Visit on DIGITALBAU 2026

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Building in the Age of Machine Intelligence – Impressions from DIGITALBAU 2026 in Cologne

DIGITALBAU in Cologne has established itself as the most important German-language platform for digital transformation in the construction industry. Amid BIM solutions, scan-to-BIM workflows and autonomous construction machinery, this year’s edition made one thing unmistakably clear: the integration of artificial intelligence and robotics is already reshaping the entire field – from the first design sketch to on-site assembly.

AI as the Operating System of Construction

Notably, many exhibitors were no longer presenting individual features but comprehensive AI layers running across planning and execution processes. Scan-to-CAD and scan-to-BIM, automated clash detection, AI-assisted quantity takeoffs – what was considered an add-on just a few years ago is now core product. NavVis presented the VLX, their wearable 3D scanner: a shoulder-mounted system that captures interior spaces in real time and feeds them seamlessly into digital twins. Multiple high-resolution cameras and LiDAR sensors transform even complex building geometries into precise point clouds.

Robotics on the Construction Site: From Promise to Machine

The Hilti JAIBOT: an industrial robotic arm mounted on a tracked vehicle that autonomously drills fixings and installation points into ceilings and walls. Driven by BIM data, the JAIBOT locates its position in space, moves to the target coordinate and executes the drilling operation precisely – without any human intervention at the point of work. This is no laboratory prototype: the JAIBOT is already deployed on active construction sites.

Systems like these don’t just change workflows – they raise new questions for design programmes: How do you design for the robot? How must building data be structured so that machines can navigate and act upon it? This interface between digital model and physical execution sits at the heart of our MID programme and the KI.BAU research field at IDS.

Highlight: the Pen Plotter by Tom Pawlofsky (CraftWise GmbH) & Oliver Fritz (User Generated Design GmbH) 

Between industrial robots and enterprise software, it was a hand-sized device made of plywood that drew lots of attention – and perhaps posed the sharpest question of the entire fair. The pen plotter developed by Tom Pawlofsky and Oliver Fritz consists of laser-cut MDF parts, an Arduino-based CNC shield with DRV8825 drivers, and a custom-developed G-code generator. The system uses a polar kinematic mechanism with a ring-gear turntable and a radial linear carriage – and gets by with a remarkably small number of components.

The outputs – architectural floor plans and axonometric sketches, drawn live at the fair – serve as a reminder of what good design thinking looks like: maximum effect through minimum means. This plotter is not a gimmick – it is a position. And an invitation to rethink AI and robotics in construction not from the perspective of the large machine, but from the perspective of intelligent simplicity.

What This Means for MID

The visit confirms what we have been observing in the MID – Master of Integrated Design programme at TH OWL for years: the boundaries between designing, programming, simulating and building are blurring. Anyone who wants to shape this field needs more than software skills – they need a conceptual toolkit that combines technical competence with strategic thinking. Whether AI-driven planning tools, robotic execution or DIY plotters as creative research instruments: the MID programme provides the framework to not just observe these developments, but actively participate in shaping them.

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Save the Date: IDS Conference at Schüco · 17–18 November 2026

The Institute for Design Strategies (IDS) at Detmold School of Design will host an international conference in November 2026 on AI- and robotics-driven transformation in facade and building production – in cooperation with Schüco International in Bielefeld:

RESET\design\construction – AI and Robotic driven transformation in Facade and Building Production

Speakers, topics and the full programme will be announced shortly. Mark the date: 17 and 18 November 2026.