Architecture and Design for Industry 4.0

The contribution offers an overview of the key concepts of Industry 4.0 and the application of enabling principles and technologies in the AEC sector. In this sense, the most promising possibilities offered by the fourth industrial revolution are analysed, hinging them inextricably around the theme of sustainability, in the broadest sense of the term. Furthermore, the chapter addresses the issue of the transition towards the emerging Industry 5.0, proposing a refocusing of technological advancement in a human-centred and planet-oriented key. Moreover, the foundations are laid for a broader discussion around the issue of training the professional figures who will be called upon to manage such complex, interrelated, and systemic processes. What is prefigured is a new professional figure capable of managing the entire design process with a systemic vision through which human sciences are merged with technological research, embedded into a holistic vision necessary for guaranteeing a future of prosperity and economic progress while ensuring a sustainable tomorrow for our planet.

Design sits prominently at the heart of the circular economy and requires us to rethink everything: from products, to business models and cities. Since everything that surrounds us has been designed by someone—the clothes we wear, the buildings we live in, even the way we get our food—and mostly according to the linear model, almost everything needs to be redesigned in accordance with the principles of the circular economy. Circular design process comprises human-centred and performance-oriented approaches. Extending the life of a product allows it to remain in use for as long as possible, and may involve designing products to be physically durable or require innovative approaches that allow the product to adapt to a user’s changing needs as time passes. Digital Design plays a crucial role in achieving quickly and efficiently, quality architectural projects both from the users’ point of view and from a global perspective as it closes the loop of material flows.

The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector is experiencing an intense internal transformation, triggered by two topics that must be addressed for assuring a prosperous future of the industry. Specifically, on the one hand, the actors of the AEC sector need to commit themselves towards sustainability, in order to reduce the significant impacts that the industry causes on the environment in terms of pollutant emissions. On the other hand, work practices must be reviewed for improving their actual scant efficiency, which results for AEC sector in a very low productivity rate with respect to other industrial sectors. To ensure long-term business continuity based on the two pillars of productivity and sustainability, AEC actors are considering a deeper use of Industry 4.0 into their businesses. In fact, Industry 4.0 technologies are recognized to have positive impacts on both operational and sustainability performance in the AEC field, so much to determine the birth of the new Construction 4.0 paradigm, which is fascinating although scant adopted. In this context, the following chapter aims to analyze the changes that some of the most cutting edge and revolutionary technologies of Industry 4.0 bring in three phases of the construction life cycle. Specifically, the chapter explores how such technologies allow to address productivity and sustainability issues during the phases of architectural and design planning, works’ execution, and support processes management, acting as levers for building more efficient and sustainable constructions.

The introduction of robotic construction methods in the building industry holds great promise to increase the stagnating productivity of the construction industry and reduce its current carbon footprint, in considerable part caused by waste and error in construction. A promising aspect is the implementation of integrated CAD/CAM processes where the design intent -expressed in CAD- is directly translated in machine instructions (CAM) without loss of information or need for intermediate translation and refactoring. As the introduction of robotics will hardly spell the disappearance of human workers, a key challenge will be orchestrating human-machine collaboration in and around the construction site or fabrication plant. Our contribution presents explorations in this field. Key to our approach is the investigation of the above-mentioned questions in conjunction with Mixed Reality (MR) interfaces to give access to both human and machine workers to the same dynamic CAD model and assembly instructions. This paper describes our work in this field through two artistic installations and ongoing research on additive manufacturing enabled construction. We probe principles for precise, customised, efficient, almost waste-free and just-in-time productions in the construction sector.

This paper will describe the case studies of Design-Build projects to discuss the use of digital and computational technologies as facilitators of a new role in AEC process, devoted to establishing the “missing chain” in the AEC sector, too often affected by fragmentation in several, conflicting actors. The “Design Mentality”, by nature oriented at synthesis, and at bringing topics together can be the most effective “productivity boost” for the sector, but it needs a change in relationships and a different framework of responsibility. The architect needs to enjoy the management role, that means “make things happen”, designing the context in a wider sense, including the selection of partners, of companies, packages, and solutions, and establishing the right “rules for form” that can keep the project identity. The “wireframe method” will be discussed as a geometrical method to manage the deployment and aggregation of parts in an adaptive process.

This contribution proposes a reflection on the evolution of the professional figure of the architect thanks to the implementation of technologies brought by the fourth industrial revolution. Technology has continually transformed the architect, expanding his skills and potential through digital fabrication tools: these allow the figure of the architect to be elevated from a simple designer to a complete realizer of the work. The contribution is divided into three parts: the first investigates, in a critical key, how technology has been a constant that has assisted human evolution in its various phases, modifying, changing, evolving and, perhaps in some ways, dis-evolving man; the second part proposes to present the definition of the new professional figure of the architect, fruit of the progress brought about by technological evolution through the application of digital fabrication tools in the management of the architectural process; furthermore, among the new tools that enhance the figure of the architect, we can now register the impact of artificial intelligence. This can represent a new starting point in the reflection of the design process, making an essential contribution to what comes before the project itself, that is, the creative phase.

What will be the future of architecture? Architecture is among the major culprits of the CO2 emissions that cause the current ambiental crisis. The discoveries of coding, digital design and digital fabrication—including topological optimization, reactive skins, and lightweight technologies such as 3D printing of natural and environmentally friendly materials—are essential to finding an alternative path to those used so far. A road that not only addresses the “technical” issues of the climate crisis but is capable of proposing a new vision of the world, a spatial system that is structurally, physiologically and symbolically based on the concept of coexistence, of symbiosis, between the world of man, the house of man, and the rest of the biosphere. The work on biomaterials from the digital fabrication world assumes crucial importance in this perspective. It is the first research capable of demonstrating that the inert envelopes of architecture can become organisms and no longer in a metaphorical key: buildings like trees programmed to become skyscrapers, houses like pods and fibres that transport people by capillarity along with water and nutrients. Energy from domesticated photosynthesis processes, eyelids and hairs that grow to shield excess light. Architecture that reconfigures itself as a living form similar to what already happens in nature for the calcareous secretions that we call shell. Yet before we can indulge ourselves in transforming architecture within these new ways, there are at least two issues that cannot be ignored so as not to repeat the mistakes made by Modernism a hundred years ago.

