Additive Manufacturing in Architecture

Additive manufacturing is one of many digital fabrication techniques that are opening up new design possibilities for architecture and disrupting traditional modes of material production. To address this shift, architects need new strategies to exploit emerging (and future) geometric, material and/or project delivery possibilities that are associated with file-to-factory methods, on-site / off-site fabrication, prototyping, and efficient physical properties facilitated by increasing simulation and design automation, just to name a few. Whilst a wide range of additive manufacturing research is represented in architectural design literature, the majority of this work has sought to explore the technology at relatively small scales, with the viability of scaling up being a key issue. Furthermore, after decades of limited materials and processes, emerging trends in multi-material printing, expanded material palettes, and enhanced machining options with large-scale robotics, are transforming how and what we can construct. We received a number of high-quality manuscripts from researchers around the world and presented within this Special Issue are what we believe to be state-of-the-art explorations into the application of additive manufacturing in architecture. We would like to take this opportunity to extend our genuine acknowledgement to all the authors and reviewers for their co-operation in providing the content for this issue. We wish all readers an enjoyable and informative reading experience of the leading edge, international research and development projects featured here