The robot carver: Assistant or master?
Above: A meeting of carvers and robots – the installation of Ancient Futures, a project produced by the Danish architecture company, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) at the 2025 Venice Biennale Architettura.
Words: Kevin Murray, managing editor of the online journal, Garland Magazine
Two Bhutanese artisans, dressed in their traditional gho, a kimono-like garment, stand with hammer and chisel in hand, slowly and carefully carving patterns on a wooden beam. Their chisels slowly move along the lines of a drawn design, meticulously tapping away at grooves along the sinewy lines. What emerges is a series of three dragons. One clutches jewels that represent the beauty of Bhutan’s nature and its monarchs. The second holds a Dharma Wheel, reflecting the Buddhist nation’s present transformation. And the last bears the Double Vajra, symbolising future harmony. These reflect the traditional.
They are not alone. While the Bhutanese carvers are at work, two whirring robot milling arms follow identical patterns on two additional beams, brushing away the sawdust from the grooves they have precisely carved based on CAD drawings loaded into their software.
This meeting of carvers and robots is part of an installation at the 2025 Venice Biennale Architettura, reflecting the theme Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. The Ancient Future project is produced by the Danish architecture company, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).
While it might seem to be replacing human skill, BIG partner Giulia Frittoli claims that the project is actually enhancing our craft capacity...
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Image supplied courtesy Garland Magazine
Republished with permission from Garland, ‘a platform for thoughtful writing about beautiful objects made today across the wider world. It is through these objects that cultures are made, by hand, every day.’ Garland is a partner of the World Crafts Council – Australia, a national entity of the World Crafts Council – Asia Pacific.