Innovative Construction Systems: New Design Aesthetics Through Competitive Realization Processes

Introduction

This chapter describes the original contribution developed by the author with the help of his team (E.Gamba, M.Sangiorgio, D.Cucchi, M.Dragoljevic) regarding the digital design and production processes of three construction systems, specifically:

• 1.

  Robotic manufacturing system for mass-customized insulated wall panels;

• 2.

  Responsive louvers system for adaptive façades;

• 3.

  Topology optimization system for spatial structures.

Several models and prototypes have been built in order to validate the assumptions. The experiments draw attention to how digital technologies generate the efficiencies for mass customization of real world building systems.

This research demonstrates how digital fabrication can establish a loop between physical performance aspects and the development of a custom design system.

By integrating digital fabrication technologies into the design and production process, novel forms of architectural materialization can be explored.

The chapter begins with a description of the state of the art regarding contemporary design, manufacturing and assembly strategies; it is subsequently organized in three sectors, describing each system.