Jelle Feringa, Terrestrial
Prøegressive architecture — robotics & the emancipation of anachronistic construction
Abstract
When exploring of robotic fabrication in architecture, it’s important to consider the paradoxical relationship between the progressive and the regressive. This paradox is highlighted by the work of Le Corbusier and his contemporaries during the late 1930s. While his acquaintances Eugène Beaudouin, Marcel Lods, and Jean Prouvé were creating groundbreaking machine-made buildings like Buc Airport and Clichy Market Hall, Le Corbusier himself was designing houses using rough masonry and heavy timbers.
An oxymoric reflex, since no other but Le Corbusier himself ushered architecture into the machine age. But robotics can offer new perspective on archaic construction methods, which in turn ushers in progressive ideas that build upon archaic building techniques. Can automation render the dichotomy between what’s archaic and contemporary inconsequential? And if architecture is to yearn for timelessness, is it worthwhile to emancipate anachronistic approaches to construction?
Considering the environmental impact of building practices, the use of archaic construction methods like rammed-earth and natural stone, which have a modest carbon footprint, should be explored as part of the construction industry’s goal of achieving zero carbon emissions. By embracing the paradox of the “prøegressive” and incorporating both traditional and advanced robotic techniques, we can work towards a more sustainable and innovative architecture.