Miles Kemp explored the question ‘Why can't architecture grow with us?’ for his Masters Thesis at Southern California Institute of Architecture. Inspired by the actuation of miniature robotic modules like the “Self-replicating, Self-sustaining and Adaptive Machines ” from Cornell’s Computational Synthesis Lab (US), he has developed a series of prototype robots and at the same time explored the practical application of such a technology as a new form of dynamic architectural material.

Miles suggests that “Digital technology, and the mechanics that allow spaces to be kinetic, should be embedded in the physical architecture we live in. The form of Architecture should not be predetermined, instead Architecture should play a more active role in suggesting new ways for its inhabitants to use space based on real time information exchanges.

Recently, technological advancements have been made in robotic fields that look at new ways of designing systems to be more interactive. We should employ this way of thinking when we design the relationships of the parts that make up interactive space. Spaces should be constructed of parts that have the ability to communicate with one another and constantly reshape our experience.”

The final images explore the potential future of consumers buying units of modular robotic materials to add to their own homes. The building itself would absorb the new modules into the existing pool of robots to continue to build transforming spaces to inhabit.

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