Construction Robotics and Fabrication Technology Lab | Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design

Click here to view the C.R.A.F.T. Lab brochure with more detailed information.

The Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design continues to be a haven for knowledge, innovation, and discovery. With the construction of the College's new Construction Robotics and Fabrication Technology Lab (C.R.A.F.T. Lab) currently underway thanks to the generous support of donors during Phase I, fundraising for Phase II is in full swing to make this dream a reality.

We envision the C.R.A.F.T. Lab as a world-class research facility drawing the most talented students and faculty to the University of Houston in pursuit of cutting-edge research on how we can collectively create more sustainable and innovative architecture and design. Located in one of the country’s fastest-growing cities, the Lab aims to contribute to a more resilient built environment through partnerships with leading design, architecture, and construction practices.

Experience and engagement in the Lab will prepare students from across all the College’s disciplines – architecture, environmental design, interior architecture, and industrial design – to be leaders in trending technologies, increase industry partnerships advancing the Hines College, and enable faculty to pursue influential ground-breaking research.

THE MISSION

Under the direction of Andrew Kudless, the Bill Kendall Memorial Endowed Professor of Design Technologies, the Construction Robotics and Fabrication Technologies Lab (C.R.A.F.T. Lab) supports the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design in exploring innovative new ways of designing, building, and living in the world through the use of emerging technologies, materials, and processes.

Our research topics pursue the critical engagement of emerging technologies, including machine learning, robotics, augmented reality, and additive manufacturing. At the same time, we have a deep respect for traditional ways of making and look to build upon these by introducing computational design logic, new materials, and the critical application of new technologies.

How objects, spaces, and buildings are designed and made is rapidly transforming. It is imperative the Hines College finds ways of making the built environment less carbon-intensive while simultaneously developing the landscape to be more resilient to change. In addition, new technologies, including artificial intelligence and automation, create opportunities and challenges to how we currently operate.

Like the wave of innovation occuring during the mid-20th century, our world is currently experiencing the beginning of the next industrial revolution. The roles of architects and designers and the related industries of manufacturing and construction are rapidly changing and being challenged to be more sustainable and productive.

The C.R.A.F.T. Lab serves our community in important ways:

We serve students by preparing them to become leaders in their fields through critically engaging emerging technologies.
We serve faculty by enabling them to pursue their research through the most advanced technologies.
We serve the wider University of Houston academic community and our industry partners in collaborating on innovative research projects.

DEFINING OUR GOALS

World-Class Research Facility

Create the most advanced center for emerging technologies used within design, architecture, and construction in Texas and one of the top facilities in the world. The equipment, processes, and knowledge available at the Lab will be a beacon of innovation for the University, the city of Houston, and the state of Texas.

Unleash Creativity of the Hines College

Develop robust interdisciplinary connections with faculty and students throughout the Hines College’s industrial design, interior architecture, and architecture programs to unleash the creative potential for world-class research.

Sustainability and Equity

Empower our communities through an intense focus on the sustainability and accessibility embodied in the materials, technologies, and processes used to make the world. We strive to create a more just environment supporting access to advanced technologies regardless of background. As part of a public institution, the Lab pursues research benefiting the public good by making high-quality architecture and design more accessible, safer, and in solidarity with the natural world.

Industry Partnerships

To partner with regional, national, and international industry, academic, and public partners in collaborative research projects expanding the capacity and network of the Hines College. The C.R.A.F.T. Lab acts as a research hub bringing together multiple disciplines within the University of Houston to explore innovative technologies and processes helping our community.

Post-Professional Graduate Research Programs

Establish a well-funded and active post-professional program for students pursuing world-class research and make the Hines College a recruitment hub for future professional and academic leaders.

Innovative Faculty Recruitment

Attract, retain, and collaborate with the most innovative faculty, students, and researchers and collectively produce research projects at the forefront of design technologies.

OUR AMBITIONS

Construction-Scale Additive Manufacturing

3D Printing with clay, adobe, biomaterials, and "green" concrete
Investigating Circular Lifecycle of Plastics to be able to recycle plastics into new parts.

From Model to Working Prototypes

3D Printing in final materials that mechanically perform rather than creating only visual representations

Advanced Documentation, Analysis, and Visualization

Use LIDAR and Photogrammetry with drones and mobile robotics to better capture real-world site conditions
Use Real-time Visualization tools to design, visualize, and interact with complex projects using augmented reality and virtual reality environments

Research Area 4: Robotic Off-Site Construction

Onsite construction is dirty, dangerous, and difficult. How can more buildings be autonomously built in more controlled and safer conditions?

Rapid Design and Fabrication Team for Emergency Response

The CRAFT Lab would be equipped with everything needed to help local and regional communities respond to natural or human-made disasters. With one of the largest populations of designers in the United States, our students and faculty are motivated to use their skills to help our communities.

LEADING THE WAY

The C.R.A.F.T. Lab is led by professor and director Andrew Kudless, the William D. Kendall Professor of Design Technologies. Founder of the design firm Matsys, Kudless comes to Houston from San Francisco where he served as a professor at the California College of the Arts. He has taught design studios, workshops, and seminars at Ohio State University, the Architectural Association (London), Yale University, and Rice University. In 2019, Kudless received the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Honor Award, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Faculty Design Award, and Texas Society of Architects (TxA) Design Award all for his work on Confluence Park in San Antonio, Texas – a project by Matsys and Lake | Flato Architects.

In 2005, Kudless was the Howard E. LeFevre Fellow for Emerging Practitioners at Ohio State University. He received the Design Merit Award in the Far Eastern International Digital Architecture Design (FEIDAD) competition in 2004 and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to research architectural design and urbanism in the Kansai region of Japan in 1998. Recently, Kudless became the first American to have work in the Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades Collection of furniture and design.

Kudless holds a Master of Arts with distinction from the Architectural Association’s Emergent Technologies and Design graduate program and a Master of Architecture with honors from the Tulane University School of Architecture. He has worked as a designer for Allied Works Architecture in Portland and New York and as a digital design, modeling, and fabrication consultant for Expedition Engineering in London. Kudless’ work has been exhibited in the United States, England, France, Japan and China, and is also in the permanent collections of the Pompidou Centre, the FRAC Centre, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

SUPPORT THE FUTURE OF DESIGN

Gifts of all levels are crucial to moving forward this game-changing capital initiative.

To support the C.R.A.F.T. Lab, click here.

For more information on making a gift, contact uhcoad@central.uh.edu.