Robots at the Sagrada Família Basilica: A Brief History of Robotised Stone-Cutting

Abstract

Cutting stone by hand to the architect’s precise measurements is an ancient craft using one of the oldest materials known to humankind—traditionally it is a highly laborious undertaking. Curiously the efforts taken to continue constructing Gaudí’s magnum opus long after his death in 1926 included the introduction of 2½D robots to the project in 1989, preceding the introduction of computer-aided design a little later. Meeting the challenges of speeding-up the preparation of dressed stone took precedence over modernising to include digitally assisted stereotomy (the geometrical art of efficient stone-cutting) in the design studio. This paper highlights the extraordinary leaps that have been made in the intervening quarter century. From humble but early adoption of relatively primitive equipment this has led to 7-axis robot stone preparation in use now for over a decade at the time of writing. The particulars of this adoption and adaptation emphasise the advantages that designers have when they embrace emerging technology as closely as possible at the first opportunity by setting aside over anxiety about risk.