Digital technologies are changing the relationship between design and construction: with computer models, CAD/CAM, and prototyping, designers can gain direct control of building and construction processes. The ability to digitally model designs, and thus to use those models directly in the context of production, creates a synthesis between design and construction in keeping with the tradition of the close relationship between design and craftsmanship, between the quality of the design and the rules of the craft. The evolution of the culture of design and construction is the underlying theme of this book. The aim is to discuss the direction that innovation is now taking, with a particular focus on today’s cutting-edge architectures. The method addresses the ways in which different societies have dealt with the issues of their age regarding design and construction, the different contributions provided by various techniques, and with them the meanings expressed by the architecture. As building design using digital tools requires specific skills in the fabrication processes and in the languages used by information technology, the book also offers a practical guide to new methods and techniques of managing and controlling fabrication for AEC. A systematic analysis of new skills used in the design process presents an overview of opportunities for architects and engineers. By collecting information on significant projects and analyzing them, the book explores the technical and artistic potential of digital technology. The cases studied are the outcomes of groundbreaking projects which were able to give form and significance to technological research. They show that digital tools are not the exclusive prerogative of large firms but can also be adopted by teams working across small and medium-sized firms – firms which have been able to use informed research to link innovative design with the possibilities offered by digital fabrication in architecture.

Fabricate 2020 is the fourth title in the FABRICATE series on the theme of digital fabrication and published in conjunction with a triennial conference (London, April 2020). The book features cutting-edge built projects and work-in-progress from both academia and practice. It brings together pioneers in design and making from across the fields of architecture, construction, engineering, manufacturing, materials technology and computation. Fabricate 2020 includes 32 illustrated articles punctuated by four conversations between world-leading experts from design to engineering, discussing themes such as drawing-to-production, behavioural composites, robotic assembly, and digital craft.

With the increasing sophistication of CAD and other design software, there is now a wide array of means for both designing and fabricating architecture and its components. The proliferation of advanced modelling software and hardware has enabled architects and students to conceive and create designs that would be very difficult to do using more traditional methods. The use of CAD technologies in the production of physical models, prototypes and individual elements is increasingly widespread through processes such as CAD/CAM, CNC milling and rapid prototyping. This translation of computer-generated data to physical artefact can also be reversed with devices such as a digitiser, which traces the contours of physical objects directly into the computer. This book focuses on the inspiring possibilities for architecture that can be explored with all the different technologies and techniques available for making complete designs or their components.

Author Christopher Beorkrem shows how material performance drives the digital fabrication process and determines technique. He has recreated and dissected thirty-six of the most progressive works of architecture of the last few years, with perspectives from the designers so that you can learn from the successes and failures of each project. Including step-by-step diagrams and using consistent language and the simplest construction techniques, he identifies the important characteristics of each material, including connection types, relative costs, deformation, color, texture, finish, dimensional properties, durability, and weathering and waterproofing to link the design outcomes to form. The book is divided into five parts by material – wood, metal, concrete, hybrids, and recycled – to help you reference construction techniques for the fabrication machines you have on-hand.

Digital Fabrications, the second volume in our new Architecture Briefs series, celebrates the design ingenuity made possible by digital fabrication techniques. Author Lisa Iwamoto explores the methods architects use to calibrate digital designs with physical forms. The book is organized according to five types of digital fabrication techniques: tessellating, sectioning, folding, contouring, and forming. Projects are shown both in their finished forms and in working drawings, templates, and prototypes, allowing the reader to watch the process of each fantastic construction unfold. Digital Fabrications presents projects designed and built by emerging practices that pioneer techniques and experiment with fabrication processes on a small scale with a do-it-yourself attitude. Featured architects include AEDS/Ammar Eloueini, Atelier Manferdini, Brennan Buck, MOS, Office dA, Florencia Pita/MOD, Mafoomby, URBAN A+O, SYSTEMarchitects, Andrew Kudless/Matsys, IwamotoScott, Atelier Hitoshi Abe, Chris Bosse, Tom Wiscombe/EMERGENT, Thom Faulders Architecture, Jeremy Ficca, SPAN, GNUFORM, Heather Roberge, PATTERNS, Ruy Klein, and servo.

FABRICATE is an international peer reviewed conference that takes place every three years with a supporting publication on the theme of Digital Fabrication. Discussing the progressive integration of digital design with manufacturing processes, and its impact on design and making in the 21st century, FABRICATE brings together pioneers in design and making within architecture, construction, engineering, manufacturing, materials technology and computation. Discussion on key themes includes: how digital fabrication technologies are enabling new creative and construction opportunities from component to building scales, the difficult gap that exists between digital modelling and its realisation, material performance and manipulation, off-site and on-site construction, interdisciplinary education, economic and sustainable contexts. FABRICATE features cutting-edge built work from both academia and practice, making it a unique event that attracts delegates from all over the world. FABRICATE 2011, 2014 and 2017 are now all available to download free from UCL Press.

The logics of digital processes in architecture have begun to structure the way that architects design, the way that builders build, and the way that industry is reorganizing. The process of architectural design has become a complex workflow. At the core of the shift toward more expansive forms of digital production within the design and construction industry is the integration of communication through digital networks. The goal is to develop a continuous, easily accessible and parametrically adaptable body of information that coordinates the process from design through a building’s lifecycle. Organized around the key fields of Designing Design, Designing Assembly and Designing Industry, this book is a reference work on digital technologies as key factors in architectural design, fabrication and workflow organization. It presents essays and case studies from some of the leading voices on the topic.

This book gathers peer-reviewed contributions presented at the 2nd RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication (Digital Concrete), held online and hosted by the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands from 6-9 July 2020. Focusing on additive and automated manufacturing technologies for the fabrication of cementitious construction materials, such as 3D concrete printing, powder bed printing, and shotcrete 3D printing, the papers highlight the latest findings in this fast-growing field, addressing topics like mixture design, admixtures, rheology and fresh-state behavior, alternative materials, microstructure, cold joints & interfaces, mechanical performance, reinforcement, structural engineering, durability and sustainability, automation and industrialization.

Bringing together pioneers in design and making within architecture, construction, engineering, manufacturing, materials technology and computation, Fabricate is a triennial international conference, now in its third year (ICD, University of Stuttgart, April 2017). The 2017 edition features 32 illustrated articles on built projects and works in progress from academia and practice, including contributions from leading practices such as Foster + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, Arup, and Ron Arad, and from world-renowned institutions including ICD Stuttgart, Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton University, The Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) and the Architectural Association.Each year it produces a supporting publication, to date the only one of its kind specialising in Digital Fabrication.

Design Transactions presents the outcome of new research to emerge from ‘Innochain’, a consortium of six leading European architectural and engineering-focused institutions and their industry partners. The book presents new advances in digital design tooling that challenge established building cultures and systems. It offers new sustainable and materially smart design solutions with a strong focus on changing the way the industry thinks, designs, and builds our physical environment. Divided into sections exploring communication, simulation and materialisation, Design Transactions explores digital and physical prototyping and testing that challenges the traditional linear construction methods of incremental refinement. This novel research investigates ‘the digital chain’ between phases as an opportunity for extended interdisciplinary design collaboration. The highly illustrated book features work from 15 early-stage researchers alongside chapters from world-leading industry collaborators and academics.