Archinect - News

ETH Zurich researchers develop robotic process for impact printing earth materials

2024-09-23T12:32:00-04:00

Researchers at ETH Zurich have introduced a new robotic 3D printing method for cement-free low-carbon materials for a circular economy.

Using a technique called 'impact printing,' the team demonstrated a mixture of excavated materials, silt, and clay that was less dependent on additives for its structural strength due to the high-velocity deposition process. Their aim was to "increase the cost competitiveness of sustainable building materials through efficient and automated production."

Image: Girts Apskalns. Copyright: ETH Zurich - Gramazio Kohler Research, Chair of Sustainable Construction and Robotic Systems Lab

First, a custom printing tool was developed that can be integrated on multiple high-payload robotic platforms. The tool was then integrated with a high-payload Gantry system within the ETH's Robotic Fabrication Laboratory. The hardware is also compatible with an autonomous legged excavator system called HEAP, also developed by the Robotic Systems Lab. It has shown...

Francis Kéré and others are attempting to muddy up the rising use of concrete in West Africa

2021-11-22T15:24:00-05:00

Architects, officials, and villagers confirm the trend: People are discarding traditional materials, mostly mud, in favor of concrete, as soon as they can afford it. As living standards increase making concrete more accessible, some of the world’s hottest, poorest landscapes are rapidly morphing from brown to cinder block grey.

Architects like Francis Kéré have been attempting to buck the trend of using concrete by experimenting with upgraded versions of terrestrial materials like mud bricks that simultaneously provide tools for community-building in developing countries like Burkina Faso.

Facade detail of Kéré Architecture's Burkina Institute of Technology. Photo: Jaime Herraiz.

The ancient material is much more heat-adaptable when compared to concrete, which is increasingly valuable in an area whose number of extreme heat days is expected to rapidly increase over the next three decades due to climate change.

“It’s a matter of time, it’s a matter of belief. It’s a matter of political will,” Kéré, told National Geographic. “But there’s a lot of accumulated knowledge now. In 10 years, you’re going to be surprised by our success.”

Examining the International Airport “species” from “In The Unlikely Event”

2016-08-16T20:31:00-04:00

“In The Unlikely Event” by artist Janet Abrams digs into the nature of the fantastical International Airport typology — “a significant species of monumental urbanism, perhaps the archetypal City State of our time”...Created in 2013...ITUE is an ambitious large-scale ceramic installation that showcases the Top 30 of the world's busiest international airports as terra cotta ceramic bas-reliefs, which Abrams molded individually by hand.

Arranged like ancient fossils at a natural history museum, In The Unlikely Event (ITUE) is part two of Abrams' ongoing "A Natural History of Technology" case study series. In ITUE, each airport stands as a physical architectural expression of its home country's ambitions to compete in the global economy.

In The Unlikely Event, view during its US debut at form + concept gallery, Santa Fe, May 27 2016. Photo courtesy of Janet Abrams.

The exhibition is currently at Santa Fe's form + concept gallery until August 22. Read more about the project on Bustler.

Designer Uses Magnetized Clay to Create Radical Forms

2014-07-16T18:22:00-04:00

Magnets might hold mysterious appeal for some, but for Jolan Van der Wiel, they’re just another tool. For the past few years, the Dutch designer has been experimenting with magnetism to shape and create objects like violent looking stools and futuristic couture dresses [...] He envisions that someday—with a big enough magnet, of course—we could use this same principle to shape larger architectural pieces.