rocker-lange blog

“From more than 5,400 entries from 90 countries to Dezeen Awards this year, the tidal stool project is one of 15 sustainability projects that are in the running to win an award later this year in the sustainability categories.” Thanks to the team @ Robotic Fabrication Lab | Faculty of Architecture | The University of Hong Kong and at our collaborators at the Centre for Chinese Architecture and Urbanism, HKU.
So, if you have time, please vote for us!!!!!

For more information on the project, please use the following link:
https://www.dezeen.com/awards/2022/shortlists/tidal-stool/

To vote, please use the following link:
https://www.dezeen.com/awards/vote

Vote closes 10th October. Thank you!

I am thrilled to report that two projects that came out of the Robotic Fabrication Lab at HKU in the past two years have been long-listed in this year’s dezeen awards. The “Reformative Coral Habitat” project made it to the sustainable design list, while the Tidal stool has been selected for both the sustainable design category and the furniture design list. Congrats to the teams.

For more information on the projects, please use the following links:
www.dezeen.com/awards/2022/longlists/tidal-stool
www.dezeen.com/awards/2022/longlists/reformative-coral-habitats-reef-tiles

Very happy to share the recent feature in Ming Pao weekly on our Tidal stool project. Thanks to our team in the Robotic Fabrication Lab in the Faculty of Architecture at HKU for making this a successful project.

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/

Finally this collaborative project between the Robotic Fabrication Lab and SWIMS at HKU moved out of the lab. The team in the Robotic Fabrication Lab was responsible for the design and the fabrication of the tiles, working hard to ensure an even quality of the tiles. Here you see loosely assembled 72 of the final 100 tiles which were delivered yesterday. Let’s hope they will perform well on Hong Kong’s seabed.

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/

I am very happy to share the recent outcome of our spring activities in the Robotic Fabrication Lab at HKU. The project entitled “Ceramic Constellation Pavilion – Spatial shifts through robotically fabricated terracotta bricks” represents the first research work in the newly formed collaboration between Sino Group and the Robotic Fabrication Lab.

The Pavilion, which was guided by Christian J. Lange, Donn Holohan and Holger Kehne was built by students utilizing robotic technology. The research initiative that supports arts, cultures, and technology is intended to foster cultural awareness of new technologies for the built environment.

In a context that has been largely shaped by standardization and mass production, the project seeks to overcome the constraints of today’s architectural production through the introduction of a structure made entirely of non-standard components.

This inaugural workshop of the “Sino Group Robotic Architecture Series” utilized terracotta clay to test the possibilities and limits within robotic fabrication and to revitalize a material system that has a significant tradition in Asia.

Departing from traditional brick bonds, the 3.8m tall project articulates a load-bearing composite structure with timber – where each of the nearly 2000 3d printed terracotta bricks is unique and different, enabling varying degrees of transparency, morphological shifts, and new experiences.

Around 700 kg of raw terracotta clay was printed over a period of 3 weeks into individual bricks that were then fired at 1025 degrees Celsius. With 2-3 minutes average printing time for each brick, the pavilion is one of the first of its kind in the world that incorporates this specific material system.

All components were fabricated with the equipment in the newly fitted Robotics Lab at HKU’s Faculty of Architecture and assembled during a ten-day workshop by students from the Department of Architecture.

The project was recently on show in the North Atrium of Olympian City, West Kowloon and will find its new home soon on the campus of the University of Hong Kong.

Credits:
Project Leaders: Christian J. Lange, Donn Holohan, Holger Kehne

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

Workshop students: Go Yi, Sisay Sombo, Cheung Hoi Ching, Cheung King Man, Cheung Pak Yin, Ho Pui Lun, Verena Leung, Sharon So Cheuk Ying, Xu Junjie, Zhao Jinglun, Sampson Ip Cheuk Sum, Tan Shaoying, Yeung Tsz Wing

Funding: Sino Group

Structural engineers: Goman Ho &amp, Alfred Fong – Ove Arup Partners Hong Kong Ltd

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

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Rocker-Lange Architects is happy to share the recent feature of their H-residence project on HGTV-Asia’s Small Spaces section. In this short film host James Koh is interviewing Christian J. Lange and his wife Alice to get some insides of the concepts behind this apartment renovation in Hong Kong. The video is now online on Youtube. Check it out.