rocker-lange blog

We’re pleased to announce Christian J. Lange’s latest exhibition at PMQ, marking the culmination of his doctoral research completed at RMIT University in spring 2023. Titled Autobryksformation: Towards a New Approach to Brick Expressionism | Methods for Unique Idiosyncrasies in Architectural Material Systems | A Practice in the Making, the exhibition introduces audiences to Lange’s innovative exploration of robotic 3D printing with raw clay. Spanning six years of research at the intersection of architecture and advanced fabrication, the show presents a rich body of work through full-scale prototypes, material experiments, and visual documentation—reimagining the potential of ceramic building components in the architectural landscape.

Abstract:
With a focus on robotically controlled 3D printing methods, this exhibition reflects on the past six years of Christian J. Lange’s research, which culminated into his Ph.D. at RMIT in 2023.
Using raw clay as a base material to innovate form, function, and ornament of architectural ceramic building components, the work on display oscillates between his research in the Robotic Fabrication Lab and his teaching at HKU. The two arenas have become the dominant modes of operation to advance the creative work and constantly influence each other through their specific relationship. The exhibition combines and displays the various projects and approaches in these two streams accumulated throughout the years via physical models, 1:1 scale prototypes, video footage, drawings, and photographs.

Rethinking and revitalizing the 7000-year-old material system of brick, and in particular the brick special (bespoke brick) and other means of ceramic components, the research in this exhibition addresses new modes of production that explore innovative structures, novel performances, and unplanned surface expressions. The work offers alternative answers and applications to the generic, standardized building systems that dominate most of today’s built environment, constrain architectural creativity, and limit innovative design approaches.

The exhibition reveals Lange’s particular approach in this research territory via four lenses that will give a unique insight into the work that offers material solutions for architecture that can be more specific and expressive. The explorations with design-built projects, prototypes, and material experimentations on display unfold and contextualize the methods of making developed successively over time.

Exhibition designed by:
Dr Christian J. Lange

Assisted by:
Adeline Chan

Project Collaborators:
Donn Holohan
Holger Kehne
Dave Baker
Lidia Ratoi
Phil Thompson

Research Assistants:
Tony Lau, Anthony Hu, Teego Ma Jun Yin, Ernest Hung Chi Lok, Chau Chi Wang, Ren Depei, Mono Tung, He Qiye, Henry Ho Yu Hong, Kristy Chow, Pamela Maguigad, Kevin Xi Lin, Nicholas Lau, Leung Ka Chi Alvin, Liu Oui Desmond, Samuel Tam, Tam Chi Yan Jack, Hu Chi Hing Jason, Dominic Co, Chen Jiaao, Chan Ka Chun Tom, Lau Ngai Lam Ellen

Students:
Alexandra Bedin, Milan Nushev, Wiley Ng, Alfred Mak, Shu Ting, Qu Tao, Soo Yeon Bong, Jing Lun Zhao, Jing Jiang, Yingxin Wu, Ho Ka Wing Karen, Cheng Tak Hei Ivan, Victoria Dong, Nicole Biewenga, Fan Xinkai, Hu Chi Hing, Lin Xuancheng, Fan Taiwen, Hong Chen, Lai Chu Tung Jetson, Liu Pui Hang Des¬mond, Wang Youlin, Yam Ka Kit, Chan Ka Chun, Co Dominic Lim, IP Chung Ming, Lau Ngai Lam Ellen, Ma Chun Hon, Tam Chi Yan, Tam Shing Yat, Wang Yi Xiao, Wong Suet Ying, Chan Kwun Kit, Huang Shidan, Liu Tsz Shing, Liu Tsz Yeung, Ng Jian Yao, Tse Wang Chun, Zhang Houzhe, Zhu Chenglin

Venue:
H310, 3/F, Hollywood (Block B), PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street
Central, Hong Kong

Date:
21-Dec-2023 – 11-Jan-2024
11:00 am – 8:00 pm

The Tidal Stool | A shoreline intervention through a robotic 3D terracotta printing method

I am happy to report the recent installation of a set of tidal stools on the shoreline of Kuk Po village, Sha Tau Kok, Hong Kong. The stool is part of a larger project on the revitalization of of the village and is a critical commentary on the common practice of how we deal with shorelines in Hong Kong.

