Seminar: Rethinking Architectural Robotics, Dr Stefana Parascho, Princeton University, USA

Abstract

Robotics and digital technologies have been changing the way we design and build. But the question today is no longer “What can we do with a robot?” but “How can we use robots for design and construction meaningfully leverage the potential of machines and algorithms to achieve more informed design and construction processes?” We can address this question by engaging with robots and algorithms from a different perspective: exploring the role of technology in the design process and finding new ways of information exchange between designers and engineers.

Robots working cooperatively, humans and robots building together, architects designing along with machines – the presented work explores the various relationships between designers, engineers, software and hardware, and opens up new questions and avenues for expanding the impact of digital technology onto our built environment. From scaffold-free assembly to robots employed for material reuse and computational tools designed to ease interdisciplinary knowledge exchange – the goal is to move beyond the development of material-specific processes and towards strategies for successfully integrating these new technologies into design. Ultimately, this requires the exploration of new roles for machines, new relationships between humans, algorithms and robots, and new connections inside our own and across other disciplines.

Bio

Stefana Parascho is the Director of CREATE Laboratory at Princeton University, USA and now at EPFL, Switzerland.

Stefana studied in Stuttgart and received her Doctorate degree from ETH Zurich, Gramazio Kohler Research. Since February 2019 she is Assistant Professor in Princeton and currently moved to EPFL. Her current research focus lies in the development of multi-robotic assembly processes for architectural applications and integrative design methods for the design of robotically fabricated structures. In her lab, she makes sure that the robots and students don’t get bored. 💃 🤖 🕺

She fights to see more recognition for women in STEM fields and hopes to never get stuck on a fixed research idea.