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Robotic Landscapes: Designing Natural and Robotic Formation Processes in Dynamic Terrains

The students of the «Robotic Landscapes» design studio experiment with the Autonomous Walking Excavator developed at the NCCR Digital Fabrication by the Robotic Systems Lab of Prof. Marco Hutter, ETH Zurich. Its capabilities form the basis of the studio’s research on future digital landscape fabrication. © ETH Zurich
The students of the «Robotic Landscapes» design studio experiment with the Autonomous Walking Excavator developed at the NCCR Digital Fabrication by the Robotic Systems Lab of Prof. Marco Hutter, ETH Zurich. Its capabilities form the basis of the studio’s research on future digital landscape fabrication. © ETH Zurich

By investigating the potential of on-site robotic construction and grading methods, students explore the design space for robotic terrain modeling in hazard landscapes in responds to droughts, floods and landslides. Using state of the art terrain modeling methods combined with the simulation of dynamic natural processes, the studio investigates a new topological approach to contemporary landscape architecture.


Recent methods in designing, modeling, and visualizing terrain are developing exponentially through the advancement of digital technologies. Advanced digital modeling tools based on point cloud surveys have made it possible to explore and experiment with the potential of digitally designing, simulating and prototyping large scale landscapes.

However, the potentials of robotic construction in the field of landscape architecture are not fully exploited. In the context of the Design Studio «Robotic Landscapes» of the ETH Zurich, the Chair for Architecture and Digital Fabrication and the Chair of Landscape Architecture have built up a unique design studio to investigate concrete scenarios for large scale application of digital design and robotic construction.
As a primary outline of our Design Studio we attempt to offer a powerful methodology in the field of landscape architecture through robotic principles and procedural design solutions. In exploring unconventional modeling techniques during the design process, students creatively develop new topographic solutions in order to create resilient landscape projects in challenging environments. They investigate new landform typologies focusing primary on typological studies, learn to operate a robot arm that interacts with sand and gravel, and understand fundamental principles of computational design, simulation and robotic fabrication.

A Computational Response to Natural Hazards

The expanding potential of computational tools, combined with the increasing digital capabilities of the design students increases the scope of design thinking and making in our studio. This results in fundamental implications on landscape design: the ability of a student to visualize and generate complex forms and surfaces and to respond directly to natural processes (like geophysical, hydrological and climatological processes or hazards). Our distinct interest lies in merging the field of computational design as well as digital fabrication techniques with the design and construction approaches of the students at the beginning of their design process.

In 2017, we studied the robotic manipulation of local topography to create a new linear landscape park and sound barrier along the A2 motorway in the lower Valle Riviera, Ticino. The goal of the studio was to define a new landscape topology with regard to acoustic performance through robotic fabrication. The past semester is a provoking example of how we worked with precise topographic structures at various stages, phases and scales over time with a high degree of parametric accuracy. Until the end of 2018, we are working on the second iteration of the studio developing resilient terrains in response to landslides evoked by melting permafrost.

The Robotic Landscapes design studio is an annual collaboration between the Chair of Landscape Architecture of Professor Christophe Girot and the Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication of Professor Fabio Gramazio and Professor Matthias Kohler of the Department of Architecture at the ETH Zurich.

Ilmar Hurkxkens is PhD Researcher at the Chair of Landscape Architecture of Professor Christophe Girot and part of the NCCR Digital Fabrication. Fujan Fahmi is Research Associate at the Chair of Landscape Architecture of Professor Christophe Girot.

Publication: Christophe Girot, Ilmar Hurkxkens: Robotic Landscapes – Nature, Computation, and the Design Space of Autonomous Terrain Modeling. In: Landsc. Archit. Front., 2018, 6(2): 64-75.

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This article has been published in the following newsletter edition:

40 | Dezember 2018: Technologie beeinflusst Verhalten / Technology Influences Behaviour

  • Induced Demand: Modelling the Potential Impacts of Automated Vehicles in Zurich
  • Robotic Landscapes: Designing Natural and Robotic Formation Processes in Dynamic Terrains
  • Digital Planning Tools and «Focal Practices»
  • Autonomous Vehicles as Reactivators for Peripheral Areas
  • Führungslose Schweizer Raumentwicklung?
Kurzmeldungen
  • Modelling Place-making to Enable the Transformation of Spaces into Places
  • MntPath – Modelling Future Pathways of Mountain Regions
  • Mobility Pricing
  • Smarte Züge ohne Lokführer
Publikationen
  • disP 54/3, October 2018
  • Soil function assessment for Switzerland
  • Towards an Integrative Approach to Spatial Transformation
  • Sozialraum Hochhaus. Nachbarschaft und Wohnalltag in Schweizer Großwohnbauten
  • Spatial modelling of origin-destination commuting flows in Switzerland
Aktuell
  • MAS, DAS und CAS ETH in Raumplanung 2019/21
  • Summer School in Land-System Science
  • Master of Advanced Studies ETH Urban Design 2019/20
  • Ab 2019 leitet Patrick Bonzanigo den MAS Raumplanung ETH
  • 111 BUNKER. Entdecke das verborgene Zürich!
  • ProbandInnen gesucht – Visualisierungen von Landschaften mit Virtual Reality-Brillen
  • Shareland Doctoral Colloquium

Chairs

Prof. Dr. Bryan T. Adey
Prof. Dr. Kay W. Axhausen
Prof. Dr. Tom Avermaete
Prof. Dr. Francesco Corman
Dr. Jennifer Duyne Barenstein
Prof. Teresa Galí-Izard
Prof. Christophe Girot
Prof. Dr. Adrienne Grêt-Regamey
Prof. Dr. Guillaume Habert
Prof. Dr. David Kaufmann
Prof. Hubert Klumpner
Dr. Anastasios Kouvelas
Prof. Freek Persyn
Prof. Dr. Christian Schmid
Prof. Milica Topalovic
EiR PD Dr. Joris Van Wezemael
Prof. em Dr. h. c. Günther Vogt
ETH Wohnforum – ETH CASE

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