Ten years after the first conceptualisation of Industry 4.0, we took part in the largest ITC experiment ever conducted. When during the quarantine, governments chose digital as the exclusive means for education and work, revealing its inclusion limits. Issues that also affect architecture, and in the perspective of the sustainable development of our role, force us to think about inclusivity, starting with the tools we use. When considering the fragmented panorama of software, it is possible to make a distinction according to a gradient going from proprietary to open-source. The latter guarantees the greatest inclusivity and is a requirement for architectural design to continue to develop within the horizon of research. As described in our article, open-source is already alive and present in contemporary architecture, and its contributions can promote quantitative and qualitative turning points. There is a clear tendency to distrust open-source tools: a condition that, in the perspectives stimulated by the industry 4.0 enabling technologies, risks placing architects in an eccentric position on the project. Based on these observations, our article reconstructs the diffusion of open-source tools and formats, outlining the contributions and possibilities ensured by an effective knowledge exchange: a condition necessary to keep the architecture as research, shared and comparable. Interviews with architects with extensive experience in digital tools enrich the article in a path that highlights problems caused by proprietary software, and the solutions promoted by designers who are already aware of the need for open-source tools in the AEC industry.

The chapter discusses the processes of a designer’s reflection-in-action when employing simulation-based design tools. It revisits Donald Schön’s seminal work on the Reflective Practitioner, considering the current technological mileu where simulations of physical or environmental behavior educate future architects on how to reflect in action during the design process, rather than analyzing and modifying their design a posteriori. Schön argues in favor of the idiosyncratic element in design decision making which is based on practice. Hence, the digital practitioner of our times develops an intuition and knowledge that derives from the exposure to simulations and computational tools. The chapter will expound on processes of experiential learning in architecture and discuss the findings and experiences from architectural studio case studies that employed computational tools for form-finding to provide real-time feedback on the behaviour and geometry of the projects. The curriculum aimed at combining teaching strategies, digital media and design processes towards the objective of educating the reflective digital practitioner of the future.

This contribution describes an operative research activity within the teaching of digital design and fabrication to Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) artisans. The didactic approach described arises from the lack of academic paths thought for AEC’s artisans, highlighting the reason why this aspect is relevant for both the AEC and the artisanal fields. In particular, the article reports a research project carried out by two artisans who attended the C.E.S.A.R. Course, an annual university course organized by the Politecnico di Bari in collaboration with Les Compagnons du Devoir, a historic French professional association. In particular, the research project concerns the study and the digital transposition using digital design and fabrication processes and tools of the “Bridge over the Basento River” designed by Sergio Musmeci.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to profoundly affect the world socially and economically. The quarantine and isolation strategies adopted globally have advanced online trade to a new level, as people are finding new ways to provide products and services from home. Several digital tools are gaining popularity and delivery services are ramping up production to meet the increased demand. This paper analyses the current situation considering the impact of COVID-19 in technology and society. The first part of the analysis consists of historical connections between epidemics and technological progress. The paper charts the impacts these have had on society and where they have come to define each industrial revolution. The second part of the analysis explores the different strategies to contain the coronavirus and protect economies. Comparisons between countries are developed through available data and displayed in charts. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates the impact of the strategies on social lives and the economic shift from physical to online. It explores the creative adoption of platforms and technologies that are driving the new revolution. As a case study, it also focuses on ‘‘the field of architecture and reviews the case of the live data collection process that is made after the erection of an edifice. Through a practice-based project, it speculates on enhancing the energy performance of a building via applying computational techniques to the collected data. It describes the system of an ad-hoc sensory device that gathers energy data from a building as a different option from existing HVAC systems. Considering COVID-19's high impact on society, drastically altering the way the market operates, we suggest this moment as the true beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, bringing with it a new historical narrative.

Building an effective cyber-physical system is difficult due to the overall complexity of technologies on their own, challenges with the interaction between all parts of workflow and applicability issues. This makes the real-world application of complex cyber-physical systems only available to the big industry parties or high-tech startups, leaving small and medium-sized businesses behind. Therefore, the democratization of such applications is a reasonable goal to achieve. Cyber-physical systems of this kind are in the experimental stages and incorporate robotics, IoT, materials science, visual and 3D-scanning techniques, and machine learning (ML) tools all under the heading of Industry 4.0. This paper covers specific practical approaches in several application fields using robotics and IoT. We use custom-built hardware and software setups together with standard frameworks and the MQTT protocol for different applications. Due to the practice-driven approach, the paper will illustrate both positive and negative effects. We describe the use of our systems in several case studies: Multi-layer automated robotic concrete spraying using ML, IoT spatial awareness via sensors (such as Lidar, Kinect), robotic multi-axis milling and quasi-autonomous robot movements. A unifying issue is a decentralized approach of modular IoT elements that we grouped to achieve specific tasks. The paper illustrates how these elements exchange data and communicate, and all services are controlled on each computer instances, connected to an IoT network to ensure a high level of system stability.

This work proposes an adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted workflow for architectural design, to enable the interrogation of possibilities which may otherwise remain latent. The proposed design methodology hinges on the “systems theory” consideration of architectural design, expressed in Christopher Alexander’s “systems generating systems”, offering an alternative to the reductionist and complexity-lacking structure of design processes (Alexander 1968). This logic is pursued through the integration of DL models into an “open-ended” workflow of interconnected Deep Learning strategies (DL) and other computational tools, rather than treating it as a closed “input–output” cycle (single DL model). While a closed cycle risks flattening architectural layers, ending up with a reductionist encoding of design intentions, an open-ended workflow can inquire into an expanded design search space and augment creative decision making. This way, chained model strategies can simultaneously address design intentionality within discrete architectural layers (i.e. organization, composition, structure).This system enables three distinct modes of collaboration: human–human, human–AI, and AI–AI. Understanding the contribution of human and machine agents within the workflow offers a re-evaluation of designers’ processes. The proposed nested workflow reflects the transition from ‘expert systems’, which rely on hard-coded rules, to ‘learning systems’, which are inspired by the human brain (DL) (Hassabis 2018). This allows architects to approach design problems which are not fully defined (Rossi 2019) and helps avoid over-constraining the search in creative domains like architecture. Furthermore, the design investigation is strengthened by accessing a search space that is otherwise beyond the designer’s reach towards an expanded design creativity.

