We are conducting research related to building construction methods and building production.
The environment surrounding building production is changing drastically due to the shortage of craftsmen and mechanization, but we are thinking about how to create buildings in the future.

We investigate how building construction methods and building production have changed for high-rise buildings and prefabricated houses. Both high-rise buildings and prefabricated houses significantly impact the urban landscape and living environment, but they have not been sufficiently investigated compared to the architecture by heroic architects. We have much to learn from past efforts, even when considering new methods such as robotics and AI today. Please read and refer to the articles in my notes to see what the faculty is thinking. We are currently researching changes in prefabricated houses (related book), high-rise building construction, curved formwork construction, and rationalizations of the wood construction method.

We visit construction sites and factories to find out how architecture is made. We are particularly interested in the changes in job functions and job areas. For example, we investigate changes such as the transfer of work that used to be done by construction companies, such as construction drawings and lifting, to subcontractors (related paper link) and new developments such as the cooperation of builders from the design stage. Please refer to the blog of our laboratory to see how we visit factories. We are also investigating the actual situation of skilled foreign workers and new wood construction methods.

We are interested in who and how information in the future construction of buildings will be created. We are working on developing construction methods that directly reflect information from the design to the construction process and on developing technology that efficiently grasps the movements of craftsmen. The photo below shows an experiment of free-form formwork (related paper link). We are also working on attaching sensors to craftsmen (https://doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2020.563353) and efficiently communicating design information of Lego.

Recently, our master’s students created a pavilion. The pavilion was created based on a survey of the history of tools and the actual bending process. We also prepare Other new projects such as full-scale production of membrane tensegrity and the planning of RC housing complexes.

For more detail: gonlab
Principal Investigator: Tomoyuki Gondo