Democratizing Stereotomic Construction through AR Technologies

Mass customizing of building components allows new conditions to explore aesthetic andsustainability in architecture. However, such possibilities tend to require the use ofexpensive and heavy digital fabrication machinery, which is seldomly available in mostregions on the planet. In this context, this paper presents a research in progress thatexplores Augmented Reality (AR) to support craft production of customized stereotomiccomponents. As a portable technology, the work examines the potential of AR tomaterialize design solutions that are geometrically complex and variable. Considering thecurrent research on augmented fabrication processes, this work contributes to producingvariable building components for stereotomic construction with a focus on earth-basedmaterials. Extending the findings of a recently completed PhD thesis, the work replacesthe use of a robot with the HoloLens glasses and Fologram application to produce low-cost and reusable molds. This augmented fabrication setup allows the human control ofthe production of variable molds, ready for casting and assembly of stereotomiccomponents. This work addresses several of the NEB and UN SDGs goals