This position paper unpacks the relationship between intangible pre- and post-production and tangible production processes under an Industry 4.0 framework for architecture and design to mitigate the Architecture Engineering Construction (AEC) sectors’ contribution to climate change and investigate potentials for SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure). As Industry 4.0 is describing a business model or strategy foremost that utilises and incorporates technology via a cyber-physical system, we investigate how robotic technologies and human robot collaboration can enable methods, frameworks, and systems for the AEC sector; and what opportunities and challenges outside the tangible production floor can be considered to tie in architecture and construction. By reviewing state-of-the-art tangible production processes, robotic fabrication, and robotic interfaces, we aim to outline potential research domains in intangible pre-and post-production towards Next Gen Architectural Manufacturing. We conclude with objectives for reducing architecture’s resources appetite using computation and modern manufacturing strategies and a strategic framework to enable this in the AEC sector. This investigation, its proposed hypothesis, methodology, implications, significance, and evaluation are presented in this chapter.

The role of the fourth Industrial Revolution enabling technologies is pivotal if the paradigms of data-driven, performance-based, and optimized design have to become standard practice. Urban climate and microclimate models are increasingly likely to support the design for adaptation, resilience, and mitigation of the heat island in cities. In this context, the objective of this chapter is to emphasize the role of urban climate and microclimate modeling tools to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals at the local level. To this, firstly the authors screened the Agenda 2030 official Targets and Indicators and the European Handbook for Voluntary Local Reviews’ indicators, highlighting how they deal with environmental quality, urban climate and microclimate issues. Interlinkages and possible trade-offs were identified among goals and targets, too. Secondly, a robust overview on the main software for climate modeling is provided. Tools were clustered, according to the domain of application, into scale, statistical, numerical, and dispersion/air quality models. Thus, the authors focused on numerical models, identified as proper tools for architects and planners to support urban and micro-urban scale design. A final matrix compares the most used numerical models at a glance, highlighting main features, fields of applications, environmental parameters simulated, and interoperability options.

The paper answers the question about how the technologies characteristic of industry 4.0 can support the bioregional development paradigm, focusing on local building production chains to support the energy retrofit of existing buildings. In particular it investigates design choices capable of activating supply chains that can intercept real and already existing spending flows and activate a workforce capable of evolving the anthropic system in the same direction characteristic of the natural systems. The paper focuses on the description of the features that industry 4.0 could assume in the field of building production to support energy requalification, reorienting urban metabolism of neighborhoods or small settlements towards local territories. It describes the characteristics of technologies adopted in the Industry 4.0 paradigm, in the context of open data, open-source software alongside low-cost microcomputers and sensors, and illustrates their potential in the possible activation of generative local microeconomies. Acceleration, digitization and automation of the construction sector are showing the relevance of having open real-time information to support decision-making processes. In particular the text focuses, on the one hand, on the applicability of such technologies and devices to areas characterized by very limited resources (such as for example the internal and more fragile areas in Italy); on the other hand, on how they enable community of prosumers and local cooperatives to complex productive activities characteristic of the energy communities.

There is a constant increase in demand for new construction worldwide, which is one of the main contributors of worldwide CO2 emissions. Over the last decades, such increase led to scarcity of raw materials. Although design methods have been developed to increase material efficiency, this has not yet led to a widespread reduction in material consumption. This is due to a variety of factors, mainly related to the inability of conventional fabrication methods to produce the complex shapes that result from such computational methods. Industrial robots, while offering the potential to produce such optimised shapes, often rely on inflexible interfaces and highly complex industry standards and hardware components. In response to this dual sustainability and technology challenge, this article describes a series of research projects for the design and manufacture of architectural components using renewable materials and robotics. These projects are based on novel additive robotic building processes specifically designed for renewable and bio-based building materials, ranging in scale from solid wood elements to continuous wood fibres. We propose methods to optimise the distribution of such materials at their respective scales, as well as manufacturing methods for their production. In this context, the use of novel and automatable joining methods based on form-fit joints, biological welding and bio-based binders paves the way for a sustainable and circular architectural approach. Our research aims to develop intuitive open-source software and hardware approaches for computational design and robotic fabrication, in order to expand the scope of such technologies to a wider audience of designers, construction companies and other stakeholders in architectural design and fabrication.

The transition towards the Circular Economy (CE) sets new challenges in the construction sector. In addition to reduction of resource consumption and “closing the loop” concept, CE requires the dematerialization of services and products. Building processes and products need to be rethought to ensure sustainable and circular management of the asset. In this context, the progress in the field of Industry 4.0 technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFId), promises interesting scenarios in fostering circular transition. Indeed, information technologies can assume a critical role in achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 12. For about fifteen years, RFIds are used by several industries to automate process, optimize cost, and manage asset information through data-driven approach. This paper aims to investigate the feature of RFId technologies and its application in construction sector. In the perspective of promoting CE principles, such technologies can play an enabling role. Thorough the analysis of scientific literature review and experiences in the market, 20 of the most innovative case studies are presented. A clustering analysis of the case studied presented clarifies the most investigated fields and those where research should focus in the future.

We present an assembly- and fabrication aware reciprocal frame construction system that exploits new possibilities of the latest generation of automatic joinery machines. Sweet chestnut wood (Castanea sativa), is a species that is currently not used for building construction in Germany. The wood of castanea sativa is highly durable and ideal for exterior conditions, but it will corrode metal connectors unless they are stainless steel. Therefore, our system uses only digitally fabricated wood-wood dovetail joints. It was inspired by Friedrich Zollingers “Zollbauweise”, in its geometry as well as its philosophy—while adding a second curvature to increase stability and considering assembly constraints of the dovetail joints.

