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PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to advance remote robotic fabrication through an iterative and pedagogical protocol for shaping architectural grounds. Advancements in autonomous robotic tools enable to reach increasingly larger scales of architectural and landscape construction and operate in remote and inaccessible sites. In parallel, the relation of architecture to its environment is significantly reconsidered, as the building industry's contribution to the environmental stress increases. In response, new practices emerge, addressing the reshaping and modulation of environments using digital tools. The context of extra-terrestrial architecture provides a ground for exploring these issues, as future practice in this domain relies on the use of remote autonomous means for repurposing local matter. As a result, the novelty in robotic construction laboratories is tied to innovation in architectural pedagogy.Design/methodology/approachThis paper puts forth a pedagogical protocol and iterative framework for digital groundscaping using robotic tools. The framework is demonstrated through an intensive workshop led by the authors. To situate the discussion, digital groundscaping is linked to several conditions that characterize practice and relate to pedagogy. These conditions include the experimental dimension of knowledge in digital fabrication, the convergence of knowledge as part of the blur between the fields of architecture and landscape architecture and the bridging of heterogeneous knowledge sets (virtual and physical), which robotic fabrication on natural terrains entails.FindingsThe outcomes of the workshop indicate that iterative processes can assist in applying autonomous design protocols on remote grounds. The protocols were assessed in light of the roles of technological tools, design iterations and material agency in the robotic fabrication.Originality/valueThe paper concludes with observations linking the iterative protocol to new avenues in architectural pedagogy as means of advancing the capacity to digitally design, modulate and transform natural grounds.

Noise is the number two environmental health risk in Europe. With the majority of the world’s inhabitants residing in ever-growing cities, urban noise impacts an increasing number of people. Urban airports significantly contribute to urban noise, and their spatial effects far exceed their boundaries. While indoor acoustic mitigation in architecture is growingly addressed using parametric tools, there is limited research on mitigating noise with digital means through landscape and urban design. Moreover, there is a lack of methods for ameliorating urban noise through ground-forming. To address this, this paper contributes a novel method for integrating acoustic analysis in parametric landscape-forming. The method includes collecting on-line and on-site noise data, developing alternative landscape formations for mitigating noise, and evaluating design alternatives within a single digital design environment. This method was applied using research by design and examined on a case-study site adjacent to the Munich Airport. Three landform landscape designs for a park are developed, and their acoustic performance is compared. The results indicate the possibility of integrating acoustic considerations in landscape architecture, and the method provides a step-by-step guide for doing so. This capacity also promotes the long-term goal of increasing the environmental performance of urban grounds.

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