Dynamic system : a digitally fabricated environment. Customised component design

Abstract

Digitally designed and fabricated construction is continuously evolving, in its capabilities to produce elements that are susceptible to change. These parts, generated from digitally produced models are able to be made by machines in order to achieve the desired result in a three dimensional environment. The implications of such processes that current technology offers, allows for: greater levels of accuracy in detail and assembly, faster production times and finally a realisation of what were once only thoughts of the imagination. These can now be translated into three-dimensional forms that define our spatial environment.

Myself and my two colleagues intention is to pursue this thesis project in collaboration. As a team we believe that the combination of our individual areas of focus, we anticipate, will lead to an outcome of greater substance. Our intention is to bring the findings of our three points of focus and integrate them in an effort to produce a complete solution (three components that form a whole). The outcome of this research as a team is aimed towards investigating the relationship between architecture and construction through the application of digital technology, where we intend to produce a series of customisable, prefabricated modules from components that are able to be both pieced together and taken apart.

Individually, my focus considers the relationship we have with our built environment, in the way structures impose or define our spatial boundaries. I intend to investigate how the design of a modular system may have an allowance to be completely customised and manipulated in a way that allows their forms to be modified by the designer; so that they meet the specific requirements of their intended program. This thesis forms one part of three. It presents a combined investigation into the digital design and manual fabrication processes involved with creating a ‘hybrid’ system; joining ‘cut’ flat sheet elements into components that form a larger habitable structure. A thesis on architecture; “the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings.”