The research develops tools and strategies for urban mining and digital deconstruction to diminish the building sector’s dependency on new natural resources. It facilitates the data capture, analysis, and characterization of secondary raw materials and defines a database system for recovered post-demolition components, promoting high-quality upcycled materials for new construction projects. A “form follows availability” digital design strategy is explored from a sparse quantity of reclaimed material. It develops a relational database from a semi-automated post-demolition item assessment, and the consequent extracted material (wood battens) is cataloged and stored before being matched and used for a new demonstrator using robotic fabrication. Each recovered element is imaged, scanned, and weighed to create a unique material health indicator. This information is presented in a user interface to help the designer filter for relevant materials. The final step of the system matches designed components with relevant stored materials by their generative design requirements. The system’s flexibility is demonstrated using a construction system realizing curved surfaces from linear elements. By extracting multi-dimensional data on each wood batten and presenting their relevant indicators in a user-friendly interface, it is possible to create a dialogue between the designer and irregular shapes, augmenting the widespread use of reclaimed materials in structurally predictable assemblies. 85% of design components were well matched with the presented methods’ database materials. The predictability of the system after fabrication is verified by a 10 mm maximum deviation between the as-designed and the as-built structure.

In the era of Industry 4.0, designers are expected to use new tools and approaches to innovate the design of products and services. From this perspective, the integration of design practices and technologies of the 4.0 transition can have positive implications for sustainability. Several current issues can be addressed and among them, honeybee death is relevant. Honeybees are fundamental to the ecosystem and human life. Nevertheless, their lives are extremely at risk due to exposure to several disease factors. After conducting expert interviews, the paper presents a conceptual model of intelligent beekeeping to monitor the health status of honeybees. Furthermore, after user research, the paper proposes a co-design model for urban beekeeping, scaled up to a condominium dimension, to allow condominiums and expert beekeepers to be part of an integrated design model. The critical proposition of this model is to raise awareness of the problem of honeybee death to achieve 3 out of 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: Good Health and Well-Being, Sustainable Cities and Community, and Life on Land. Early results report positive values of acceptance of the urban beekeeping practice by users and the use of IoT in managing beehives and their health status by expert beekeepers.

Digital technologies have focused much attention on promoting industrial efficiencies, interoperability, and decentralisation, facilitating design possibilities via complex geometries whilst eliciting precision, and embedding supply chain sustainability practice and connectivity in the ubiquity of Smart agency. The Industry 4.0 proposition identifies the beneficial outcomes of technological advancement. Its basis and, by extension, the subset of digital design and fabrication, in part, is premised by an application in a market-driven competitive model approach. However, such underlying precepts may be equally applicable to invert the context to suit internal socio-economic conditions other than the economic activity to which they are directed but to which they may provide beneficial service. Less often referred to is how digital design and fabrication may be harnessed to benefit disadvantaged communities or those sectors where current or projected economic and industrial structures limit access to social equity. Leveraging the utilisation of digital technologies at play or developing within the construction industry, one may bypass some of the broader challenges of Industry 4.0 by including an opportunity focus application to addressing social disadvantage and social equity. This chapter makes a case for performance-based and circular architecture in bringing together digital design and digital fabrication tools to enhance social equity and self-agency. It demonstrates this potential in a connected response mechanism to the housing affordability debate, which does not always include young people, particularly those at risk of homelessness. The investigation lens is the parameters for temporary independent accommodation for at-risk youth to remain within an existing support unit or family. The process mode extends by integrating a self-capacity facility. In the Australian housing sector, the historical aspects of prefabrication, land subdivision, dependant units and self-build, still supported by regulatory regimes, resonate with the potential of digital design and fabrication tools. Opportunities arise in scalability and decentralisation, upstream embedment for performance enhancement and sustainable practice, portative flexible modularity, and transformation permutation. Self-capacity lies with personalisation via participatory design customisation and engagement with fabrication and assembly, serving as a training program to support employability and empowerment. By taking advantage of supply chain features of the Australian construction sector and technological advancement, one may look at the coeval opportunities that lie in applications that support social equity and inclusive responses to addressing real-world issues of social disadvantage.

The construction of edifices is all about lifting, moving and setting components according to predefined patterns. The magnitude of nineteenth century industrialization produced all manner of machines, lifts and earthmovers to facilitate construction, in addition to easing the pressures on manual labor. Along the same tactical interests, the Bessemer converter and gantry cranes were invented for advancing manufacturing and facilitating standardization of building parts. Robert Le Tourneaux’s Tournalayer, perhaps the most unique building machine, made it possible to mold buildings like a mega-cookie cutter by casting reinforced concrete in moveable steel formwork. The outcome of such experiments cultivated transformations in the building process, even if they were not widely utilized. Recent advancements in digital fabrication machines in the form of Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) cutting and milling tools, bricklaying drones, and large-scale 3D printing robots, coupled with computational design processes, are driving new possibilities in design and construction. Multiple levels of design variation are feasible, reforming standardized industrial models into user-centric, and contextually driven singular designs. The chapter aims to critically examine how contemporary digitally controlled building machines are part of a spectrum of devices linked to mechanization and how they present potentials for the democratization of housing provision. Accompanied by an analysis of how the fourth industrial revolution is impacting construction, we present a detailed overview of the evolution of building machines, with a specific focus on concrete casting machines used to produce dwellings. Then, we critically analyze the parallels between traditional casting equipment invented for mass production and today's robotic fabrication to deliver inhabitable prototypes. As a conclusion to the chapter and an opening to further research, a generative framework that stems from linking digital design with production machines is proposed for implementing customization in the industrialized housing sector, one that has long been connoted by the lack of design personalization.

This work presents a research project in which Cold-Formed Steel building components for temporary post-emergency housing are developed and realized with a digitalized workflow. This starts from early design ideas (peacetime), includes file-to-factory production and assembly processes (emergency relief/early recovery) and leads to the disassembly of building components and their reuse (reconstruction). The key element of the entire process is the Information Model. This is the place of the interoperability that, during the different stages, interfaces with different devices including Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality tools as well as file-to-factory processes for the industrial production. Aim of the paper is to show how visualization tools (like interactive Whiteboard, Tablet, Cardboard, Oculus Rift, Hololens 2, and Cave) can be used not only to realistically and immersively represent the project, but also to optimize design, production and construction processes. Indeed, these devices can also be used to improve the communication between the involved stakeholders, to enhance participatory processes, to help in decision-making, to verify a digitalized design and manufacturing process and to train workers. To achieve this goal, the innovative workflow is presented in chronological order, highlighting the purposes for which the selected tools were applied, analyzing their characteristics, potential, limits, software, interfaces, involved users and costs. The results comprise not only the application itself, but in particular the advantages and challenges evaluation of the use of the selected tools in a design project in order to improve future applications.

