Archinect - News

Robotic fabrication and hybrid structural systems are showcased in the University of Stuttgart's new ITECH Pavilion

2024-10-04T18:52:00-04:00

A team of researchers led by Achim Menges of the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Jan Knippers of the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart has unveiled a new pavilion made using a novel combination of bio-based materials.

The hybrid structural system behind the ITECH Research Pavilion 2024 is composed of timber and natural flax fiber polymer composites (or NFPCs). Menches and his colleagues were guided by recent research into fiber-polymer composites. The complete assembly works via the compressive strength of timber and tensile properties.

Image courtesy of ITEK and ICD at the University of Stuttgart

The pavilion was erected within the university’s Stadtgarten. It covers an area of roughly 484 square feet and weighs almost 2,130 pounds. The pavilion's structural capacity was shown to be capable of withstanding 1.5 times its own weight and 1.5 times the outside wind load.

Image courtesy of ITEK and...

Innovative mass timber Wangen Tower opens in southern Germany

2024-05-22T17:16:00-04:00

University of Stuttgart professor Achim Menges has shared details of a new research-led observation tower project called Wangen Tower after its realization earlier this month at the regional garden showcase Landesgartenschau Wangen im Allgäu in southern Germany.

The project is a collaboration between the university's Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the university.

Image: © ICD/ITKE/IntCDC University of Stuttgart (Photo: Nina Baisch)

Image: © Roland Halbe

Menges’ eight-member team worked with Prof. Dr. Jan Knippers and Gregor Neubauer to produce the prototype using CNC milling techniques and curved CLT panels. The result is a durable, high-performance structure made from locally sourced renewable materials as well as the first-ever built example of a multi-level building made using self-shaped structural timber components.

Image: © ICD/ITKE/IntCDC University of Stuttgart (Photo: Christoph Mo...

Chicago Architecture Biennial announces CAB 5 participants

2023-06-05T11:12:00-04:00

Participants in the upcoming 5th edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) have been announced by the organization in a preview of their exhibition titled This is a Rehearsal. The event will open on September 21st at various sites throughout the city.

A total of 50 contributors were announced as part of the Biennial's curatorial process, which is being led by the local artists' collective Floating Museum.

Participants in CAB 5 include the 2023 Leibniz Prize winner Achim Menges; The Bartlett School of Architecture’s new Director Amy Kulper; studio: indigenous founder and academic Chris Cornelius; and Minnesota-based duo Dream The Combine, among a list of other prominent local and international names such as Carol Ross Barney, Camille Henrot, Tschabalala Self, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York City.

According to the Biennial: ...

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...

ACADIA's 'Robotic Softness' workshop experiments with Xbox Kinect and robo-weaving

2016-11-08T20:07:00-05:00

The Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) conference 2016, hosted by the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban planning at the University of Michigan, is a preeminent platform to discuss design philosophies and acknowledge new realms of work done by individuals or organizations among the architectural community. The Institute for Computational Design at the University of Stuttgart's contribution to the field of computational design and architecture has been immense, and the workshop gave us valuable insight into the technology and know-how being developed at the there.

Through the seven ACADIA’s workshops, we participated in “Robotic Softness: Behavioral Fabrication Process of Woven Structures,” led by Lauren Vasey, a Research Associate from the ICD and Giulio Brugnaro, a graduate of the ITECH Master’s Program at the University of Stuttgart who is currently also pursuing his PHD at The Bartlett School of Architecture. The three day workshop was structured...

Digital Elytrons. Latest Architecture Technology at the V&A Museum.

2016-07-06T04:48:00-04:00

Todays, pavilions are an omnipresent type of building. Unburdened to a certain degree from constraints of conventional architectures, such as program or function, pavilion designs offer architects a reign of technological and formal possibilities. Architects are commissioned for designs, in which speculation, provocation and experimentation is allowed, or even more, it is requested. Currently, visitors of Victoria & Albert Museum, run in the courtyard into an exemplary architecture experiment, posing a radical statement for contemporary digital architecture technology.

The Elytra Filament Pavilion, designed by a team of architects and engineers around Achim Menges from the Universities of Stuttgart and Munich, demonstrates a visionary for a yet to be determined digital future in the building industry. Within the context of the exhibition "Engineering the World: Ove Arup and the Philosophy of Total Design", the museum's courtyard has been turned into a test ground for the latest emerg...

London's V&A to host a robot construction team this summer

2016-02-04T20:40:00-05:00

Robots will take over the courtyard of London’s V&A Museum this summer to build a pavilion inspired by flying beetles. The installation – designed by architect Achim Menges – features an undulating canopy of tightly woven carbon fibre cells, drawing on the shells of insects called elytra. Visitors will also be able to watch the robots in action over the course of the summer as they continue to add new sections to the evolving ‘Elytra Filament Pavilion’.

For more robo-news, check out these links: