Jun Wen Loo
Building Technology Gradutation Studio
Sprong van Hout | The Leap of Timber
Situated on the northern banks of the IJ river, Buiksloterham is undergoing urban redevelopment as it transitions from an industrial town to a mixed-use development. To address the lack of urban connectivity, one of the seven bridges proposed by Gemeente Amsterdam was chosen for the site of this project. This thesis extends the notion of circularity beyond material usage and design for disassembly – through the unconventional movability and deconstruction of the bridge – to propose human-robot collaboration (HRC) in advancing the construction technology of our built environment. A novel timber bridge structure was proposed to inspire and reflect the promise of sustainable design in the digital era, where the construction technology used actively shapes and directs the tectonics. A 1:5 scale demonstration was developed to showcase the potential of digital design and fabrication with the collaborative strength of humans and robots in shaping the future of sustainable building construction technology.