Architectural Robotics: A New Paradigm for the Built Environment

The development of robotic building systems that are capable of reconfiguring their form on demand will soon enable new dynamic typologies at the scale of both individual buildings and entire neighborhoods. The ability to rapidly change a building’s layout will obviate the model of a building as a large collection of rooms, each of which is only intermittently occupied, and instead focus on using all available resources to provide for the immediate needs of the occupants. In a similar manner entire neighborhoods will grow and recede in response to economic demands and other cultural factors. Technologies capable of supporting these dynamic structural systems are being developed. The remaining challenges are the creation of interfaces to allow the occupants of these dynamic spaces to direct their behavior, and a reconceptualization of the city capable of guiding this new form of development.