Regional Robots: Architectural Machines for (LA’s) Urban Ecologies

This course will imagine public, space-interpreting, architectural machines for living within the new exterior reality – engaging outdoor, public, urban, ecological spaces that are specific to the Los Angeles region. Students will explore the design, fabrication, and documentation of architectural robots for the seven distinct ecological zones of Los Angeles (Coastline, Coastal Mountains, Interior Mountains, Peninsular Mountains, Coastal Plain, Inland Valleys, Desert). Instead of approaching robotics through problem-solving or task completion, students speculated what other types of architectural machines can be imagined for these public ecological spaces.