051-1226-21L  Integrated Discipline Architecture and Digital Fabrication

SemesterSpring Semester 2021
LecturersF. Gramazio, M. Kohler
Periodicityevery semester recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish
CommentEnrolment only possible after consultation with the lecturer.


AbstractThe Integrated Discipline deals with the interrelation between material and algorithmic design. The direct control of production data opens up new possibilities for design strategies that are exempt from the limitations of standard CAD software. The Integration of process, function and design allows for a new approach to the production of architecture.
ObjectiveThe objective of this course is to develop a strategy for a surface structure that incorporates design ideas about space, material and light. The structure can be developed in any suitable scripting language. The procedural logics should be defined through the constructive potential and properties of the chosen material and transform it at the same time in order to achieve a new architectural expression.
ContentWe use the term digital materiality to describe an emergent transformation in the expression of architecture. Materiality is increasingly being enriched with digital characteristics, which substantially affect architecture’s physis. Digital materiality evolves through the interplay between digital and material processes in design and construction. The synthesis of two seemingly distinct worlds – the digital and the material – generates new, self-evident realities. Data and material, programming and construction are interwoven. This synthesis is enabled by the techniques of digital fabrication, which allows the architect to control the manufacturing process through design data. Material is thus enriched by information; material becomes “informed.” In the future, architects’ ideas will permeate the fabrication process in its entirety. This new situation transforms the possibilities and thus the professional scope of the architect.