Designing Digital Assembly & Disassembly

Digital fabrication is increasingly developed within the architectural context and does not simply replicate manual techniques but enables new forms of construction by performing operations that are difficult or impossible for humans or by integrating technical constraints directly into the design, substantially impacting the final outcome.

In parallel, assembly and disassembly are attracting growing interest due to their links to the circular economy, material efficiency, and the adaptability of the built environment. Assembly can no longer be understood as simply the final act of construction, but as part of a broader lifecycle in which structures can be dismantled, reorganized, and redeployed. Disassembly should therefore be anticipated as an integral part of the design process.

This perspective shifts design toward modular, standardized, and rule-based systems, where components can be recombined into multiple configurations over time. Such strategies should not imply uniformity or repetition but support flexibility and variation to enable complex spatial forms. The design of modular element systems becomes crucial, requiring a strong focus on geometry, joinery, and structural principles that define how elements connect, assemble, and contribute to overall stability.

In this design course, students developed modular systems compatible with robotic assembly. Throughout the semester, they addressed structural capacity, geometric coherence, and constructive feasibility. Their concepts were validated through the fabrication of a full-scale prototype assembled by the institute's robotic arm.

The prototype took the form of a chair, a typology chosen because its fundamental components (legs, seat, etc.) can be directly translated into architectural elements such as columns, slabs, and walls. The same modular logic can be applied across different design scales, from objects to architectural systems, without changing the dimensions of the individual modules.