ARC395H1 F P0101 / ARC2095H F 
Instructor: AnnaLisa Meyboom (UBC SALA), Nicholas Steven Hoban (Daniels Faculty), Aryan Rezaei Rad (U of T Engineering) 
Summer 2025
Dates: July 14–25

Robot Made is a hands-on Design Build, allowing students to engage in the process of computational design to digital fabrication workflow, exploring techniques for the design, simulation, and fabrication of geometrically complex wooden structures. Wood is unique not only within its material properties within construction but also its ability to store embodied carbon and reduce GHG emissions. Robot Made engages with the following larger question: How can we use computational tools to challenge conventional methods of wood construction through design to digital fabrication facilitated through robotic systems? 

Robot Made will focus on the design to direct fabrication. Students will learn the Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) process through the development of a computational model which allows for structural analysis, simulation, and robotic fabrication process. Construction and assembly logic are imbedded within the computational and physical model, allowing for expedited onsite construction. Rarely is the design to fabrication process experienced within an academic setting, as it is often the domain of industrial fabrication. Within Robot Made students will have the opportunity to engage in novel applications of wood construction, while learning advanced techniques for design and assembly.  

For 2025, students will participate in the design, robotic fabrication and construction of a reciprocal frame timber structure on the U of T campus. 

Application 

To apply, please submit a paragraph describing your interest in this Design Build course, five samples of student work, and a short CV. 

This course is available to undergraduate Architectural Studies students in all streams who have completed ARC200H1 and ARC201H1 before summer 2025. This includes fourth-year students graduating in June 2025. It is also open to MARC, MLA, and MUD students. 

Applications should be submitted online HERE (Please note the form is limited to one submission for all summer courses. Further editing and amendments are NOT allowed after the form has been submitted.) 

The deadline to apply is Wednesday, February 26, 2025, at 11:59 pm EST.