Keep this in mind. A building is a memory of the tools used to create it. And as those tools change, the buildings change.
Yes, the way we currently build site-built wood-framed construction would be a poor fit for automation. But other building forms may be more amenable to automation. The form of the building itself may change to fit automated construction techniques. The most obvious example of this is 3D printing. And yes, those buildings have many issues. But we not only consider 3D printing.
For example, imagine a building that isn’t so much made from materials cut to length as is made from small blocks or modules assembled together. It’s easier for me to imagine automating ICF construction than stick-built construction. Or maybe in the future, every home will be built with an at-grade or basement slab or basement suitably flat to serve as a working platform for construction robots. Maybe homes are built around a large central vertical shaft, the shaft that once held a large articulated construction robot. (I’m imagining a large robot riding on vertical rails in a vertical shaft. The robot has a long articulated arm that can reach into individual rooms and perform work functions.) Once automation is good enough, you start designing the building for the automation, rather than the automation the building.
Imagine if I could build homes for half the cost of conventional homes. However, it comes with the caveat that these homes look very different from conventional ones. They look different because their design was optimized for automated construction. Would they sell? If they still functioned as homes. If they still kept you warm, dry, and comfortable. Unless the homes were just completely crazy, I think those homes would sell just fine. People have learned to live in all sorts of things. Pioneers built houses on the prairie out of sod. If automated construction requires substantial modification to building design, but those buildings are substantially cheaper or faster to construct? The architecture will bend to the automation.
Keep this in mind. A building is a memory of the tools used to create it. And as those tools change, the buildings change.
Yes, the way we currently build site-built wood-framed construction would be a poor fit for automation. But other building forms may be more amenable to automation. The form of the building itself may change to fit automated construction techniques. The most obvious example of this is 3D printing. And yes, those buildings have many issues. But we not only consider 3D printing.
For example, imagine a building that isn’t so much made from materials cut to length as is made from small blocks or modules assembled together. It’s easier for me to imagine automating ICF construction than stick-built construction. Or maybe in the future, every home will be built with an at-grade or basement slab or basement suitably flat to serve as a working platform for construction robots. Maybe homes are built around a large central vertical shaft, the shaft that once held a large articulated construction robot. (I’m imagining a large robot riding on vertical rails in a vertical shaft. The robot has a long articulated arm that can reach into individual rooms and perform work functions.) Once automation is good enough, you start designing the building for the automation, rather than the automation the building.
Imagine if I could build homes for half the cost of conventional homes. However, it comes with the caveat that these homes look very different from conventional ones. They look different because their design was optimized for automated construction. Would they sell? If they still functioned as homes. If they still kept you warm, dry, and comfortable. Unless the homes were just completely crazy, I think those homes would sell just fine. People have learned to live in all sorts of things. Pioneers built houses on the prairie out of sod. If automated construction requires substantial modification to building design, but those buildings are substantially cheaper or faster to construct? The architecture will bend to the automation.