Digital Studio 2019

Advanced fabrication brings about the ability to perform architectural scale construction on site. This ability challenges the use of prefabricated materials in architecture and calls to rethink construction practices at large. Robotic tools can offer a sustainable construction alternative as they allow the reconstitution of on-site soil into architectural grounds and structures. This brings back to relevance locally resourced materials, as well as historical traditions of earth construction. ‘Locally sourced, Purpose-oriented,’ a digital architecture studio aimed to contribute to this endeavor. In collaboration with Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station (DMARS), a selected site at the Ramon Crater served as an exploration ground. The studio envisioned the construction of a space research analog using robotic tools and native site materials. The students collected and analyzed soil samples from the site and proposed procedural fabrication and assembly construction processes. The process included robotic ground forming, robotic 3D printing, and multiple techniques for production and assembly. The research also involved background research on common Israeli industrial building elements, a visit to a local industrial pavement bricks factory, and a study of their production process. It also included research on historical regional
construction techniques as well as contemporary examples of on-site digital fabrication. Together, these served as a ground for developing visions for an architecture unique to the site, material composition, and purpose and facilitated by multi-scale robotic tools.