At the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, students taking part in a Graduate Architecture Program seminar developed by U Penn Professor Ezio Blasetti have found a way to complete work fabricating design projects despite not being able to physically access the school's fabrication facilities. 

As part of Blasetti's Computational Composite Form Computational Design & Carbon Fiber Robotic fabrication seminar, faculty and students were able to control digital fabrication robots in the school's new Advanced Research & Innovation Lab remotely through a suite of remote access tools provided by Dropbox. 

According to the school, "This quick adaptation may signal new ways that universities will need to reimagine learning experiences. With the shape of the fall 2020 semester deeply uncertain, universities may be turning to similar structures to meet studio and practical learning requirements. Given the long term trend towards remote work and robotic fabrication in construction, this may turn out to be a more practical education than an isolated exercise."

The work is developed as part of the Composite Form research initiative led by Blasetti and U Penn lecturer Danielle Willems that aims to merge algorithmic generative design methods and the use of carbon fiber in robotics for architectural design, according to the project's website. The research endeavor is crafted in collaboration with "creative collaborative agency" Via Domani and carbon fiber fabricator Lemond Composites. The research, according to the designers, "focuses on the intersection of computation, form generation, simulation, and robotic fabrication. The objective is to develop and document specific computational tools and material prototypes than span across design phases, from concept to fabrication."

Blasetti's students are engaged in work that, additionally, will be exhibited in the upcoming 17th International Architecture Biennale in Venice. The Biennale was originally scheduled to start in May, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, its start date has been pushed back to August 29, 2020. 

The Composite Form contribution will be joined by a collection of design enterprises from the Weitzman School, including installations created by Weitzman School Architecture Chair Winka Dubbeldam and Associate Professor of Practice Ferda Kolatan.