DO ROBOTS DREAM OF CONSTRUCTION SITES?
9 September – 5 December 2026
Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm
Open Tuesday evenings until 8 pm
Archizoom, SG building, Place Ada Lovelace, EPFL
What if robots didn’t replace us, but worked alongside us? Robots are capable of assembling, analysing, experimenting and learning from their mistakes. Could they take on construction work without replacing human labour? Research carried out by the CRCL – Lab for Creative Computation at EPFL explores a form of collaboration between humans and machines that departs from the traditional promise of automation. It opens the way to more inclusive building sites and non-standardised, more environmentally friendly architecture that goes beyond the mere logic of replacement and productivity.
An exhibition produced in collaboration with the CRCL - Lab for Creative Computation, led by Stefana Parascho
PROGRAMME<meta charset="UTF-8">
OPENING! Tuesday 8 September
6.15pm – Introduction by Cyril Veillon
6.30pm – Lecture by Stefana Parascho, followed by a discussion with Aude Billard, moderated by Pier Vittorio Aureli
7.30pm – Doors open and welcome drinks
GUIDED TOUR Thursday 10 September
5.15pm – by Stefana Parascho, in English
On the occasion of the Design Modeling Symposium
NIGHT OF THE MUSEUM Saturday 26 September
2pm-midnight – Exhibition open
Guided tours at 3pm, 6pm and 9pm, in French
2pm–9pm – Interactive robotic installation by the artists AATB–Practice for Non-Industrial Robotics
EPFL LIBRARY ON SHOW! From 5 October to 7 December
Documentary selection related to the exhibition, also available online
FESTIVAL LES CULTURELLES AT EPFL Tuesday 13 October
5.30pm – Guided tour of the exhibition, in French
7pm – Opening concert for the NO/NC (Normally Open, Normally Closed) installation, created by the artists AATB – Practice for Non-Industrial Robotics
14-24 October – Continuous interactive robotic installation
An event supported and organised in partnership with Pôle Culture (VPI) and Usinesonore
SCIENTASTIC Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 November
10am-5pm – Exhibition open + Interactive robotic installation by the artists AATB–Practice for Non-Industrial Robotics
11am & 4 pm – Guided tour of the exhibition, in French
GUIDED TOUR Tuesday 24 November
5.30pm – by Stefana Parascho, in English
6.30pm – Opening of the exhibition The Extraction of Value with Paolo Tombesi
INTRODCUTION
<meta charset="UTF-8">
Robots can no longer be imagined as separate from our daily lives – whether in factories, on our streets, or in our homes. Their presence elicits a wide spectrum of reactions: they promise relief from dangerous, physically demanding, and monotonous labor, while simultaneously raising concerns about job displacement and the erosion of human control. Whether deemed intelligent or not, robots are far from merely auxiliary machines; they provoke, enable, sustain, and at the same time complicate the fabric of human experience.
In construction, these tensions become especially visible. Robots have long been expected to relieve workers from hazardous and physically strenuous tasks, while offering the industry faster and more cost-effective building processes. Yet today, construction largely remains a manual practice. While high-tech machinery is occasionally showcased in flagship projects, the majority of work on building sites continues to rely on human labor to carry out demanding, unhealthy, and often dangerous tasks – while simultaneously leaving an irreversibale environmental impact on the planet.
It explores the potential roles of robots and machines in architecture and construction, ranging from simple systems performing repetitive motions to more complex scenarios in which humans and robots collaborate in fluid and mutually supportive ways. It reflects on the history of automation in construction, examines why advanced robotic technologies have yet to be widely adopted on site, and questions how recent developments in robotics, artificial intelligence, and digitalization are reshaping the environmental impct of the industry and the experience of human workers. Ultimately we ask: Can robotics enable more sustainable approaches to construction? And can robotic processes evolve into genuinely collaborative practices that enhance the experience of construction work?