This diploma thesis concerns a proposal for the creation of robotically produced structures that will accommodate actions for the short film festival of Drama. It negotiates the robotic execution of six, schematically different, shells placed in privileged locations within the urban network of the city. The purpose of the work is to demonstrate an innovative method of robotic construction while creating structures with advanced materials in combination with the geometric diversity of these structures.
Each structure consists of a specific number of unique pieces, of relatively identical dimensions, which are assembled as a "puzzle" during their placement in the selected sites over the days of the festival. After the events have ended the structures are deconstructed by the same process and stored for reuse the following year. The activities accommodated by each shell serve the needs of the festival for ticketing, short meals, outdoor educational activities, the sale of souvenirs and an outdoor film projection area, which can also be used as a platform for speeches, awards and other events.
The design process of the six geometrically separate structures follows three distinct steps. The first involves the creation of an initially flat geometry of a unit cell (module). In the second part, the cell is multiplied and produces a flat composition. Subsequently, the planar synthesis is fitted to the curved surface of each structure, producing its final geometry as the third and final step of the design. After this transformation, each initial molecule acquires a unique shape and curvature as it is properly fitted to the final curve of each structure.
Regarding the construction process, the 3D concrete printing technology is chosen, in which a specially equipped robotic arm deposits concrete of a special composition layer by layer, producing the final geometry of the pieces. These shelves are transported and assembled on site at their exposure location with the help of temporary support structures which are removed after the last shelf is included, giving the structure its safe load bearing capacity.
This methodology has the ability to create geometrically complicated yet highly sustainable structures by overcoming many of the obstacles of the traditional construction process. The proposal of this project aims to highlight and promote the city's film festival at all levels, providing an incentive to solve potential practical and operational problems of organization while at the same time creating a trigger for our appropriation of new methods of construction automation.