Students at the University of Southern California's School of Architecture have designed and built a complex bridge in Los Angeles using a semi-robotic process that slashed construction waste.
The 70-foot Arroyo Bridge began life as a speculative project in a University of Southern California design-build studio, headed by lead researcher R Scott Mitchell.
The Arroyo Bridge was made in a collaborative robotic process
It is designed as an intricate web of steel tubing, with a layered structure inspired by leaf veins and tree branches.
The bridge's structure was the result of a challenge that saw 13 undergraduate students tasked with designing a pedestrian bridge using parametric design tools.
While the design was initially hypothetical, it had to suit a specific site across a Los Angeles canyon, providing access to treetop views on either side.  
It is made of an intricate web of steel tubing, achieved through parametric design
The complex geometry meant the design would be nearly impossible to build with traditional manual manufacturing methods.
Working with the Martin Architecture and Design Workshop (Madworkshop) and engineering software company Autodesk, the group began investigating how it could be done using robotic assistance.
"While the final steel design was feasible, the geometric complexity and asymmetry would have required impractical amounts of fixturing to hold structural members in position prior to welding," Mitchell told Dezeen.
The structure...