Abstract (long paper)

Typical architectural design is reliant on prescriptive top-down decisions that seek efficiency through simplification. Erection of designs produced in this way depends on specially prepared construction sites and access routes. Such building procedures are destructive and cannot gracefully integrate with existing ecosystems. By contrast, this paper is motivated by the desire to assimilate newly built artificial structures with pre-existing dynamic, amorphous, highly variable and fragile sites. As one of the possible approaches to this challenge, this paper discusses the prospects offered by the utilization of intelligent robots. This discussion relies on an empirical study of autonomous robots that outlines the capabilities necessary for such construction.

• Stanislav Roudavski, Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne, AU

Full text (PDF)  p. 185-189