabrication to become
an increasingly interesting design possibility. As off-site
construction is engaged in a larger proportion of projects,
design paradigms will evolve to enable this process, reducing
waste and increasing efficiency. Building-scale fabrication
will come to be characterised by an increasing departure
from traditional, labor-intensive on-site processes.
The trend of design for digital fabrication presents
opportunities not to merely execute traditional designs more
efficiently, but to experiment with new design paradigms and
structural forms unimaginable using traditional approaches.
Design for digital fabrication has natural affinities for
BIM and parametric design methods, allowing advanced
geometries to be explored and modified to suit a given
project. Novel methods of additive and subtractive fabrication
unlock the potential for new geometries impossible with
traditional methods of design and fabrication.
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Case Study: Contour Crafting
Building Design 2020
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