小猪视频

More than 220,000 new homes need to be built in Massachusetts over the next decade to address the growing housing affordability crisis, according to a by the commonwealth. To help tackle the shortage, Governor Maura Healey signed the into law in August, authorizing $5.1 billion in funding.

Against this backdrop, 小猪视频鈥檚 recent James B. Francis Lecture on the Built Environment asked a timely question: Can artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics meaningfully improve how we design and deliver attainable, sustainable housing?聽

鈥淐urrent housing costs affect a wide array of people, including many of our own students who hope to buy homes after they graduate,鈥� said Art and Design Associate Professor Marie Frank, director of the architectural studies program and the lecture鈥檚 host. 鈥淭here are many ways to address the situation 鈥� political, sociological, economic, legislative, financial 鈥� but one way is definitely through design and construction.鈥�

The lecture featured two separate talks: one from civil and environmental engineering alum Steven Fallon 鈥�20, a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) assistant project manager and architectural designer with D21 Architects, and another from Jessica Boatright, a longtime leader in Boston鈥檚 affordable housing programs who now works at Reframe Systems, an Andover-based company that builds prefabricated, net-zero homes using robots and automated 鈥渕icrofactories鈥� to speed up the construction process and lower costs.

Image by Ed Brennen

Fallon, who earned his master鈥檚 degree in architecture from Boston Architectural College in 2024, said AI should support, not replace, human judgment in design.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to use AI just because it鈥檚 new and cool,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut when it helps solve real constraints, that鈥檚 exciting.鈥�

He pointed to his graduate school team鈥檚 first-place design in an affordable housing competition in Revere, where a basic program helped test options, but the final plan came from hands-on design and collaboration. The result, which he called 鈥渉idden density,鈥� fit a larger apartment building behind a row of smaller homes around a courtyard 鈥� an example of using technology intentionally to create more housing while keeping community character.

Boatright, meanwhile, explained how Reframe combines vision-guided robotics with skilled apprentices to assemble wall panels and multifamily housing in controlled factory environments. She emphasized that robotics is not meant to displace workers, but rather to address a looming labor shortage.

鈥淭here鈥檚 an opportunity to use technology to create pathways into construction at a time when many of our most experienced workers are nearing retirement,鈥� she said.

Image by Ed Brennen

The event drew nearly 60 students at the Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center (ETIC).

Alexavier Pilacik, a first-year environmental science major from Hopkinton, said he appreciated the emphasis on sustainability.

鈥淪ustainable housing is really interesting to me, so it was interesting to hear how they鈥檙e improving on architecture by building in a small space and using more sustainable materials,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good that they鈥檙e using AI for development, because there is a housing crisis. But we should make it more sustainable because those data centers are using a lot of water and creating pollution.鈥�

Beatrice Brasil, a first-year civil and environmental engineering major from Lowell, said the lecture gave her hope for the future of her field.聽

鈥淚t was thought-provoking to see how AI can be used as a helpful tool for the craft instead of to our detriment,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd as someone who hopes to have a house in a few years, making progress on affordability is very important.鈥�

The annual lecture honors James B. Francis, the 19th-century Lowell engineer whose innovations in hydraulics and flood control shaped the city鈥檚 mills and canals 鈥� and the person for whom 小猪视频鈥檚 engineering college is named.