rocker-lange blog

I am very happy to share the recent outcome of our fall activities in the Robotic Fabrication Lab at HKU. The project entitled “CeramicINformation” is the second larger outcome of the Lab and is part of an evolving series, which aims to reconcile the material intelligence of vernacular crafts with the specificity and flexibility promised by digital design and fabrication technologies.The project is currently on show at the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture (UABB) in Shenzhen, China.

This particular iteration explores the process of construction, and seeks to find an appropriate level of automation suitable for emerging and transitioning economies. Each of the approximately 1000 components that make up the experimental structure is unique and has a specific immanent relationship to its neighbors. This approach allowed the complex construction to be realized using unskilled labor, over a short period, without the need for typical architectural drawings.

As a point of departure, this project examined the ubiquitous terracotta brick – common in modern Chinese construction, and explored it’s potential re-shaping through the process of robotic 3d printing. Approximately 1.5million lines of code were generated – with each brick containing an average of 1400 individual target-points.

The bricks were manufactured over a period of 20 days before the lightweight elements were shipped to the site and assembled into the multifaceted wall. The project not only highlights the new possibilities for architectural expression, but also the capacity these systems have to change the way in which we fashion the built environment.

Credits:

Project Leaders:
Christian J. Lange
Donn Holohan

Research Assistants:
Mono Tung
Kristy Chow
Pamela Maguigad

Funding:
UABB Shenzhen

Project Location:
No. 82 East Zhongshan Street, Wanli Industrial Zone, Nantou Old Town, Nanshan District, Shenzhen

For images on the project please visit also:
http://www.arch.hku.hk/

Christian J. Lange will be teaching again a Summer workshop on Robotic Fabrication in Architecture at The University of Hong Kong. The program will take place from June 5th through June 16th 2017.

This year’s summer workshop “Ceramic Constellation” is sponsored by SINO GROUP and is based on the current research undertaken in the lab that focuses on ceramic fabrication through the aid of the robot. Ceramics have a long history in Architecture, especially in the context of China. However, in today’s standardized world, the richness of the material is nearly gone. With few exceptions in contemporary Chinese Architecture, it seems that the materials’ remaining territory in the building industry diminished to the use of dull homogeneous façade tiles. Therefore the intention of this workshop is to test the potential of the material in todays advanced technological world and to build a large-scale pavilion that will be installed on a site in the Olympian City shopping mall in Kowloon.

The workshop comprises of a series of exercises on tectonics, computational design and robotic fabrication techniques and will culminate in the construction of a 1:1 large-scale architectural intervention. The workshop will expand the student’s skillset and understanding through building an innovative structure in real scale, and aims to open up the student’s understanding of the emerging creative uses of Robotics in Architecture.

Program:
– Workshop on Robotics in Architecture.
– Computational workshop on component based assembly structures.
– Fabrication of components
– Construction and Installation of a 1:1 scale intervention.

Set Up:
Hardware: 1 x ABB 6700 1 x ABB IRB 1600
Software: Rhino, Grasshopper, HAL

Participants:
Up to 20 students of the Department of Architecture, HKU, led by
Christian J. Lange
Donn Holohan
Holger Kehne

Dates:
The program will take place from June 5th through June 16th 2017.

Information session:
To give students a better understanding of the workshop we will have a lunch-time information session on May 12th in room 419 1:00pm.

Registration:
The program is open to all fulltime students registered in the BAAS, March, MLA, MPhil and PHD programs in the Department of Architecture. Interested applicants should send a one page CV to the BAAS secretary Angela Ting by May 19th.

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At last, we can show some photos of the final outcomes of the latest studio taught by Christian J. Lange at The University of Hong Kong. The M.Arch I studio entitled “Elements: Robotic Interventions 0.2 – Towards new territories in Architecture” had two main objectives. On the one hand it was a hands-on investigation on how we as architects can generate new technologies, material systems and craftsmanship with the aid of the robot, and on the other hand, the studio looked in how we can apply those for the development of architectural elements such as the column the roof and the wall.

Students eventually built three medium scale prototypes that were based on three different traditional timber construction techniques. The first being the “Dou Gong” bracketing system, which usually is the structural network that joins columns to the frame of the roof in traditional Chinese architecture. The second being the reciprocal frame structures that can be found in the timber woven-arch bridges in the Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. And the third being the “Luban Lock” or the so-called “Chidori system” a design concept derived from old Japanese/ Chinese toys, and that elegantly produces a six-legged hidden joint.

credits:

supervisor:
Christian J. Lange

students:

Chau Chi Wang
Hu Zhihao
Hung Chi Lok Ernest
Lau Siu Yan
Ma Jun Yin
Ma Ki Ho
Ng Ka Chun
Ng Ka Lam
Ren Depei
Wong Siu Shan
Yan Ming
Zhou Zhengmian

For the past year Christian J. Lange has been working on the set up of the new robotics lab at the Faculty of Architecture at The University of Hong Kong. The lab was recently installed and consists of two ABB industrial robots, a rotational table and various end-effectors.

In an environment with rapidly growing cities, the robotic fabrication lab has its emphasis on the discovery of new methods, techniques and material assembly systems that have a meaningful and sustainable impact on the high-density build environment in the context of Hong Kong and Asia.

Currently Lange is teaching a March I studio focusing on the opportunities of robotic fabrication in traditional timber construction techniques that are specific to the Asian context. Below are some photos of the recent midterm presentation.

