DIGITAL FABRICATION

• Arch 433

• Fall 2020

• Professor Shelby Doyle

• Work by Braden Cooper

This course was hosted in Iowa State University’s Computational Construction Lab and was intended to expose students to various means of fabrication that could be augmented by digital processes. Many of the methods that were covered are currently being used in the architecture and construction industry while others are still being used at smaller scales.

By approaching each fabrication method through the eyes of an architectural designer, I was able to find agency in the way I experimented with each process. By setting up constraints that would be common in any construction process, I was able to move toward solutions that were not only experiment but practical in their nature.

Process

Each iteration in this design process took advantage of either 3D printing or CNC routing as well as form casting and mold making. The true experimentation in the process came from the substitution of mold/ cast materials such as silicon, filament, cement, and plaster at a range of scales.

3D Printed Mold + Cast Concrete

CNC Routed Mold + Cast Plaster

3D Printed Mold + Cast Plaster

CNC Routing

This process offered less detail while allowing for an increase in 3D volume of each tile as well as the ability to reuse the same mold for multiple casts.