Current: Human-Centered Design & Construction

Our construction research investigates how emerging technologies and material systems transform the realization of slender structural surfaces. We integrate robotics and augmented reality into design-to-build workflows for complex curved geometries, which are prone to buckling due to geometric imperfections and are typically constructed from straight or volumetric elements. At the material and structural scale, we explore embedded deployment intelligence and packing efficiency in kirigami and origami systems, alongside elastic rod networks. Through full-scale demonstrators and field projects, including ongoing work in Mpala, Kenya, we test these approaches in real-world contexts, advancing construction methods that are efficient, sustainable, and responsive to local conditions.

Our AI research develops physics-informed and constrained methods for the design and analysis of structural systems, linking form, geometry, and mechanical performance. By embedding mechanics into machine learning models, we support inverse design and form-finding processes that remain consistent with governing equations, loading conditions, and constraints. Central to our approach is the human-in-the-loop: designers and engineers actively guide, interpret, and shape the design process leveraging machine learning methods. This synergy between physics, data, and human intuition fosters more creative pathways to structural innovation.

Our research in mechanics focuses on slender structural systems to understand and harness their inherently non-linear behavior. This behavior gives rise to extraordinary mechanical properties, not attainable in more conventional structural systems. These systems derive their properties from geometry and topology, requiring integrated approaches that couple form, force, and material. We develop advanced form-finding methods to discover efficient shapes under given constraints, and apply multi-objective optimization to balance performance, constructability, sustainability and human experience. To validate our concepts and explore real-world behavior, we build experimental prototypes and demonstrators.