Soft robotics is an emerging field in robotics that takes inspiration from nature and biology, in particular from invertebrates such as octopus or starfish, which are able to move without any rigid body parts. Replacing the biological substances with soft artificial materials, we are now able to emulate those biological mechanisms with significant advantages over traditional “rigid” robotics, such as reduced cost and weight and increased robustness and flexibility.
It is in our hands to establish the theoretical background, tools, and methods that will push forward and bring innovation in architecture. There seems to be an increasing interest in the less known crossroad of fields where architecture meets automation, the point in which architecture becomes a machine. This automation process is aimed to improve our desirable results – the performance of our built spaces. The motivation behind the efforts to implement soft-robotic technology into an architectural application has to do with the advantages of soft-robotics and its potentialities over traditional rigid robotics, more commonly used in architecture today.
