The Master in Robotics and Advanced Construction (MRAC) seeks to train a new generation of interdisciplinary professionals who are capable of facing our growing need for a more sustainable and optimised construction ecosystem. The Master is focused on the emerging design and market opportunities arising from novel robotic and advanced manufacturing systems.
Through a mixture of seminars, workshops, and studio projects, the master programme challenges the traditional processes in the Construction Sector. It investigates how advances in robotics and digital fabrication tools change the way we build and develop processes and design tools for such new production methods.
WORKSHOP 3.2 STONE AND CODE is a robotic column sculpture that combines natural stone construction with computational fabrication. Using two robotic systems, one robot prints the column layers while the other places digitally scanned stones into the structure. Around 40% of each stone remains exposed, creating a raw and natural texture. Pathways through Barcelona and … Read more
A Hybrid Robotic-Human System for Adaptive Woven-Earthen Construction Abstract Woven Earth reinterprets traditional willow weaving and earth construction as a digitally informed architectural system. Drawing from vernacular techniques such as wattle and daub, the project develops a hybrid construction method combining woven willow, variable-thickness cavities, and robotic fabrication. Infill strategies layer light earth and straw … Read more
This studio led by Edouard Cabay and Pit Siebenaler is an ongoing research project into how robotics and advanced architectural methodologies can be used in partnership to the vernacular construction techniques of Catalonia to produce viable modern typologies for today’s industry. The studio is ecologically minded with an emphasis on local craft, traditional techniques but … Read more
Workshop 3.1: Material Intelligence Workshop UAL@IAAC TEAM: IAAC Leonard Elias Böker | Carpenter/DesignerIAAC Janny Zhang | ArchitectureIAAC Elias El Asmar | ArchitectureIAAC Sam Holcombe | ArchitectureUFG Moritz Aigner | Design TechnologistUFG Christina Kraxberger | Architecture Material Intelligence is a cross-collaborative workshop between IAAC*, TALM** and Linz*** as part of a EU funded scheme, SCALExD: SCALExD … Read more
Programme MAEBB 02 / MRAC 02 · 2024–2026 · Supervisor Valentino Tagliaboschi · Fabrication Sheikh Rizvi Riaz · Developed at IAAC Robotics Lab and Valldaura Labs , Barcelona This article continues the framework introduced in Immutable Concrete, the earlier phase of this work, in which the gate becomes an instrument an agent can use. The problem, restated Recycled-aggregate concrete is difficult to … Read more
Adaptive Framework for Hybrid Slicing Strategies in Large-Scale Robotic Fabrication of AI-Derived Architectural Systems Throughout history, imagined worlds have existed through literature, cinema, and digital environments, continuously expanding architecture beyond the built. Today, AI allows these speculative realities to be generated with unprecedented complexity, while robotic fabrication enables their materialization. Through an adaptive framework using … Read more
Robotic Fabrication of Small-Diameter Whole Timber for Construction Systems in a Plantation Forestry Context
Faculty: Nacho Monereo & Prottay Roy ChowdhuryGuest Artist: Maria Mallo The project focused on creating a dynamic feedback loop between digital design, robotic positioning, and human craftsmanship. Instead of treating the robot as a fully autonomous machine, the workflow emphasized continuous interaction and mutual dependency between human and machine during fabrication. The installation was fabricated … Read more
Introduction This workshop explores new modes of architectural production through active collaboration between humans and robots, shifting away from traditional models of automation toward hybrid systems of shared decision-making. Rather than understanding the robot as a fully autonomous tool, it is framed as an agent that cooperates with the human in real time, creating a … Read more
Neuron is a project developed during the IAAC MRAC 3.1 Welding Workshop that explores human–robot collaboration in the assembly of space-frame structures. The project focuses on the interaction between a Universal Robots UR10e robotic arm and a human welder, working together to assemble pre-cut steel bars through a continuous exchange between robotic precision and human … Read more
This work investigates the structural potential of straw in its raw, unprocessed state — exploiting its natural wilderness and fibrous friction to build systems from its inherent properties. By coupling these material behaviors with robotic fabrication, the process becomes parameterized, enabling a vernacular material to be deployed within a precise and predictable architectural system. Introduction … Read more
Rethinking Robotics Through Experience Reflections on a lecture by Madeline Gannon Introduction “Somehow, someway, I have built a career out of misusing technology.” Madeline Gannon has spent over a decade working at the intersection of industrial robotics, art, and human interaction. This text presents a thematic synthesis of her lecture for the MRAC, followed by … Read more
The lecture by Mathilde Marengo, Head of Studio Operations at External References, offered an in-depth overview of how contemporary architectural practice operates at the intersection of computation, fabrication, storytelling, and experiential design. Rather than presenting technology as an isolated tool, Mathilde framed it as an integral part of design thinking. Digital tools, parametric workflows, and … Read more
This article presents my Workshop 1.2 individual assignment, which focuses on analyzing data and translating it into robotic movements to control an ABB IRB 6700-150/3.20 industrial robot equipped with a plastic pellet extruder for additive manufacturing. The core concept of the project involved studying the drying and shrinkage of the Aral Sea over time, extracting … Read more
IAAC Workshop led by the Professorship of Digital Fabrication | Technical University of Munich Faculty: Begüm Saral, Avishek Das and Pit Siebenaler Design Goals and Process When designing with the bricks, we began looking at their imperfections. We thought about using and exposing these defects as part of the material’s architectural expression. The idea focused … Read more
Robotic Brickwork Disassembly & Reassembly Enabled by Spatial Artificial Intelligence In this blog post, we’re sharing the project we built during the IAAC 2026 Workshop 2.2 with the Augmented Fabrication Lab. Our main goal was to move beyond just designing on a computer and actually work with robots and smart sensors in the real world. … Read more
