Up-Sticks

Discover the extraordinary creativity that can be achieved when humans and robots work together

Our new architectural commission sits alongside Hello, Robot. Design Between Human and Machine.

Up-Sticks by Gramazio Kohler Research and students of the MAS Architecture and Digital Fabrication at ETH Zurich is a timber structure inspired by traditional construction methods and made using a collaborative human-robotic fabrication technique.

"Up sticks" is an informal turn of phrase to express leaving your home in haste. It is thought to originate from the rough cut, unseasoned timber frame architecture of the Scottish croft designed for temporary occupation, which would literally be taken with the household from place to place.

The commission shows how contemporary knowledge in computation and digital fabrication technology can be combined with traditional knowledge to innovate the construction sector, at a time when resources are increasingly limited.

The team from ETH Zurich in Switzerland used computational strategies and robotic technologies to design, map out and exactly place over 2,000 spruce planks and beech dowels. The result is an expressive construction that twists and curves along the length of the gallery redefining our relationship with robotic technology.