Buildings undergo substantial changes in their requirements throughout their lifespans. Although we traditionally aim to construct buildings that sustain the test of time, they often fall short to live up to new spatial needs, changes in the local surroundings, natural disasters or simply maintenance deficiencies. The result is that many buildings or structures are demolished and replaced with new construction more often than necessary.

​

Re:Config aims to address the challenge of partially damaged or outdated buildings and structures and propose ways to reconfigure the spaces that they provide while preserving as much construction material as possible. The project proposes an original approach in which humans and robots work collaboratively in an effort to address uncertainties that exist in the process of stock evaluation and reconstruction, while robots assist humans in the de- and re-construction process which requires primarily manual labor. By combining robotic fabrication and computer vision with structural design and computational decision-making, the project proposes localized interventions on buildings and structures that are damaged or that require substantial adjustments to remain useful in a constantly changing environment while monitoring stability during the entire transformation process.

​

The novelty of the proposed method lies in a localized approach that relies on both humans and robots to make on-the-fly decisions on the reconfiguration strategy, without necessitating large data-sets and a global model with detailed information, which are often simply not available for already built structures and emergency situations.