Description:
Required Skills: Rhino, Grasshopper (intermediate), Unity (optional)
Required Software: Rhino, Grasshopper, Unity
Required Hardware: PC or Laptop
Maximum number of participating students: 100
The workshop Robotics > Metaverse > AI, organized by INDEXLAB – Politecnico di Milano, has the objective to offer a new vision on architecture and its manufacturing methodologies. As 20th Century’s architecture focused on mass production and serial repetition of its components, today’s one will be strongly characterized by varied and unique elements, industrially produced through advanced CNC fabrication machines. At the same time, the rise of novel programming platforms for design makes it possible to generate processes and algorithms that allow the control of form and technological aspects from the first conceptual stages of the design till the construction phase. This makes it possible to integrate aesthetics and functionality, structural resistance, and energy performance within one coherent design process. In the process of defining such a “design to production” workflow, both fabrication and material limits and potentials play a key role in generating competitive logical construction systems. Robots and CNC machinery contribute to the redefinition of design methodologies and construction processes, transferring most of the manufacturing from the building site to industrial production, where advanced components, integrating structure and envelope, can be designed and fabricated into complex solutions with high aesthetic and functional value. The workshop aims at bringing together visionary companies, advanced designers and innovation-oriented students to envision new synergies between academic research, architectural practice, and industrial production. Robotics > Metverse > AI workshop will provide a guided path towards linking the discrete dots and highlighting the common grounds between “real” and “virtual” technologies. The main topics will involve the transformation of complex geometric forms from an idea towards realization, first, in the real-world through robotic fabrication techniques and, second, in the virtual world through voxelized digital assets. Regarding robotic fabrication, several methods will be introduced like robotic 3D printing, pick&place and assembly, robotic cutting and carving. Furthermore regarding virtual platforms novel workflows will be shown about how to develop metaverse-ready digital assets. Lastly, a demonstration will be provided of how modern machine learning techniques and algorithms, like reinforcement learning, can lead to a paradigm shift in design and construction. An introduction to the ML-Agents toolkit in Unity will be presented and an optional tutorial for training an agent in Unity for learning a certain task could be provided and the students could work collaboratively on solving it. The 5-day-workshop is formulated in three main consecutive modules, namely: Robotic Fabrication, Metaverse and Reinforcement Learning, followed by a panel discussion where participants are encouraged to discuss and develop their projects. And finally, the workshop ends with the final presentations of the work produced by the participants throughout the course of the workshop.
Schedule:
timezone: (GMT +1:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris| Start time | End time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-06-28 - 15:00 | 2022-06-28 - 18:00 | Robotics |
| 2022-06-29 - 15:00 | 2022-06-29 - 18:00 | Metaverse |
| 2022-06-30 - 15:00 | 2022-06-30 - 18:00 | Artificial Intelligence |
| 2022-07-01 - 15:00 | 2022-07-01 - 16:00 | Panel discussion, support session |
| 2022-07-02 - 15:00 | 2022-07-02 - 17:00 | Final presentations |
Instructors:
 |
Pierpaolo Ruttico | Pierpaolo Ruttico is a researcher at the Politecnico di Milano, where he is the founding director of INDEXLAB-Creativity&Technology. He holds a Ph.D. in Building Engineering and his work on robotic fabrication for the AEC industry has been published internationally. He previously worked as a designer for PelliClarke&Partners Architects in New York City and as a computational designer and robotic fabrication consultant for COOPHIMMELB(L)AU in Vienna. He has lectured on digital design and production at the Carnegie Mellon University - Pittsburg, the Darmstadt University of Technology, and the Technical University of Munich. |
 |
Ahmed Elmaraghy | Ahmed Elmaraghy is an architect based in Milan, a teaching assistant at Politecnico di Milano for the course adaptive façade studio, and a researcher focusing on the application of artificial intelligence in Architecture. He completed his master studies in Architecture Engineering at Politecnico di Milano where he focused on the potential of reinforcement learning in Architecture and how the integration of modern technologies along with AI can lead to a new paradigm shift in the AEC industry. |
 |
Carlo Beltracchi | Carlo Beltracchi is an architectural engineer and a research fellow at the Politecnico di Milano. His work focuses on bringing mass-customization processes into the AEC industry, developing both computational and material systems for architectural firms and constructors. Since 2013 he’s been part of the INDEXLAB research network, with teaching experience as an assistant professor in digital design. He is currently specializing in Metaverse Architecture, NFT, Blockchain, smart contracts, and Web3 applications. |
Disclaimer:
All workshops will accept 100 applications MAX.