Christian J. Lange will participate and present recent work in the AA Visiting School symposium in Shanghai. Speakers include this year Stefan AL, Duangrit BUNNAG, Anthony BURKE, Eva CASTRO, Thomas DANIELL, Matias DEL CAMPO, Tarsha FINNEY, GAO Yan, Yosuke HAYANO, Sand HELSEL, Alvin HUANG, Garett HWANG, Hina JAMELLE, Holger KEHNE, Jerry KU, Christian J. LANGE, Neil LEACH , Anderson LEE, Sandra MANNINGER, Neville MARS, Yusuke, Satoshi OHASHI, Christopher PIERCE, Ali RAHIM, Francois ROCHE, Daan ROGGEVEEN, Patrik SCHUMACHER, Michael SORKIN, SU Yunsheng, Philip VERNON Richard Wei-Tse WANG & Stephen W. WANG The event will be moderated by Tom Verebes. The event will take place on July 19th & 20th at the Shanghai Study Centre.

Christian J. Lange will be teaching a Summer workshop on Robotic Fabrication in Architecture at The University of Hong Kong.The program will take place from June 20th through June 26th 2016

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Outline:

Robotics in Architecture is a relatively young subject within contemporary design practice. At the Faculty of Architecture we are currently building up a Research Lab that will be dedicated to this new research field. In an environment with rapidly growing cities, the lab will have its emphasis on the discovery of new methods, techniques and material assembly systems that have a meaningful and sustainable impact on Architecture and the context of Hong Kong and the PRD.

The summer workshop “Robotic Intervention” will focus on traditional techniques of timber construction and will be a first test for a novel production method with robotic aid. Participants are invited to investigate on the relationship between material, geometry, computation and robotic fabrication through the design and making of a prototypical structure.

The workshop comprises of a research component on traditional timber material systems, a series of exercises on computational design and robotic fabrication techniques and will culminate in the construction of a 1:1 scale architectural intervention. The workshop will not only increase the student’s architectural skillset to build a structure in real scale, it primarily aims to open up the student’s understanding of the emerging creative uses of Robotics in Architecture.

Program:
– Workshop on Robotics in Architecture.
– Research on traditional timber construction systems
– Computational workshop on component based assembly structures.
– Fabrication and installation of a 1:1 scale intervention at HKU.

Set Up:
Hardware: 1 x ABB IRB 1600
Software: Rhino, Grasshopper, HAL

Previous knowledge required:
Medium level experience on Rhino & Grasshopper

Participants:
12 students of the Faculty of Architecture, HKU, led by
Christian J. Lange, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, FoA
Donn Holohan, Assistant Lecturer – Fabrication Manager, FoA

Registration:
The program is open to all fulltime students registered in the BAAS, March, MLA, MPhil and PHD programs in the Department of Architecture. Interested applicants should send a one page CV to the BAAS secretary Angela Ting by June 11th.

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Rocker Lange’s project “Shanghai Lilong Tower Urbanism” is part of this year’s exhibit at ACADIA 2015 in Cincinatti, Ohio.

For more information about the conference please visit: http://2015.acadia.org/

Christian J. Lange will present his paper entiltled “Shanghai Lilong Tower Urbanism – Towards an Urbanism of Parametric Preservation” at this year’s eCAADe conference in Vienna.

The paper describes a design approach for a new urban building typology for Shanghai utilizing a set of parametric design techniques to arrive at an alternative solution to current models of urbanization. The goal in this approach was to find a solution that is adaptable and sensitive to the urban environment and has the capacity to preserve historic urban street patterns.

For more information about the conference please visit: http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ecaade2015/

Christian J. Lange of Rocker-Lange Architects and his colleague at the University of Hong Kong Jason F. Carlow are presenting their research work entitled “Cities of Repetition” at the Shanghai Study Centre in Shanghai, China.

2015.7.16-2015.8.9 @ Shanghai Study Centre

The Cities of Repetition exhibition at the Shanghai Study Centre provides a comprehensive graphic documentation and analysis of the ten largest Hong Kong housing estates built by private developers from the late 1960’s through the 2000’s. The original drawings and diagrams in this exhibition illustrate the ultra-dense, mass produced, highly repetitive built environments in which hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents live.

Drawings, photographs and models not only display the immense scale of the housing estates within the city, but present the hundreds of similarly planned housing blocks and their subtle differences. A detailed graphical analysis compares statistical information to show how the planning of these massive estates has evolved over the past decades to efficiently conform to building regulations and produce huge profits. The project reveals the spatial realities of living in some of the most densely populated, urban environments ever built.

Exhibitors & Curators:
Christian J. Lange
Jason F. Carlow

Research and Production Team:

Ngan Ching Ying
Jan Henao
Benjamin Hollberg
Low Ee Harn
Cherene Hui
Diamond Chan
Peony Tang
Joel Wong
Garkay Wong
Lisa J Lai

Exhibition Assistant:
Kelsi Su

Organizer:
Shanghai Study Center,
The HKU Faculty of Architecture,
The University of Hong Kong

Special Thanks to
The HKU Faculty of Architecture
The HKU Department of Architecture
Dean Chris Webster
Prof. Weijen Wang
Anderson Lee
Tom Verebes
David Erdman
Carolin Fong
TM System Co. Ltd.

ADDRESS:
Shanghai Study Centre
298, North Suzhou Road, Hongkou District,
Shanghai, China

Christian J. Lange will participate and present recent work in the AA Visiting School symposium in Shanghai. The topic of this year’s symposium is on Cities and Specificities. Speakers include Stefan Al, Jason Carlow, Thomas Daniell, Matias del Campo, Sandra Manninger, David Erdman, Clover Lee, Colin Fournier, Christiane Herr, Hina Jamelle, Ali Rahim, Neil Leach, Neville Mars, Rolando Mendoza, Olivier Otteavere, Gary Page, Su Yunsheng, Philip Vernon, Julien Veyron, Yi Li, Philip Yuan Feng. The evnt will be moderated by Tom Verebes. The event will take place on July 15th at the Shanghai Study Centre.