Fabrication and Material aware Architecture

How can we build with earth in the global North using digital technologies? And what could such an architecture today look like? This elective course puts forward a unique challenge for students in rethinking the use of earth-based materials in architecture within the Swiss climate. Students will be given the opportunity to interpret the basic building block of masonry construction: the brick, as a new type of 3D printed formwork used in conjunction with two infill materials: Earth and Concrete. Through robotic and hands-on experimentation, the course will investigate the relationship between earth formworks and earthen/concrete infills to explore new ways of building with this traditional material. By learning from the hybrid building systems of earth construction of the past, investigations in digital design can pave the way for improving the lifespan of sustainable earth buildings and provide new avenues of tectonic expression. 

Students will be encouraged to explore the:

1. role of earthen material as formwork for architectural structures.
2. use of concrete or castable earth, as infill to the formwork, considering the overall performance and durability of the elements.
3. implications of designing earth architecture in the global north. 

The students will develop an understanding of:

1. The history of earth building 
2. A holistic architectural design process from design to production, namely:
   1. Digital design, adjusted to the fabrication and material constraints.
   2. Digital Material processing 
   3. Analogue casting procedures using poured earth and concrete.

• Indusrty, innovation and infrastracture
• Sustainable cities and communities
• Responsible consumption and production

In presence

A base series of lectures led by the FMAA team will equip the students with the fundamentals of digital earth construction and material processing. These lectures are subsequently backed by several guest lectures who will: further highlight the value of earth as a rich building material for the global north via personal experiences, explain special techniques for manual and mechanized processes alike, and showcase sustainable construction processes for earth-based materials/ concrete within the architectural context. 

Coupled with two assignments, the final exam will consist of a presentation, bringing together all the findings, insights and design iterations that have been explored along the way. This will include: 

1. Rationale and conceptual drawings of the envisioned brick unit and its jointing system.
2. 1:1 Drawn and 3D-Printed/cast Details of the assembly system to demonstrate the handling of both formwork and infill (including design iterations) 
3. Scaled models of the larger architectural configuration. e.g. wall or column or combination of both as a space.

• Pfungen, 20.09.23 - 20.09.23 (Compulsory)