Extra-/ terrestrial Architecture
Extra-/ terrestrial Architecture is concerned with the development of design to construction approaches by transferring advanced technologies from terrestrial to extraterrestrial applications and vice versa. The focus is on the integration of advanced computational design with robotic techniques in order to produce highly performative architectural formations operating in a range of extreme to moderate environments. This requires that the design is directly linked to building production and operation relying on Design-to-Robotic-Production-Assembly & -Operation methods developed in collaboration with experts from computer, robotic, and material sciences in the Robotic Building lab.
Extra-/ terrestrial Architecture incorporates robotic i.e., sensor-actuator mechanisms that enable buildings to interact with their users and surroundings in real-time. Their conceptualisation and materialisation process requires Design-to-Robotic-Production-Assembly and -Operation (D2RPA&O) chains that link design to construction and operation of buildings. In this context, design becomes process- instead of object-oriented, use of space becomes time- instead of program-based, which implies that architects design increasingly processes, while users operate multiple time-based architectural configurations meeting changing environmental and user needs.
In this context, D2RPA&O relies on interactions between human and non-human agents. While D2RP links design to robotic materialisation by integrating all (from functional and formal to structural) requirements in the design of building components and buildings, D2RA integrates robots into the AI and Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) supported robotic assembly of components, and D2RO integrates robotic systems into building components in order to facilitate spatial and environmental reconfiguration. Together they establish the framework for robotic construction and operation at building scale.
The main consideration is that the architecture and building construction of the future employ materials and components that are robotically processed, assembled, and operated. Such materials and components rely on in-situ resource utilization as well as discretized and circular design that facilitate the creation of highly performative customizable architectural structures based on combinatorial design of discrete components that have a reduced environmental impact due to the re-/ use of local resources.
Education in Extra-/ terrestrial Architecture is linked with research implemented in the Robotic Building (RB) lab in collaboration with experts from computer, robotic, and material sciences. Research projects such as (1) Rhizome 2.0 funded by European Space Agency (ESA) and Vertico, (2) ArchiSpace funded as Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA), which is part of the European Union's flagship funding programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training of researchers, and (3) Moonshot and Moonshot+ funded by TU Delft Robotics and Space Institutes, Erasmus+, and various inter-/ national partners, are providing the framework for the extraterrestrial context. Furthermore, project (4) Discretized and Circular Design funded by the NL government as part of the sector plans for scientific research and university education as well as various academic partners such as RMIT and U Antwerp, provides the framework for the terrestrial context, however, both contexts are deeply intertwined as robotic, discretized, and circular approaches are relevant for both.
The intertwined nature of Extra-/ terrestrial Architecture is reflected in the MSc 2-4 courses, Interactive Architecture Prototypes and the interfaculty graduation Moonshot+ Lunar Architecture and Infrastructure, which facilitate both on and off-Earth explorations, while taking constraints of respective contexts into account. The goal is to prepare future architects for the challenges of the 21st century, while acknowledging that ±50% of all tasks are expected to be automated, ±45% HRI-supported, and only ±5% remain in human hands.
Movie showcasing discretised wood-based architecture (2022)
Dr. Dipl.-Ing. H.H. (Henriette) Bier
Secretariat
Nathalie Bout
- +31 (0)15 278 93 12
- N.Bout@tudelft.nl
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01.Oost.700
Andrea Degenhardt
- +31 (0)15 278 41 92
- A.K.Degenhardt@tudelft.nl
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01.Oost.700