Lawson Spencer

Lawson Spencer is an instructor at Cornell University in the Department of Design Tech. As a computational designer, Spencer's work broadly investigates parametric modeling methods to automate fabrication workflows and structurally simulate innovative building assemblies using finite element analysis (FEA). Within this framework, the majority of Lawson's research questions the role of digital fabrication to reduce the amount of material required to assemble/construct a building element (beam, column, etc.) while ensuring the element maintains structural viability. As such, Spencer's work is highly interdisciplinary between building technology, structural engineering, and material science.

As a roboticist, Lawson Spencer has developed several robotic workflows for subtractive manufacturing with timber at the Cornell College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and advised on robotic routines for additive manufacturing with concrete at the Cornell College of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Lawson has previously worked at HANNAH Design Office and was a Research Associate at the Cornell Robotic Construction Laboratory (RCL). Recently, Spencer was the project lead for the extraordinary HANNAH design project, Monarchs: A House in Six Parts at Coachella 2024. Spencer's research has been published at conferences and journals such as ACADIA, AAG, Construction Robotics, and Architectural Intelligence. Spencer received his Master of Architecture at Cornell University in 2021.

Related Links

• Robotic Construction Lab
• HANNAH

Classes (Selected)

• DESIGN 4197/6197: Special Topics: Robotic Fabrication & Design: Rethinking Timber Joinery | Instructor: Lawson Spencer
• DESIGN 6151: Design and Making Across Disciplines | Studio Coordinator: Jenny E. Sabin, Studio Instructors: Lawson Spencer and Laura Gonzalez
• ARCH 4101/4102/5101/5116/8913: Option Studio: PRINT BETTER! | Coordinator: Sasa Zivkovic, Co-instructor: Lawson Spencer

Awards, Grants, and Fellowships (Selected)

• Best Paper Award at ACADIA Conference 2023 for "Extended Reality (XR) Workflows for Multi-Material Assemblies" by Spencer, Lawson, Alexander Htet Kyaw, Sasa Zivkovic, and Leslie Lok
• Robert James Eidlitz Travel Fellowship – recipient
• AIA Upjohn Research Initiative - collaborator
• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Collaborative Studies in Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities Fellowship – recipient

Publications (Selected)

• Spencer, Lawson, Moneeb Genedy, James Strait, Sriramya Duddukuri Nair, and Sasa Zivkovic. 2024. Concrete Gyroid: An Additive Manufacturing (AM) Method to 3D Print Gyroid Geometries with a Cementitious Material. Construction Robotics 8 (2): 11.
• Lok, Leslie, Sasa Zivkovic, and Lawson Spencer. 2023. UNLOG: A Deployable, Lightweight, and Bending-Active Timber Construction Method. Technology|Architecture + Design 7 (1): 95–108.
• Spencer, Lawson, Yifei Peng, Peter Smallidge, Matthew T. Reiter, and Sasa Zivkovic. 2023. Slimlam Method: Robotically Bandsawn Timber for Glulam Applications. Construction Robotics, May.