Brass Swarm

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: Brass Swarm is an architectural prototype made from brass rods, the structure of which was developed through a self-organisational algorithmic design process and robotic fabrication. The fabrication was based on the interaction of two Kuka Agilus robots which bent the brass rods through a precisely encoded set of physical and mechanical constraints. It was presented at 'Robotic Future', an exhibition within the 2015 Shanghai Biennale. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: The project explores spatial self-organisation, emergent tectonics and the relationship between robotic and algorithmic behavior. The contribution of this research is the development of a design approach that encodes the constraints of robotic fabrication within generative design algorithms. This process compresses fabrication and design imperatives into a single process, removing the need to post-rationalize complex geometry with regard to fabrication criteria. Brass Swarm extends Snook's research into the implications of robotic fabrication on architectural design. In particular this work develops collaborative robotic strategies, where multiple robots work together on the fabrication of a complex form. Another iteration of this research was presented at the 2015 DADA (Digital Architecture Design Association) exhibition in Shanghai, which developed an architectural prototype composed of aluminium rods. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE:The significance of this work is attested to through its inclusion in the 'Robotic Future' exhibition at Minsheng Art Museum in Shanghai, alongside a small selection of 18 works by leading international architects engaged in robotic fabrication research. 'Robotic Future' was part of 10th Shanghai Biennale's City Pavilions program, and was curated by the scholar, critic and independent curator Zhu Ye, to showcase the world's most advanced robot-based digital architectural creations. The exhibition was reviewed in Global Times (China).