Invited Talk

This talk by Prof. Stefana Parascho, Director of the Lab for Creative Computation at EPFL, will explore the role of robots in the design and construction process. An invitation by Prof. Corentin Fivet, Head of the Structural Xploration Lab at EPFL. On 14 June 2022, from 11:00 to 12:00, at the Smart Living Lab in Fribourg (room HBL0 21A) or in live streaming. Link on demand.

Robotics and digital technologies have been changing the way we design and build. But the question today is no longer “What can we do with a robot?” but “What is the role of the machine in the design and construction process?” We can address this question by engaging with robots and algorithms from a different perspective: exploring the role of technology in the design process and finding new ways of information exchange between different agents of the process – humans and machines.

Robots working cooperatively, humans and robots building together, architects designing along with machines – the presented work explores the various relationships between designers and machines, between software and hardware, and opens up new questions and avenues for expanding the impact of digital technology onto our built environment. From scaffold-free assembly to robots employed for material reuse and computational tools designed to ease interdisciplinary knowledge exchange – the goal is to move beyond the development of material-specific processes and towards strategies for successfully integrating these new technologies into design. Ultimately, this requires the exploration of new roles for machines, new relationships between humans, algorithms and robots, and new connections across disciplines.

The Robot in the Loop: On Multi-Agent Construction Approaches bluefactory, Fribourg | HBL0 21A | 11:00-12:00

14Juin
2022

Contact

Stefana Parascho is a researcher, architect, and educator whose work lies at the intersection of architecture, digital fabrication and computational design. She is currently an Assistant Professor at EPFL where she founded the Lab for Creative Computation.
Through her research, she has explored multi-robotic fabrication methods and their relationship to architectural design. Stefana investigated computational design techniques ranging from agent-based systems to sequential design and optimisation methods. Her goal is to strengthen the connection between design, structure, and fabrication, and boost the interdisciplinary nature of architecture through the development of accessible computational tools and robotic fabrication methods.
Before joining EPFL, Stefana was an Assistant Professor at Princeton University, where she led the CREATE Lab Princeton. She completed her doctorate in 2019 at ETH Zurich, Gramazio Kohler Research. Previously, she received her Diploma in Architectural Engineering from the University of Stuttgart and worked with DesignToProduction Stuttgart and Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering.