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ETH Zurich's HiLo unit combines medieval building techniques with innovative construction methods

2021-10-07T14:04:00-04:00

ETH Zurich has unveiled HiLo, the latest addition to Empa and Eawag’s modular NEST research building in Duebendorf, Switzerland. Featuring a doubly curved concrete roof, lightweight funicular floors, and self-learning building technology, the new unit reflects nearly a decade of ETH Zurich research in architecture and sustainable technologies.

Photo: Roman Keller

Sitting at the intersection of past and future, HiLo was inspired by medieval building principles and planned and built using state-of-the-art computational design and fabrication techniques. A team of scientists led by Philippe Block, Professor of Architecture and Structures, and Arno Schlueter, Professor of Architecture and Building Systems, along with industrial partners explored how lightweight structures and efficient construction methods can be combined with intelligent and adaptive building systems to reduce embodied and operational emissions in the construction and building industry.

Photo: Roman Keller

The unit’s ro...

Biologically inspired pavilion designs explore lightweight construction solutions

2018-02-02T17:56:00-05:00

The Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) released designs for two light-weight pavilions to be completed next spring of 2019. In collaboration with the Institute for Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart, the projects will be robotically fabricated for the 2019 Bundesgartenschau exhibition in Heilbronn.

BUGA Fiber Pavilion by ICD/ITKE University of Stuttgart. Image: ICD.

Both pavilion designs draw from biological structures and their ability to exhibit a far higher degree of material efficiency and functional integrity. Each design revolves around the transfer of light-weight principles.

BUGA Fiber Pavilion by ICD/ITKE University of Stuttgart. Image: ICD.

The BUGA Fiber Pavilion will be made entirely from individual glass and carbon fibre composites produced through a robotic winding process. This method allows the form and layout of each component to adapt depending on specific structural requirements.

BUGA Wood Pavi...

Structureless structure?

2012-08-20T11:05:00-04:00

The general Idea from my interpretation was to produce a lightweight structure that uses minimal material yet uses technology to account for the lack of girth and material. - Rogelio Mercado

The buildings are always designed with redundant structural assemblies to resist forces that might happen maybe .001 time of their existence and sometimes never. So what happens when all that structural apparatus and weight has taken out from an experimental "structure" is explained to a group of traveling students by Prof. Haag from HOCHSCHULE BIBERACH UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES in Stuttgart, Germany. This fascinating video shot by Cal Poly student Rogelio Mercado shows how the actuators placed in four corners re-distribute the weight continuously and keep the large plywood sheet dome from collapsing.