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Jammed architectural structures: towards large-scale reversible construction

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Abstract

This paper takes a first step in characterizing a novel field of research—jammed architectural structures—where load-bearing architectural structures are automatically aggregated from bulk material. Initiated by the group of Gramazio Kohler Research at ETH Zürich and the Self-Assembly Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this digital fabrication approach fosters a combination of cutting-edge robotic fabrication technology and low-grade building material, shifting the focus from precise assembly of known parts towards controlled aggregation of granular material such as gravel or rocks. Since the structures in this process are produced without additional formwork, are fully reversible, and are produced from local or recycled materials, this pursuit offers a radical new approach to sustainable, economical and structurally sound building construction. The resulting morphologies allow for a convergence of novel aesthetic and structural capabilities, enabling a locally differentiated aggregation of material under digital guidance, and featuring high geometrical flexibility and minimal material waste. This paper considers (1) fundamental research parameters such as design computation and fabrication methods, (2) first results of physical experimentation, and (3) the architectural implications of this research for a unified, material-driven digital design and fabrication process. Full-scale experimentation demonstrates that it is possible to erect building-sized structures that are larger than the work-envelope of the digital fabrication setup.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank their teams at ETH Zürich and MIT for their pioneering efforts on robotic fabrication of jammed architectural structures, especially Dr. Volker Helm and Andreas Thoma, Tucker T Cheyne, Sara Falcone, Lina Kara’in, Jared Laucks, Carrie McKnelly, Athina Papadopoulou, Raffael Petrovic, George Varnavides and Stephane de Weck. We are particularly grateful to our cooperation partners at the Institute for Building Materials at ETH Zürich, Prof. Dr. Hans J. Herrmann, Dr. Falk Wittel and Matthias Fauconneau, and at University of Chicago, Prof. Heinrich Jaeger and Kieran Murphy. In addition to this, we thank the team at ETH Zürich HIF-Bauhalle and Misapor for their kind support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication, Department of Architecture, ETH Zürich, Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland

    Petrus Aejmelaeus-Lindström, Jan Willmann, Fabio Gramazio & Matthias Kohler

  2. Self-Assembly Lab, MIT, Massachusetts Avenue 77, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Skylar Tibbits

Authors
  1. Petrus Aejmelaeus-Lindström
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  2. Jan Willmann
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  3. Skylar Tibbits
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  4. Fabio Gramazio
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  5. Matthias Kohler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petrus Aejmelaeus-Lindström.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Jamming-Based Aleatory Architectures.

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Aejmelaeus-Lindström, P., Willmann, J., Tibbits, S. et al. Jammed architectural structures: towards large-scale reversible construction. Granular Matter 18, 28 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-016-0628-y

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