Between Manual and Robotic Approaches to Brick Construction in Architecture

Abstract

Brick construction has a long and rich structural and aesthetic traditions in architecture, which can be traced back to the origins of our civilization. However, despite the remarkable works of Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn, Eladio Dieste or Alvar Aalto in the 20th century, the application of this construction process to address more irregular geometries is very difficult to be achieved by conventional manual means. In this context, the last decade assisted to emergence of robotic applications in architecture. While Gramazio & Kohler looked for solving non-standard brick structures, others, like the S.A.M. robot initiative, are interested in improving the productivity in the fabrication of regular brick structures. By surveying the recent advances on bricklaying automation, this paper is interested in reflecting on the actual role of manual brickwork. In doing so, the authors present the Brick Tower experiment developed at the DFL/CEAU/FAUP, where two different fabrications processes are critically compared: a robotic and a manual one, which is aided by a video projection technique. By describing and illustrating this experiment, the authors argue that it is possible to expand the traditional craft of bricklaying by devising simple strategies to increase the human capacity to understand and materialize more elaborated geometries. This research avenue can be relevant if one considers that manual work should remain the most common form of brickwork practice in the next decades.