CRAFT RECODED Human Gesture and Robotic Intelligence in Clay Fabrication

Workshop Dates: 10/19 - 10/21

Location: LTU, Southfield Address: 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075

Workshop Team

Aldo Sollazzo, LAMÁQUINA, instagram

Hritik Thumar, LAMÁQUINA

Nicholas Desbiens, Pininfarina, LinkedIn

Registration

LAMÁQUINA X Pininfarina

This workshop is a collaboration between LAMÁQUINA and Pininfarina

Workshop Description

Craft Recoded investigates how embodied craft knowledge, design sensibility, and human gestures can inform new forms of robotic fabrication. Bringing together expertise in computational manufacturing, robotic processes, large-scale additive manufacturing, and design culture, the workshop explores clay additive manufacturing as a platform for reconsidering the relationship between automated production and the human act of making.

Participants will design and fabricate clay artifacts using large-format ceramic extrusion systems, intentionally exposing layer lines, textures, and material irregularities as opportunities for further design intervention.

Through hands-on exercises with sponges and sculpting tools, participants will explore how intuitive gestures can transform the printed surface. Their movements will be captured through Meta Quest tracking systems, translated into computational data, and subsequently reinterpreted as robotic toolpaths using a KUKA KR16 robotic arm equipped with custom finishing tools.

Pininfarina and LAMÁQUINA will contribute complementary expertise to the initiative. Pininfarina will participate as design tutor and workshop partner, bringing its perspective on the relationship between advanced technologies, craftsmanship, performance, and aesthetic quality. LAMÁQUINA will bring its experience in large-scale additive manufacturing and robotic fabrication, contributing its expertise in translating computational design and material experimentation into manufacturing processes.

Through design reviews and collaborative experimentation, participants will be encouraged to move beyond the direct replication of human gestures and investigate how captured actions can be interpreted, amplified, and transformed into new surface languages.

Combining clay printing, motion tracking, computational design, and robotic post-processing, the workshop positions finishing not as the final step of fabrication, but as an iterative dialogue between human intuition, material behavior, design intent, and machine intelligence

Workshop Schedule

Day 3 – Surface Design, Prototyping, and Presentation Time: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm (w/ 1-hour break)

Morning Session Designing Surface Textures through Hybrid Workflows Participants develop custom surface textures and finishing strategies using the gesture based robotic workflow. Fabrication and refinement of final prototypes combining clay printing, human finishing, and robotic post processing. Afternoon Session Documentation and Final Presentations Documentation of workflows, prototypes, motion data, and robotic processes. Preparation of drawings, videos, and process diagrams for presentation. Final participant presentations and group discussion. Deliverables: Final clay prototypes with robotically translated surface textures Process documentation and visual material Participant presentations and workflow summaries Total Workshop Time: ~21 hours over 3 days

Day 1 – Clay Printing and Gesture Capture

Time: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm (w/ 1-hour break) Morning Session

  • Introduction and Clay Additive Manufacturing
  • Introduction to the workshop agenda, conceptual framework, and fabrication workflows.
  • Overview of clay printing systems, robotic fabrication setup, and material behavior.
  • Participants design and fabricate a series of test geometries using robotic and desktop ceramic extrusion systems.

Afternoon Session

  • Embodied Finishing and Gesture Capture
  • Introduction to embodied finishing techniques using sponges, ribs, and sculpting tools.
  • Setup and calibration of Meta Quest tracking systems.
  • Participants manually smooth, compress, and carve printed artifacts while motion data is recorded.

Deliverables:

  • Clay printed test geometries
  • Initial hand finished surface studies
  • Recorded gesture and motion datasets

Day 2 – Gesture Translation and Robotic Workflow Development

Time: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm (w/ 1-hour break) Morning Session

  • Translating Human Gestures into Robotic Toolpaths
  • Introduction to processing and visualizing captured movement data.
  • Translation of gesture trajectories into robotic motion workflows.
  • Coordinate alignment between tracked gestures, scanned geometries, and robotic systems.

Afternoon Session

  • Robotic Finishing Experiments
  • Setup and calibration of robotic finishing workflows using six axis robotic arms.
  • Testing robotic smoothing, carving, and surface refinement techniques on printed clay artifacts.
  • Iterative comparison between human and robotic finishing approaches.

Deliverables:

  • Robotic toolpaths generated from recorded gestures
  • Initial robotic finishing tests
  • Comparative studies between hand and robot finished surfaces

Day 3 – Surface Design, Prototyping, and Presentation

Time: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm (w/ 1-hour break) Morning Session

  • Designing Surface Textures through Hybrid Workflows
  • Participants develop custom surface textures and finishing strategies using the gesture based robotic workflow.
  • Fabrication and refinement of final prototypes combining clay printing, human finishing, and robotic post processing.

Afternoon Session

  • Documentation and Final Presentations
  • Documentation of workflows, prototypes, motion data, and robotic processes.
  • Preparation of drawings, videos, and process diagrams for presentation.
  • Final participant presentations and group discussion.

Deliverables:

  • Final clay prototypes with robotically translated surface textures
  • Process documentation and visual material
  • Participant presentations and workflow summaries
  • Total Workshop Time: 18~20 hours over 3 days

Participant Information

  • Audience: Students, researchers, and professionals in architecture, design, and digital fabrication
  • Skill Level: Intermediate. Prior knowledge of Rhino 8 and Grasshopper is helpful but not required
  • Group Size: ~15 participants
  • Hardware: laptop capable of running Rhino 8

Refund and Change Policy

Important: Refund and change requests will not be accepted beyond Monday, October 5th.