The study reports the outcomes of a research activity focused on digitization techniques and in particular on the value of computational design, with the aim of implementing innovative product and process solutions resulting from an integrated design approach. The digitization paths focused on representative strategies for digital optimization of the architectural form of wooden houses as a function of context, based on research on generative modelling and evolutionary algorithms for multi-objective optimization applied to the architecture of wooden houses. With such an approach, centered on artificial intelligence or at least on augmented computational intelligence, it was possible to achieve a process of mass customization of meta-planning solutions of wooden architectures, based on the morphological and energetic selection of the best configurations, identified according to the context. These results were made accessible through a web-based configurator that provides the designer with initial configurations from which starting the real project. The studies are projected to the definition of a prototype of the “breathing house,” characterized by its moisture-responsive wooden panels, with the identification of innovative solutions capable of reacting passively to changes in humidity according to the “natural intelligence” of the material, whose morphological transformation, empirically studied and digitally transcribed to identify performance solutions, generates well-being for living.

For a long time, the construction sector has been considered a field with a low degree of digitization and automation with architects and designers looking for inspiration in other industries. Today, the construction sector is steadily innovating and automating, prompted by the lack of skilled labor. While robots are gradually starting to be used in situ for construction, robotic arms−also referred to as industrial robots−have already created new ways for the creative industries to develop innovative machinic processes at 1:1 scale. As the field of architecture eagerly moved towards robotics with an open mindset and little existing infrastructure or established protocols, architects and designers were quick to adapt the key themes of Industry 4.0 for their purposes. A core enabling factor has been the field’s expertise in advanced, geometry-focused visual programming tools, which have since been adapted for robotic fabrication in order to enable individualized fabrication processes and mass customization. This chapter explores this development through several case studies and provides an outlook how visual programming and robotics may lead to a more sustainable, local, decentralized, and innovative post-industrial manufacturing in the creative industries and beyond.

Constructions have a tremendous impact on global warming and are responsible for 39% of annual carbon emissions. Designers will increasingly focus on developing design methods and solutions that mitigate the impact of buildings over the next few years. Accordingly, this chapter focuses on developing an accessible computational design method to investigate the design, engineering and construction of ribbed concrete slabs with low levels of embodied carbon by minimising the use of structural materials, maximising bending resistance and surface area for recarbonation through convoluted geometry. We discuss using a Reaction–Diffusion system for performance-driven generative structural design, informed by the outputs of Finite Element Analysis in the form of scalar and vector fields. To streamline the production of geometrically complex slabs, a field-based robotic milling approach is introduced to process styrofoam concrete formworks. Mixed Reality is used to assist construction operations and realise non-standard rebar reinforcements. The results consist of proof-of-concept ribbed-slab prototypes characterised by structural efficiency, high resolution, and low-machining time.

In this chapter, we present case studies in digitally aided marble sculpting for robotic fabrication developed at the Digital Stone Project workshop. The residency brings together artists, architects, designers, researchers and technologists engaging in state-of-the-art digital tools for the realization of innovative works of art in stone. These projects were developed during the Digital Stone Project research residency during 2013 to 2018 and showcase the potential of novel input methodologies to drive creative processes in design, architecture and the arts. The case studies demonstrate both conceptual and technological development in the design process through 3D modelling, scanning and fabrication workflows, developing toolpaths, virtual reality, haptic interaction and reversible construction techniques. The chapter examines the value of robotic technologies in the design and construction process relative to collaborative crafting of the hand and machine. Accommodating for material tolerances and interrogating the implications of computational crafting in relation to Industry 4.0 and exploring the role of the artisan in machine crafted architectural components.

Additive manufacturing of sustainable and biodegradable materials offers an alternative fabrication paradigm to current composites used in architecture, based on the growth of materials rather than on extraction. This research investigates the extrusion of a mycelial-hemp and clay mix without additional additives and thoroughly evaluates the steps leading to it. The analysis entails four major steps: manual material investigation to figure out the finest ratio between clay and hemp shives for smooth extrudability, understanding hardware and software determinants that impact the resultant printed form, preparation of the material for 3D printing under sterile conditions and printing the Mycelium-clay mix varying properties analyzing the emergent characteristics of the material. Therefore, the research explores the possible combination ratios of a clay substrate with the addition of hemp shives inoculated with Pleurotus Ostreatus, without using any additional additives to test the paste’s extrudability properties. The research successfully achieved a balanced ratio between mycelium, hemp, clay, and water when the relative percentage of clay and hemp shives were kept at 85–15%, respectively. The investigation also helped deduce that 3D extrusion printing with the Delta WASP 40,100 Clay Printer, with a nozzle diameter of 9 mm, is most optimal when the layer height is one-third of the nozzle diameter and the Extrusion (E) Value and Feed rate (F) is kept constant throughout the printing, in our case at 30 mm and 1500 mm/min, respectively.

The advent of industry 4.0 in the construction sector is profoundly changing paradigms that enhance the building construction sector. During the last decade, the experimentation of 3D-printing exploiting viscous materials has undergone unprecedented increases by construction companies. Even if reinforced concrete 3D-printing to construct buildings is growing fast, the use of other materials such as clay and raw earth is not yet affirmed both for the building components prefabrication or monolithic constructions. Currently, few 3D-printing applications with clay and raw earth have been experienced by research institutes and companies (e.g. Fablab-Poliba, Italy; Instituto de Arquitectura Avanzada de Cataluña, Spain; WASP company, Italy) for bricks, walls and entire buildings respectively. Beyond practical applications, the academic investigations focused on specific issues only (e.g. structural performances, new design for prefabrication or complex geometry printability). On the other hand, these examples are isolated, and a systematized design paradigm is still missing in the related literature. This chapter aims to define a new design paradigm for 3D-printing with viscous materials. A five-step procedure is proposed to achieve an effective design for both “small components” (to be assembled on site) and “entire structures” (to be printed in situ). The five steps will guide the reader towards the exploitation of the potential of the technology by experimenting complex shapes and by also respecting the actual limits of the machines. The steps include: (i) Definition of the conceptual design; (ii) Parametric modelling, (iii) Slicing software; (iv) Performance and Printability simulation; and (v) 3D-printing.

Concrete is currently the second most consumed material in the world, with it’s core ingredient–cement, emitting 900 kg of CO2 into the atmosphere with each ton produced. Carbon sequestering amendments can help tackle the negative impacts of the concrete construction sector. As the concrete construction industry along with the computational design tools and manufacturers evolve, they move towards new materially and structurally informed construction methods aiming at carbon neutral solutions. The research investigates the use of biochar (carbonised bio-waste) as an aggregate for sustainable cementitious composites. The literature on the topic suggests that the main limitation of biochar as a concrete amendment is the reduction in mechanical properties associated with an increase in biochar content. This chapter, however, approaches this as a design challenge for maximising carbon sequestration while reaching optimal structural performance. Based on the novel biochar-cementitious composites developed in IAAC (the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia), the work further investigates and defines new design principles for traditional building elements so that they can obtain a carbon–neutral or negative footprint. The programmability of the material mix, for instance, combined with additive manufacturing and computational design tools makes it possible to design and manufacture functionally graded architectural elements whose properties vary based on the mechanical or qualitative performance, among others. The research chapter uses three case studies and examines fabrication strategies as well as new techniques for material allocation and performance-driven design toward carbon-negative materially informed building elements. Following the properties and origins of biochar, a novel approach for building structures acting as “carbon sinks” is proposed.

Algorithmic design software is widely acknowledged as a tool to manage complex design tasks and to enhance material optimization, structural performance, ergonomic needs or similar aspects. The present paper investigates how these tools can be applied to projects that use an important amount of non-standardised, natural materials. The use of renewable and locally sourced materials is becoming mandatory if we accept the challenge of providing an appropriate built environment for a growing world population. A special focus is given to vegetable rods such as giant reed and bamboo. Building tradition provides uncounted examples of how humankind employs natural fibres to erect or ornate its shelters. Some of them can inspire new uses to be applied in contemporary architecture. The aforementioned digitally controlled design processes are normally meant to feed so-called computer aided manufacture processes. Such methods generally need highly standardised materials. The use of renewable materials in such a framework is often impossible due to intrinsic irregularities of natural resources. Can this gap be bridged? The present paper illustrates the design-and-build technology DigitalBamboo thought to conciliate the two realms of natural building materials and algorithmic design control. The method has been conceived for experimental projects made of Italian bamboo in the form of strips but can be applied to other vegetable fibres or rods and to other geographical contexts. The investigated technology includes appropriate communication tools to bridge the divide between designer and builder. The illustrated technology is based on manual assembly of digital data and includes ways of transposing geometric entities into topological textures, physical nodes and structures.

This paper aims to investigate the use of Virtual Reality (VR) as a support for expositions and cultural events through the presentation of a case of study related to the 17th International Architecture Exhibition organized by La Biennale di Venezia. The idea for this experimentation was born during the period of Covid-19 pandemic, in which it was impossible to travel freely. The goal was to make part of the exposition available to be visited virtually all over the world, in hubs equipped with VR headsets. Thanks to a collaboration with the organizers of the exposition, a VR app has been developed in order to allow people to visit the Giardino delle Vergini, which for several years has hosted the Italian Pavilion and where this year were placed the installations of prof. Giuseppe Fallacara and his research team together with the works of other international firms. Ethic matters have been taken into consideration during the app development. The VR app has been developed non to be a mere reproduction of the original site, but to be an alternative experience of visit. This work can bring two apparently contradictory advantages: on one hand the differences between virtuality and reality can encourage people to travel and visit the exposition in Venice; on the other hand, barriers of place and time are overcome. Therefore, everyone can visit the Giardino delle Vergini, even people who can’t move.

This chapter reviews the state of the art in digital applications for museums and exhibitions, with a particular focus on the visiting experience. The authors have measured the gap between academic research and the current practice of museum management through a mixed-methodology approach. On one hand, the text presents the result of a systematic literature review of articles on museum digitalization that have been published since 2000. On the other hand, it includes the results of an interview with a group of experts, directors, and curators of Italian museums to understand the degree to which digitalization is currently adopted in those cultural institutions. COVID-19 is an additional factor that has been considered in terms of its impact on scientific production and museums’ strategies. Such cultural institutions, having ticketing and similar forms of revenue related to physical visitors at the core of their model of economic sustainability, suddenly realized the need for a different approach to promoting art, namely forms of engagement from a distance. Within the frame of industry 4.0, it has become evident the crucial role experts play in the field of digitalization and implementation of virtual environments for the art sector. This text aims to draft a research agenda on museum digitalization for the near future, looking at trending topics, academic networks, and research geographies. The qualitative survey with experts’ opinions discussed whether regular employment of digital platforms and virtual tours can engage new visitors in the long term, and established the current status of their day-to-day activities.

The intersection of robotics and architecture supports the search for new spatial, structural and construction models useful to support the innovation in conception and making of spaces towards a more sustainable production, and to refine the “Industry 4.0” paradigm from a humanistic perspective to meet the needs of the socio-ecological transition. One of the major emerging challenges of technological innovation, in fact, is to accelerate the realization of a high quality architecture that is responsive and sensitive toward the environmental and social context within which is designed and implemented. This requires a holistic and transdisciplinary approach during the whole process, from conception to construction. In this regard, the self-production in every-day architecture practice (starting from small scale projects) represents an important field for theoretical and empirical investigations that calls for a smarter use of traditional and non-traditional building materials, and innovative computational ways of dealing with craftsmanship for more sustainable manufacturing methods along the whole factory life-cycle, suggesting a greater insight into the humanistic basis of architecture. This chapter will frame the design-research in contemporary strategies and processes for architecture undertaken at ALO, architecture and design studio based in the south Sardinia (Italy), and will showcase some of the computational design and robotic fabrication research carried out within the daily practice.

Digital twins have been introduced in 2002 at the University of Michigan by Michael Grieves. Digital twins are part of the Industry 4.0 revolution and are a strategic technology that, after being implemented in numerous industries such as aerospace and automotive, is now becoming important in the real estate sector. This chapter will introduce the concept of digital twins and their current applications, exploring different types of digital twins and their characteristics. The analysis will then focus on the existing issues facing the real estate sector, with an appreciation of how digital twins could significantly impact this industry. Digital twins will be explained covering the basic principles behind the technology. The chapter will continue analysing some contemporary applications of digital twins in the real estate industry developed by leading companies in the sector.

