CORA: Robotic Craftsmanship in Timber Vaults

In the forested landscapes of Valldaura, within the Collserola Natural Park, a structure rises that looks both rooted and radical. CORA – Cathedral of Robotic Artisans – is a timber prototype designed and built by students of the Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities at IAAC – Advanced Architecture Barcelona.

This vaulted space operates as an architectural hypothesis. It examines how digital fabrication and ecological materiality interact—how craft can respond to the scale of architecture, and how robotics can align with the logic of organic matter.

CORA was conceived as a gathering place, a prototype of digital vernacular architecture that merges ancestral construction systems with contemporary robotic precision. Built with 100% locally sourced Aleppo Pine, each element of the vault was milled using a KUKA KR-210 robotic arm. Not as a machine of repetition, but as a tool for variation: each timber piece is unique, designed through computational processes that respect the geometry of the vault and the constraints of the material.

The students worked within an integrated system: scanning the trees felled on site, selecting and orienting the wood, programming the robotic cuts, and assembling the structure on-site. The result is a space that feels hand-touched, but machine-assisted—a choreography between gesture and code, between matter and intent.

With its 12-metre span and 4-metre height, CORA is the largest structure ever built at Valldaura Labs. Its proportions, however, are not monumental—they are calibrated to frame the surrounding forest, to engage with light, and to invite occupation.

The use of timber in the project is defined by both its physical properties and its provenance. Working with irregular geometries and site-sourced material, the prototype integrates robotic processes not to override variation, but to engage with it—developing tectonic systems that respond to the constraints and intelligence of wood.

If you’re interested in engaging with this kind of hands-on experimentation—where material ecology, robotics and architectural performance intersect—you can learn more about the Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities.

Credits

Project: CORA – Cathedral of Robotic Artisans

Direction: Vicente Guallart, Daniel Ibañez and Michael Salka

Valldaura Executive Director: Laia Pifarré

Developed by: The students of the Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities (MAEBB), 2023/24 class: Alexander Tamazov, Toni Javor, Emma Rodriguez Berghmans, Neeshi Doshi, Lamprini Makarona, Diana Ruzanska, Alfred Ziad Aramouni, Anushreya Kondapi, Juan Sebastián Batallas Cueva, Marianna Santos Fujii, Varun Sreenath, André Arruda Navarro, Mustafa Teksoy, Oliver Needham, Alireza Shayan, Alkiviaids Avarkiotis. Maya Shoavi, Sharvari Sharath, Sveta Sathyanadhan, Vanessa Marie Alvarado Barrios, Helen Girma, Karla Velarde Sandoval, Kristina Schüssler

Project Management: Esin Aydemir

Expert Staff: Bruno Ganem, Marielena Papandreou, Lorenzo Salinas, Viorel Cazacu

Staff: Pilar Fontanals, Laura Sanchez

Advised by: Miquel Rodriguez, Elena Orte, Guillermo Sevillano, Ignasi Caus, David Valldeoriola, Silvia Burés, Toni Arola, Ionut Cosenco, Carles Enrich, Firas Safieddine, Arturo de la Maza

Sponsors: Tallfusta, Alberch; Montpart

With the support of: Parc de Collserola  Ajuntament de Cerdanyola del Vallès

Photography: Adrià Goula

Communication: Pati Nuñez Agency