Craftsmanship in the Digital Age
#2 Innovative Building Components
Friday, 21 April 2017

The second discussion in the ANCB series Craftsmanship in the Digital Age: Architecture, Values and Digital Fabrication

Part 1 - Introduction

Welcome and Introduction
Áine Ryan, Project Curator, ANCB The Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory, Berlin - 00:00:00 - 00:03:52
Lothar Fehn Krestas, Director for Building Construction and Industry, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature, Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Berlin - 00:04:52 - 00:16:32
Tom Maasen, Cultural Attaché, The Netherlands Embassy in Berlin - 00:19:40 - 00:23:23

Part 2 - Keynotes 1 & 2

Perspectives from Research, Practice and the Building Industry
Fabio Gramazio, Founding Partner, Gramazio Kohler Architects and Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication, ETH, Zurich - 00:04:06 - 00:43:16
Kas Oosterhuis, Professor of Digital Design Methods and Director of Hyperbody Research Group, TU Delft and Founding Partner, studio ONL, s-Gravenzande - 00:46:49 - 01:18:49

Part 3 - Keynotes 3 & 4

Perspectives from Research, Practice and the Building Industry
Wolfgang Rieder, CEO and Founder, Rieder Group, Maishofen - 00:02:32 - 00:24:42
Christiane Sauer, Founding Partner Raum und Material – Lüling Sauer Architekten, Berlin; Professor of Material-Design in Spatial Context, Weissensee Art Academy Berlin - 00:26:00 - 00:50:55



Part 4 - Panel Discussion

Panel Discussion
moderated by Jörg Petri, Co-founder, NOWlab@BigRep, Berlin

The following Invited Peers joined the discussion: Hans-Jürgen Commerell, Director, ANCB The Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory, Berlin; Carsten Hein, Associate Director Structural Engineering, Arup Berlin; Manuel Kretzer, Visiting Professor in Digital Crafting, Braunschweig University of Art, and Founding Partner Responsive Design Studio, Cologne; Helga Kühnhenrich, Head of Division for Research in Building and Construction, German Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), Bonn; Gesine Last, Design Team, Fraunhofer Center for Responsible Research and Innovation, CeRRI, Berlin; Andrea Pfeil, Architect, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature, Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Berlin; Florian Scheible, Berlin Chamber of Architects, Working Group on Digital Planning and Building, and Director Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering, Berlin

BACKGROUND
This second discussion explored the potential of digital fabrication to expand the functional scope of building components beyond the structural and the aesthetic. It  mapped out existing possibilities as well as those currently being researched in labs, studios and manufacturer workshops; offered perspectives on the merits and limitations of such a development in architecture; and identified clear responses and actions on the part of designers, researchers and regulatory bodies.

The intention of the series Craftsmanship in the Digital Age, and the collaboration with The Netherlands Embassy in Berlin, NOWlab@BigRep and the BBSR, is to explore and co-articulate with manufacturers, proponents of newer digital production tools, architects, and building industry representatives, a craftsmanship approach to incorporating digital fabrication into architecture. Rather than seeing digital tools as incongruous with craftsmanship, Craftsmanship in the Digital Age proposes that they could in fact strengthen certain skills and principles characteristic of craftsmanship with benefits for architecture and manufacturing; including more effective building materials and spatial typologies, a closer working relationship between architects and manufacturers, and an assertion of critical values for the building industry at this point in history, especially regarding energy and resource sustainability.