Day 10 - TU Delft Robotic Building Faculty
Delft, Netherlands
Arwin Hidding | Guest Researcher
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Today I had the chance to tour the Robotic Building faculty at the Technical University of Delft. The short journey out of Amsterdam took a scenic glide over the green, tulip-adorned plains of southern Holland. I was greeted at TU Delft by guest researcher Arwin Hidding. We had previously met in 2015 during a workshop into adaptive structures at the former Kas-Oosterhuis-led faculty Hyperbody.
Now, Arwin is exploring the potentials of digital fabrication via his PhD research and teaching agenda, where he is using the faculty’s assortment of robotic arms to optimise approaches to additive and substrative fabrication methods.
Materially, Arwin’s work engages with silicone, expanded polyester foam, and timber - from small-scale prototypes to larger furniture pieces. The chaise lounge (pictured) explored a self-supporting cellular approach to silicone 3D printing, and incorporated variable stiffness material properties that enabled a flexible yet supporting furniture system for people. 3D printing without the requirement of support structures - the sacrificial printed material that enables branching of elements - was achieved via custom calculations of the material’s properties, and of how far the silicone layers could stagger without collapsing.
Arwin’s current research investigates how to best embed spatial properties within computationally-derived geometric forms to create better spaces of enhanced wellbeing for building occupants. Strategically placed apertures for even light distribution, shielding of radiation, and optimised acoustic qualities are all elements being prototyped for the potential integration within a future Mars habitat.
The application of Arwin’s work is diverse with speculative implementation across the automotive, medical, and architectural industries. Arwin proposed that we’re right on the precipice of these approaches to architectural design merging with the established built environment ecosystem.
And you certainly gain that feeling during a stay in the Netherlands. Each region of the country is home to an array of industrial-focused digital fabricators who are working hard to provide alternative construction processes for building delivery. Additive manufacturing (3D printing) and subtractive robotic milling are scaling up, and the algorithms created by the researchers and designers at TU Delft are optimising the efficiencies and fabrication-time that drive them.
Perhaps the most promising sign of the benefits to the circular economy and sustainable design is the incorporation of waste products as the base, bio-degradable substrate being explored at 3D Robotic Printing in Rotterdam. The Dutch company has been utilising coffee grounds to create bespoke design outcomes, all while ensuring the robotic arms stay wired and alert from the scent of scorching beans.
In discussion with Arwin, he arrived at the notion that this method of design, optimisation, and the interrogation of a design can translate to a buildable object could lead to a nice ‘full-circle’ moment for the future practice of architecture. One where the role of the architect shifts slightly closer towards that of their predecessors of the Middle Ages. The idea of a contemporary master builder architect - one with the intrinsic knowledge of proven and prototyped ‘bespoke’ building elements, collaboratively challenging the ‘typical’. Not taking the role of the contractor, but adding value to the process with greater input. It’s an exciting concept, but also one that requires a unique composition of contractual obligations surrounding liability and warrantees. An exciting and also difficult path to travel. Hopefully more on that to come..
To keep up to date with Arwin’s research at TU Delft you can follow him on Instagram at @roboticarchitecture or via his website.
