Prof. Lawrence Sass

Professor of Architecture
Director, Digital Design Fabrication Group
Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow

Primary DLC

Department of Architecture

MIT Room: 7-304C

Areas of Interest and Expertise

Affordable Housing
Digital Fabrication
3D Printing
Sustainable Energy
Additive Manufacturing
3D Modeling

Research Summary

Professor Sass is a designer and researcher in the Department of Architecture at MIT. He is a pioneer within the field of design and digital fabrication for low-cost housing. He discovered a low-cost method of single-family home construction using computation and digital fabrication. The impact of his research has been knowledge construction related to the idea that digital fabrication can automate construction. His methods reduce the number of steps in the production of a home. He was the first to publish the idea of digitally fabricated wooden housing in 2006 and exhibited his idea at the Museum of Modern Art in 2008.

Recent Work

  • Video

    Lawrence Sass - 2019 RD Conference

    November 20, 2019Conference Video Duration: 21:4

    Rapid Building Design and Delivery

    Construction Tech is one of the fastest growing areas of venture capital funding in the US. With over three billion in investments over the past year it is clear that Construction Tech will soon impact the ways we deliver building of all sizes. Moving forward we need new, rich ideas in software development to solve many of the building industries toughest problems. The talk will present a framework for home delivery directly from computers. Larry will show how builders will design and construct buildings from digital files using systems similar to 3D Printing.

    2019 MIT Research and Development Conference