Rather than separating through an artificial intervention, the project brings together two different ecologies, the anthropocentric and the natural environment. Both are the beneficiaries of its functional design approach. With its intricate spaces and crevices, the stool provides for many creatures hide-outs from predators and enhances the ecology of the shoreline. During high tide, the stool is partially submerged in the water. During the low tide, it invites the villagers and its visitors to take a break and enjoy the beach.

Overall, the team produced 30 unique stools with different heights for different users and varying degrees of surface complexity. The goal in producing the multiplicity of solutions was to understand which geometry would, in the end, perform best for the natural environment. All stools were produced using a standard industrial robot. The stools were made using a unique mix of terracotta clay, which is very suitable for natural habitats due to its Ph-level. So, in case the stools deteriorate over time, they get back to nature without any harm.

Funding body: Kuk Po Vision | Country Conservation Office

Project Credits:
Robotic Fabrication Lab | Faculty of Architecture | The University of Hong Kong

Christian J. Lange (Team Leader)
Weijen Wang (Team Leader)

Team:
Chen Zhaowei
Yin Fangyi
Chan Ching Yin

Very happy to share the recent feature in Ming Pao weekly on our exhibition of the Reformative Coral Habitat project at PMQ in Hong Kong. Thanks to our team in the Robotic Fabrication Lab in the Faculty of Architecture at HKU to make this a successful event.

To read the article, please use the following link:
www.mpweekly.com/culture/

Very happy that our team from the Robotic Fabrication Lab @ The Faculty of Architecture at HKU managed to bring this exhibition together. We had a great opening last Monday. The show will give insights about the design concepts, robotic production, and the implementation. To all who are still interested, the exhibit will continue until January 31st 2021. PMQ (S507, 5/F)

Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park is a local biodiversity hotspot accounting for more than three-quarters of reef-building corals in Hong Kong and more than 120 fish species. However, in recent years, gradual deterioration of the coral habitat, a process known as bioerosion, coupled with coral bleaching and mass mortality events in 2015-2016, are putting the future of the coral community at risk. In view of this, a team of HKU architects and marine scientists has developed a series of reformative 3D printed terracotta reef-structures intended to aid coral restoration by providing structurally complex substrates at the degraded areas.

The design and production of the hundred and twenty-eight 3D printed reef tiles were executed in the Robotic Fabrication Lab of the Faculty of Architecture at HKU. Covering roughly 40 sq. meters in total, the tiles were deployed in selected sites in the marine park in July 2020. The experiment will be closely monitored by marine scientists and researchers for the next one and half years.

The project is commissioned by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and is part of an ongoing active management measure for coral restoration in Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park in Hong Kong.

This exhibition reveals the design concepts , manufacturing process, deployment, and ageing process of the tiles.​

Date: 11-Jan-2021 – 31-Jan-2021, 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Venue: S507, 5/F, Staunton (Block A), PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Hong Kong

The Robotic Fabrication Lab of HKU’s Faculty of Architecture will have a booth in this years Urbanovation Pavilion at DesignInspire 2018. On display will be some experimental prototypes showcasing 3d printed ceramic bricks that came out of the lab recently. The event will take place at the Wanchai Convention Hall from December 6-8.

Design Inspire
An international exhibition about design, creativity and innovation
6-8/12/2018
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
For more info on the event please visit also:
http://www.designinspire.com.hk/

We are happy that our Ceramic Constellation Pavilion is included in this year’s ACADIA conference. Christian J. Lange will present the project at the event in Mexico in October.

For more info on the event please visit also:
http://www.2018.acadia.org/

Finally, I can share some photos of our latest research project coming out of the Robotics Lab at HKU entitled “Digital Terracotta”. The project is part of the current Hong Kong pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Curated by Weijen Wang with co-curators Thomas Chung and Thomas Tsang, the exhibition addresses the theme of “free space” set by Venice Biennale curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects through 100 experimental towers by 100 different architects. Our tower suggests a model for Hong Kong’s vertical fabric that innovates through a new 1:1 material system.

Robotically controlled terracotta extrusions that are tailored to specific conditions offer an alternative to today’s material practice. Terracotta has a long history within the Chinese context, yet nowadays the material has been diminished to dull façade tiles. The project, therefore, suggests revitalizing principles of the past with the technology of today to alter our built environment in Hong Kong in a sustainable way.

The show will be on view until November 25th 2018 at Campo della Tana, opposite of the main entrance to the Arsenale.

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/

Very happy to share the recent feature of the ceramic constellation pavilion on Dezeen.