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Compas Timber
AIXD: AI-eXtended Design
AI-Augmented Architectural Design
Impact Printing
Human-Machine Collaboration
AR Timber Assemblies
Autonomous Dry Stone
Architectural Design with Conditional Autoencoders
Robotic Plaster Spraying
Additive Manufactured Facade
Timber Assembly with Distributed Architectural Robotics
Eggshell Benches
Eggshell
CantiBox
RIBB3D
Data Driven Acoustic Design
Mesh Mould Prefabrication
Data Science Enabled Acoustic Design
Thin Folded Concrete Structures
FrameForm
Adaptive Detailing
Deep Timber
Robotic Fabrication Simulation for Spatial Structures
Jammed Architectural Structures
RobotSculptor
Digital Ceramics
On-site Robotic Construction
Mesh Mould Metal
Smart Dynamic Casting and Prefabrication
Spatial Timber Assemblies
Robotic Lightweight Structures
Mesh Mould and In situ Fabricator
Complex Timber Structures
Spatial Wire Cutting
Robotic Integral Attachment
Mobile Robotic Tiling
YOUR Software Environment
Aerial Construction
Smart Dynamic Casting
Topology Optimization
Mesh Mould
Acoustic Bricks
TailorCrete
BrickDesign
Echord
FlexBrick
Additive processes
Room acoustics
Superwood, Monte Rosa, 2008-2009
Digital Wood Carvings in the Restaurant of the Monte Rosa Alpine Hut
At 2883 m above sea level, a new mountain hut is being built by the ETH Zurich and the Swiss Alpine Club SAC. The timber construction is an applied research project of the ETH Zurich architecture department, and will use new building technologies in an exemplary way. In the restaurant area, the traditional decorative wood carvings will be interpreted in a novel way, using digital design and fabrication methods. Computer-controlled joinery machines have long been standard in the timber industry. These machines crosscut individual planks and beams at the correct angle, and cut slits and bore the necessary holes for assembly. Via “digital wood-carvings”, which are transmitted to the machine as additional fabrication data, we extend this work step and exploit the full potential of digital fabrication with timber. The ornamentation covers the complete wooden structure and ceiling. Its continuous line pattern interprets the restaurant’s spatial features as well as the material wood, into which the ornamentation is carved. Force fields that are defined in virtual space are mapped as lines on the physical surfaces that delimit the interior space. In this way the carvings combine innovation and tradition into a sensual spatial experience.

Credits:
Gramazio Kohler Architects, Zurich

In cooperation with: Studio Monte Rosa, ETH Zurich
Client: ETH Zürich and the Swiss Alpine Club
Collaborators: Tobias Bonwetsch (project lead), Ralph Baertschi

Copyright 2023, Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Gramazio Kohler Research
Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication
ETH Zürich HIB E 43
Stefano-Franscini Platz 1 / CH-8093 Zurich

+41 44 633 49 06
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