Our globalised societies have entered into a new phase. The pandemic has revealed how our communities are intricately linked beyond national borders, in a world that has become more fragile. At the same time, the widespread popularization of online communication demonstrates how technology allows for reconnection in times of forced isolation; we can talk to anyone, anywhere, almost anytime. In this emerging order, we ask how architecture can reimagine its own tradition and role in society.

Collaborative Constructions investigates a new practice of architecture based on the creative, innovative and personal use of technology. The two projects by ETH Zurich and the University of Tokyo engage in a global collaboration looking at architectural strategies to relate nature and humanity through technology; they are results of human-robots collaborations and exemplify how we can engage with the past while looking ahead.

Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich: Prof. Fabio Gramazio, Prof. Matthias Kohler, Hannes Mayer (project lead), Matthias Helmreich (fabrication and computational design lead), Matteo Pacher.

T_ADS Obuchi Lab, University of Tokyo: Prof. Yusuke Obuchi, Yusuke Komata, Shuta Takagi.

Shimizu Corporation: Tadahiro Nakajima, Kazutomo Ohashi, Tomotaka Hama, Miho Yamashita, Hiromu Tanaka, Kodai Endo, Mitsuhiro Kuroki, Shinya Tsubata, Nobuyuki Nagasawa.

SJB Kempter Fitze: Franz Tschümperlin, Lukas Ehrle.

ERNE AG:Thomas Wehrle, Steffen Hermann.

The project by Gramazio Kohler Research from ETH Zurich in Switzerland is a three-storey tall timber frame structure, which revives the long history of expert timber construction in Japan through Swiss design and technology. Designed to withstand earthquakes and storms, the towering structure activates its surrounding neighbourhood and landscape, while the wooden terrace or Japanese engawa serves as a meeting point for the community. Age-old knowledge has been revived through digital technologies, allowing for a highly material efficient and performative approach to building with timber. A new strategy for building multi-storey timber buildings is thus suggested as a sustainable alternative to conventional concrete and steel constructions.

The project by Gramazio Kohler Research from ETH Zurich in Switzerland revisits carpentry for the age of robotics, making metal parts, nails, screws or fasteners obsolete. The five constituting timber frame modules consist of more than a thousand bespoke timber elements and were prefabricated in the world-renowned Robotic Fabrication Laboratory at ETH Zurich.

Since 2005, the research group at ETH Zurich led by Prof. Matthias Kohler, Prof. Fabio Gramazio has been at the forefront of robotics and digital fabrication in architecture. With their robotic laboratories and work that ranges from fundamental research to prototypes and buildings, they have inspired architects and researchers alike to explore the capacities of robots as a universal tool of the digital age. Their work have been exhibited at Mori Museum, Centre Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo, Royal Academy London, the Venice Biennale, Storefront gallery New York, V&A Dundee, and the Guggenheim Bilbao.

Web site: Gramazio Kohler Research

The project by T_ADS Obuchi Lab from the University of Tokyo is a gate-like structure made of wooden posts and beams, serving as an entrance to the courtyard surrounded by an old pottery factory. A series of pottery chains hanging from the gate’s beams form a large screen and resemble a traditional noren. It is a visual sign to welcome the visitors as well as an evaporative cooler, a natural climate control, in which mist dampens the surfaces of the pottery. On a hot day, the evaporative cooling effect of the pottery is expected to cool the gate area by 4 to 5 degrees Celsius.

At the heart of the project is the fabrication of the hanging pottery chains. While the pattern appears to be random at first glance, its generation requires an intricate algorithm, an algorithm that brings human and machine together. The pottery chains are created by a series of feedback processes between a person and a robot. Each person makes a uniquely defined shape of pottery chain by holding it so that it hangs from their arms without touching the ground. The robot then finds a location on the beam for its installation within the given dimension of the beam and structural requirements. The final design of the overall patterns, made of forty-five of the hanging chains, are generated by children and adults with different physiques and strength reflecting their individuality into the whole.

Obuchi Lab – T_ADS is the Advanced Design Studio at the University of Tokyo led by Prof. Yusuke Obuchi. Focusing on the relationship between human capacities and technologies, it investigates innovative, integrative and collaborative building methods. The series of resulting pavilions, each developed in collaboration with a construction corporation have been recognized globally for their creative approach to technology. Their projects have been published widely and were exhibited at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York, the architecture biennials in Beijing, Rotterdam and Venice, Zurich Design Museum, Tokyo Designers Week, Barcelona Design Museum and the Centre Pompidou.

Web site：T_ADS Obuchi Lab

Born in 1981, in Chiba, Japan, Kojiri started classical ballet at the age of three. After being awarded the Apprentice Scholarship at the Prix de Lausanne in 1999, Kojiri danced at Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) . In 2003, he was the first Japanese male dancer to join the prestigious main company, NDT1. He danced in Jiri Kylián’s final creation for NDT, Mémoires d'Oubliettes. Since 2010, Kojiri has been working as a freelance dancer, choreographer and teacher on the international stage. In recent years, he has focused on creations such as Study for Self/portrait, Kenta Kojiri + Yasuhiro Morinaga's The Threshold, Coroli, and other works. He is currently Artist in Residence at Dance Base Yokohama and Honokuni Totohashi Arts Theatre PLAT. His work revolves around themes of 'recording' and 'memory', which have been the basis of his creative work to date. He explores expression across genres and generations, with the aim of developing a broader relationship between physical expression and the environment. 

Dance ＆Soundscape: Kenta Kojiri, Dancer/Choreographer

Special thanks to: Junichi Saito, Masahide Saito, Alessandra Gabaglio , Yusuke Komata, Yuko Takahashi

Music: J.S.Bach - French Suite No.5 G major