rocker-lange blog

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

Christian J. Lange will deliver an invited talk at the upcoming 2nd International Conference on Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation of Marine Ecosystems (BECoME-2022). The conference will be held during 3-7 January 2022 at the City University of Hong Kong.

For more information on the conference, please use the following link:
www.become2022.com

I am very happy to be able to join one of the panels in the upcoming conference by the STRELKA INSTITUTE. Please join in if you have time. The talks will take place September 7th, 2021 at 1:15pm Moscow time.

To follow the Conference live, please use the following link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PELhVnvsdgY/

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

We are thrilled to share that the Reformative Coral Habitat project has received a lot of media attention. The article by the guardian was in particular encouraging. It is a charming read indeed.

To read the article, please use the following link:
www.theguardian.com

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 show some pictures of the latest outcomes of the Fall 2019 studio. This MArch studio is the third studio that focused on 3d clay printing and brick specials. This time we looked into spatial arrangements of this peculiar material system. Below you can find an excerpt of the brief:

Agenda:

Over the past three years, the agenda within the research and teaching of the robotic fabrication lab in the Faculty of Architecture at HKU has focused on the development of novel approaches for 3d printing ceramic brick specials. The key question within this specific research trajectory was on how we, as designers, can rethink one of the most traditional material systems in Architecture with innovative fabrication methods of today.

While in previous studios the focus was primarily on the development and making of the individual brick and its performance beyond physical strength, this semester, we will re-direct our attention to structural capacity and techniques of assembly. Traditionally Bricks are put together via a level and a plumb line. That method is suitable for walls, but more complex systems such as arches and vaults need temporary scaffolding or a specific false-work to achieve accurate assembly and structural strength.

The studio, therefore, will investigate how robotic 3d printing and novel fabrication processes for false-work can rethink and transform structural brick systems that rely on pure compression. The ultimate goal of the studio is to develop, make, and test experimental prototypes, and to understand their fitness for inventive programs, types, and spaces.

Very happy to share this feature in China Daily, which says “as smart technologies pervade our lives like never before, we turn the spotlight on some of HK’s most noteworthy achievers from across different creative fields who engage with artificial intelligence, or the idea of it. Architect and faculty member of the architecture department of the University of Hong Kong, Christian J. Lange set up the city’s first robotic fabrication lab. In an exclusive interview to China Daily, Lange shares his thoughts on how AI, computation and robotics inform his life, works and ambition.” Enjoy!!

To read the article, please use the following link:
https://www.chinadailyhk.com