NEGAR KALANTAR

^tranSTUDIO

^{Advanced Studio| Digital Craft}

^{Robotic Crafts at Autodesk}

Robotic Craft | Digital Craft

Offered through CCA’s Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD) Program

Robotic Craft is an advanced, yearlong design research course exploring the intersection of design, robotics, and materiality. Led by Professor Negar Kalantar, Co-Director of the Digital Craft Lab, this course connects MAAD students with peers from CCA’s MArch and BArch programs in a competitive, residency-style environment.

Each year, a select group of students collaborates with Autodesk’s San Francisco Technology Center, engineering custom robotic tools and developing full-scale fabrication workflows. Recent work includes custom pneumatic grippers, Grasshopper-controlled toolpaths, and iterative metal bending processes that challenge conventional digital construction methods.

With close collaboration alongside Autodesk’s workshop and research teams, Robotic Craft emphasizes hands-on experimentation, coding, prototyping, and fabrication. The course structure fosters both technical expertise and speculative design thinking in a small, focused cohort.