Buildings are a critical element of civilization, within which we spend over around 70% of our lifetime, but also one of the main contributors to the greenhouse effect. It is therefore important to ensure their design guarantees good indoor conditions, while minimizing the environmental footprint. Among the different building elements, the facade is one that most influences these two requisites and thus its design requires, in addition to the traditional aesthetic and functional requirements, the integration of performance criteria from early design stages. However, there are still some barriers to this integration, such as the limited flexibility of design tools, the need for multiple analysis and optimization tools, and their high computational cost. Recent computational design approaches, such as Algorithmic Design (AD), have been facilitating the combination of creative processes with the search for better performing and more sustainable design solutions. However, these approaches require programming skills, which most architects do not have. To maximize its potential for architectural design, efforts should be made to reduce the complexity of AD and approximate it to the architects’ design practice. We address this by proposing an AD methodology and algorithmic framework for facade design that encompasses its different stages, from conceptual design to manufacturing, and requirements, such as aesthetics, environmental performance, comfort, and costs, among others, while supporting the variability and diversity typical of architectural design problems. By combining the framework’s ready-to-use algorithms, multiple design scenarios can be considered, and various design requirements addressed, helping to achieve the goals established by both the 2030 Agenda and Industry 4.0.

As the AEC industry is approaching a stage of maturity in the digital transformation journey, AKT II’s p.art team has been pioneering it since its inception over 25 years ago. Data as an underlying driver of design, informing decisions earlier on and addressing issues from the macro scale of social impact to the micro scale of structural, environmental, and sustainable optimization has been the principal focus of this practice driven research team. Below 3 main examples are chosen to describe how tapping into intangible knowledge hidden in internal or external datasets, helped exploiting it into targets, processes and design solutions. The intention is to critique the current availability of datasets, how to understand and avoid data bias, and finally the hurdles to overcome into getting from raw data to implemented design drivers. Those pioneering exercises are exploring the novel opportunities provided by the hybridization of processes and cross disciplinary datasets, to enhance the built environment and to learn from the more granular availability of relevant data. In an effort to provide support to the architectural industry, the examples covered below are showcasing how technology can be leveraged to expedite the achievement of some of the Sustainable development goals set by the U.N., specifically in “Part 1”, we will demonstrate how accessing an existing dataset and using state of the art software visualization techniques is supporting the team in highlighting issues and potential mitigations of goals 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 13 (climate action), 14 (life below water) and 15 (life on land). “Part 2” is showcasing the opportunity on one side to make existing datasets available to the public through a mobile app, and on the other end, to use the same app to gather specific user data. In “Part 3” we will demonstrate how novel design techniques helped us design a waterless garden in the desertic climate of Sharjah, proving that using an inter-disciplinary approach, mixing architectural design, building physics knowledge, computational fluid dynamics simulation and parametric modelling, helped the team predicting the best geometric output for the garden landscaping that provided a recreation of a natural environment to facilitate indigenous plants growth, effectively targeting U.N. goals 2 (zero hunger), 3 (good health and wellbeing), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production), 13 (climate action) and 15 (life on land).

This chapter compares two digital workflows and tool selection for best practice renovation simulation in Portugal and Sweden. Both workflows are part of ongoing research projects that seek to provide a robust workflow adapted to different user needs and scale implementation. While in Portugal, the focus is on the building, the assessment is scaled up to the neighbourhood in Sweden. Geographic information systems datasets are used to streamline the modelling of buildings. The resulting models are used for the simulation and optimisation of renovation scenarios. These scenarios are evaluated as an equilibrium fit between user well-being (thermal and visual comfort), planet (entire carbon life cycle) and cost-effectiveness (energy and cost efficiency). The workflows presented are an example of computational architecture at work. Both workflows successfully interconnect different databases and disciplines to help the design teams and be a useful working tool for the different stakeholders in a renovation project. A complex context in which being flexible and transparent is necessary to make better and more informed decisions.

Game technologies in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industries are currently utilised for a variety of analytical, and single author applications such as test fitting, simulated city fabric, and evaluation of feasible solution sets. Advances in materials and fabrication technologies, design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA), and industrialised construction of building components, continue to shift the housing paradigm from standardisation toward mass customisation. These recent developments are trending toward user focus, negotiated planning, and choice prioritisation in design, production planning, and manufacture. The authors’ research is motivated by game technologies’ suitability to negotiate problems facing integration of design customisation, user choice, and negotiated governance in supply chain integration and procurment pipeline. The paper presents the author’s research into decentralised multi-author decision making, co-authorship, contribution of digital experts, and incentivisation models. Game engine technology is outlined to deliver user-focused, participation-driven, mass-customised housing outcomes. A real-time online platform use case configurator and the corresponding digital tool-chain integration is presented and discussed. The multiplayer gameplay of such results in construction feasible customised housing developments. The footprint, unit mix, and spatial organisation of which, conventionally authored by an architect or developer, herein is authored by the participants aggregate decisions.

The convergence of digital and ecological transition [1] can be crucial in achieving the European Green Deal targets. In this perspective, implementing the Industry 4.0 model in the building sector acquires high value not only for the efficiency of construction processes but also for mitigating the carbon footprint and resource exploitation, traditionally related to the building industry. Considering the circular economy as a paradigm of sustainability [2], the search for synergies between “circular” and “digital” approaches in the building sector represents nowadays a strategic research sector. “Upcycling” demolition material to transform into new building components is, in particular, a topic where digital technologies can play a key role. «Only by capturing the physical world through data» [3] there is a real possibility to overcome the limits that have emerged to date in upcycling processes, in particular concerning the control and classification of waste materials. In this context, post-disaster areas represent a remarkable reservoir of available and potentially reusable materials: a “material bank”, according to the circular economy vocabulary. DeDa (From Debris to the Data set) is a research work in progress at the University of Camerino, which focuses on reusing waste wood material in post-disaster areas. DeDa represents a new way of applying the principles of the circular economy and Industry 4.0 to debris treatment. This paper describes the aforementioned research work in its cultural and operational aspects, current limitations and future potential.

Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) and Digital Manufacturing (DM), particularly as related to Timber construction, is expensive. DfMA is costly due to the costs related to skill acquisition—Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Building Information Modelling (BIM), knowledge about robotic production etc. Digital Manufacturing is expensive due to the initial capital costs related to digitally able machines and robots. This entails that the segment of the construction sector that is rapidly adopting these technologies to meet the productivity and ecological goals of the Construction Sector is largely restricted to large businesses—large Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) firms. More importantly, it entails that the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are unable/unwilling to participate in the rapidly digitizing economy. This forms the driving motivation to propose a design and fabrication paradigm based on Design for Robofacturing (DfR), a technology stack based on affordable, multiple-use machines. To enable DfR for SMEs, the research follows three main avenues: (1) the design of an easy-to-deploy micro-factory based on industrial robotic arms for timber to produce complex carpentry products; (2) a digital-management software and sensor package; (3) worker training modules and micro-credentialing. The aim is to develop a comprehensive package that brings several advantages of digitalized construction at a lower initial capital interest to SME contractors. Finally, a case study and micro-factory prototype currently being developed is presented and analyzed. An initial prototype and proof of concept of the research, is currently being developed. The researchers are taking the challenge to create a DfR-enabled digital timber factory on a remote island, to produce in situ a housing complex. The project has the particularity to offer future clients the possibility to modify and customize the design using a digital app, requiring the micro-factory to handle and produce mass-customized, geometry complex parts in a flexible yet controlled process.

The paper describes the physical realisation of a demonstration prototype produced by mouldless wood bending of discrete laminated timber elements which are interconnected to create a predominantly compression only spatial structure. Integrated design to production pipelines is increasingly valued in Architecture, Engineerinng and Construction, as it has contributed to developing methods of generation of the so-called architectural geometry and in bringing the various disciplines in the industry closer together. The research presented is motivated by the application and use of timber in such a realm. It details a design to production toolkit along with development of custom actuator-based tool to deliver sustainable benefits of reduced material usage and wastage in addition to efficient production of bent wood structures. Furthermore, the paper proposes an alternative procedure for polyhedral reconstruction of disjointed force polyhedrons from an input graph, which enables the creation of spatial structures in static equilibrium.

Unlocking spaces for everyone has never been more important for public and private sectors within the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Knowing how shape the invisible forces that surround us brings a new dimension to designing buildings. Clients, architects, planners, landscape designers, and engineers, not only influence the lives of the residents of their buildings but touch the lives of everyone else viewing, passing by, and sitting next to them. Buildings have the responsibility to care for and protect the context they sit within. Forward-thinking legislation and the possibilities offered by the Industry 4.0 such as advances in computational capabilities and interoperable open-source tools, unlocked microclimate assessments as never before, in the UK and internationally. Bioclimatic design, a branch of urban climatology, is currently used to transform spaces into destinations, for people, flora, and fauna. By covering aspects of wind engineering, natural and artificial lighting, outdoor thermal comfort, and air quality, bioclimatic designers help shape inclusive, safe, resilient, and attractive spaces, buildings, and infrastructure. This creates more sustainable cities and communities, lowers disparities, heat vulnerability, lack of daylight availability, and poor air quality. This chapter describes the ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘what’ of bioclimatic design at the city- and building-scale, followed by how it is now fully embedded in the pre-planning stages of medium-to-large buildings across the UK and in many other countries globally.

The Lotus Aeroad sculpture was a focal point for the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed. Research shows it is the longest tensegrity cantilever built to date. The concept for the structure was for a scheme which echoed the philosophy of Lotus Cars, that of lightweight, pared-down design. Although the structure is simple in that it is composed of pure axially loaded struts and ties, the structural design was highly complex. Format worked exclusively within parametric environments to progress the scheme from initial form finding to the automatic production of final fabrication information. This allowed for flexibility in the design until the point when the material was ordered. We worked in conjunction with the Artists to form-find a stable tensegrity which matched the artistic intent. The global system was analysed using K2E—an parametric plug-in for Rhino-Grasshopper, developed in-house. This analysis was performed iteratively to optimise the sections used for the struts and ties to reduce the structural weight to an absolute minimum. Any unnecessary mass would require further strengthening and stiffening, adding even more material. The resulting structure was as lean as possible. The parametric workflow included a connection design script which designed the joints whilst the overall structural form was still being finalised, helping the design keep pace with the strict project deadline. Finally, this project was a test of using augmented reality at building scale. Using augmented reality software it was possible to compare the calculated positions of the elements in the 3D model to their positions on site.

With the development of computing technology, architectural design has been impacted and changed significantly over the past decade. It led us to rethink the new design methodology and application, such as the data-driven performance-based design method and its relevant digital fabrication for Industry 4.0. The paper explores the theories and practices of “Overall Structure Performance Data-Driven Design” and “Swarm Intelligence-Based Architectural Design” by collecting, reviewing, and analyzing cutting-edge design methodologies and proposes a new algorithm framework that combines performance data with agent-based modelling for design. The paper demonstrates the original process and iterative argument affiliated with the “Multi-Agent-Based Topology Optimization” (MATO) method, as proposed by Bao and Yan in 2021, which has the potential to provide a new path for the future computational design of buildings. Finally, the paper concludes with an analytical study and future expectations for complex bionic morphology digital fabrication generated by the related methodology above.

The research aims at studying the mechanical behavior of a monumental structure to preserve the historical-architectural heritage as recommended by the Sustainable Development Goal 11.4 to “strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage”. This research focuses on multi‐drums classical columns, a very common typology in the architecture of ancient Mediterranean civilizations. These columns are made of stone drums of considerable size compared to its entirety, thus, their resistance to vertical and horizontal loads is entrusted to simple support and friction between the drums. So, the present paper proposes a parametric study of the geometrical characteristics, mechanical properties and interactions of the blocks with the aim of describing their influence on the dynamical response of columns, highlighting fundamental aspects concerning their vulnerability. The analysis is performed by means of the Distinct Elements Method (DEM). Many numerical analyses have been conducted to investigate the effects of parameters that influence the dynamic behavior of the examined structural elements and identifying their stability domains.