Universität Stuttgart
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Item Open Access Environmental impact of a mono-material timber building envelope with enhanced energy performance(2022) Bucklin, Oliver; Di Bari, Roberta; Amtsberg, Felix; Menges, AchimBroader adoption of timber construction is a strategy for reducing negative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions created by the construction industry. This paper proposes a novel solid timber building envelope that uses computational design and digital fabrication to improve buildings’ energy performance. Timber beams are sawn with deep slits that improve thermal insulation and are milled with various joints for airtight, structural connections. To minimize embedded energy and to simplify disposal, the envelope is assembled without adhesives or metal fasteners. The building envelope is evaluated for thermal resistance and airtightness, and fabrication is evaluated for duration and power output during sawing. Finally, a Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) is carried out. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) is compared to that of other wood envelope systems with similar thermal conductance. Compared to other timber constructions with similar building physics properties, the proposed system showed lower GWP values (-15.63 kg CO2 eq./m² construction). The development and analysis demonstrate the potential to use digitally controlled subtractive manufacturing for improving the quality of solid timber to achieve higher environmental performance in building envelopes. However, further design and fabrication optimizations may be necessary to reduce required materials and production energy.Item Open Access Towards digital automation flexibility in large-scale timber construction : integrative robotic prefabrication and co-design of the BUGA Wood Pavilion(2020) Wagner, Hans Jakob; Alvarez, Martin; Groenewolt, Abel; Menges, AchimThis paper discusses the digital automation workflows and co-design methods that made possible the comprehensive robotic prefabrication of the BUGA Wood Pavilion - a large-scale production case study of robotic timber construction. Latest research in architectural robotics often focuses on the advancement of singular aspects of integrated digital fabrication and computational design techniques. Few researchers discuss how a multitude of different robotic processes can come together into seamless, collaborative robotic fabrication workflows and how a high level of interaction within larger teams of computational design and robotic fabrication experts can be achieved. It will be increasingly important to discuss suitable methods for the management of robotics and computational design in construction for the successful implementation of robotic fabrication systems in the context of the industry. We present here how a co-design approach enabled the organization of computational design decisions in reciprocal feedback with the fabrication planning, simulation and robotic code generation. We demonstrate how this approach can implement direct and curated reciprocal feedback between all planning domains - paving the way for fast-paced integrative project development. Furthermore, we discuss how the modularization of computational routines simplify the management and computational control of complex robotic construction efforts on a per-project basis and open the door for the flexible reutilization of developed digital technologies across projects and building systems.Item Open Access Advanced timber construction industry : a quantitative review of 646 global design and construction stakeholders(2023) Orozco, Luis; Svatoš-Ražnjević, Hana; Wagner, Hans Jakob; Abdelaal, Moataz; Amtsberg, Felix; Weiskopf, Daniel; Menges, AchimThere has been a multi-storey timber construction boom since the start of the millennium. While there is now a body of research on trends, benefits, and disadvantages of timber construction, there is not yet literature on the wider market or the impact of stakeholders on it. This research investigates the (i) architects, (ii) engineers, and (iii) manufacturers involved in the realization of 300 contemporary multi-storey timber buildings from an existing survey. The analysis is based on data sourced from stakeholder websites and the building survey. It evaluates the perceived level of timber expertise of stakeholders based on service categorization and stakeholder type and relates them to the buildings they worked on. The research uses quantitative methods to answer qualitative questions on the connection between architectural variety in timber construction and the stakeholders involved. Interconnectivity between stakeholders and projects is visualized in an interactive network graph. The study shows a segmented mass timber market with relatively few impactful design and construction stakeholders, mostly located in central and northern Europe. It also identifies fabricators as the largest group of innovators advancing the industry and enabling the construction of more complex projects. It reveals the importance of collaboration and knowledge sharing for the industry’s growth.Item Open Access Adaptive kinematic textile architecture(2020) Wyller, Maria; Yablonina, Maria; Alvarez, Martin; Menges, AchimThe research presented in this paper explores how textiles can be formed into adaptive, kinematic spaces to be able to respond to its environment and users utilizing on-site, distributed, mobile robotic connectors. The project aimed at creating an adaptive system that consumes little energy while making use of textiles’ advantageous qualities - their lightweight, portability, and manipulability. This was achieved through the development of a bespoke on-material mobile machine able to locomote on suspended sheets of fabrics while shaping them. Together, the connector and the tectonic system compose a lightweight architectural robot controlled with a feedback loop that evaluates real-time environmental sensor data from the space against user-defined targets. This research demonstrates how the combination of mobile robotics and textile architecture opens up new design possibilities for adaptive spaces by proposing a system that is able to generate a significant architectural effect with minimal mechanical actuation.Item Open Access Extension of computational co-design methods for modular, prefabricated composite building components using bio-based material systems(2023) Zechmeister, Christoph; Gil Pérez, Marta; Dambrosio, Niccolo; Knippers, Jan; Menges, AchimRobotic coreless filament winding using alternative material systems based on natural fibers and bio-based resin systems offers possible solutions to the productivity and sustainability challenges of the building and construction sector. Their application in modular, prefabricated structures allows for material-efficient and fast production under tightly controlled conditions leading to high-quality building parts with minimal production waste. Plant fibers made of flax or hemp have high stiffness and strength values and their production consumes less non-renewable energy than glass or carbon fibers. However, the introduction of natural material systems increases uncertainties in structural performance and fabrication parameters. The development process of coreless wound composite parts must thus be approached from the bottom up, treating the material system as an integral part of design and evaluation. Existing design and fabrication methods, as well as equipment, are adjusted to emphasize material aspects throughout the development, increasing the importance of material characterization and scalability evaluation. The reciprocity of material characterization and the fabrication process is highlighted and contributes to a non-linear, cyclical workflow. The implementation of extensions and adaptations are showcased in the development of the livMatS pavilion, a first attempt at coreless filament winding using natural material systems in architecture.Item Open Access Advanced timber construction industry : a review of 350 multi-storey timber projects from 2000-2021(2022) Svatoš-Ražnjević, Hana; Orozco, Luis; Menges, AchimThroughout the last two decades the timber building sector has experienced a steady growth in multi-storey construction. Although there has been a growing number of research focused on trends, benefits, and disadvantages in timber construction from various technical perspectives, so far there is no extensive literature on the trajectory of emerging architectural typologies. This paper presents an examination of architectural variety and spatial possibilities in current serial and modular multi-storey timber construction. It aims to draw a parallel between architectural characteristics and their relation to structural systems in timber. The research draws from a collection of 350 contemporary multi-storey timber building projects between 2000 and 2021. It consists of 300 built projects, 12 projects currently in construction, and 38 design proposals. The survey consists of quantitative and qualitative project data, as well as classification of the structural system, material, program, massing, and spatial organization of the projects. It then compares the different structural and design aspects to achieve a comprehensive overview of possibilities in timber construction. The outcome is an identification of the range of morphologies and a better understanding of the design space in current serial and modular multi-storey mass timber construction.Item Open Access Development of a material design space for 4D-printed bio-inspired hygroscopically actuated bilayer structures with unequal effective layer widths(2021) Krüger, Friederike; Thierer, Rebecca; Tahouni, Yasaman; Sachse, Renate; Wood, Dylan; Menges, Achim; Bischoff, Manfred; Rühe, Jürgen(1) Significance of geometry for bio-inspired hygroscopically actuated bilayer structures is well studied and can be used to fine-tune curvatures in many existent material systems. We developed a material design space to find new material combinations that takes into account unequal effective widths of the layers, as commonly used in fused filament fabrication, and deflections under self-weight. (2) For this purpose, we adapted Timoshenko’s model for the curvature of bilayer strips and used an established hygromorphic 4D-printed bilayer system to validate its ability to predict curvatures in various experiments. (3) The combination of curvature evaluation with simple, linear beam deflection calculations leads to an analytical solution space to study influences of Young’s moduli, swelling strains and densities on deflection under self-weight and curvature under hygroscopic swelling. It shows that the choice of the ratio of Young’s moduli can be crucial for achieving a solution that is stable against production errors. (4) Under the assumption of linear material behavior, the presented development of a material design space allows selection or design of a suited material combination for application-specific, bio-inspired bilayer systems with unequal layer widths.Item Open Access Plants as inspiration for material-based sensing and actuation in soft robots and machines(2023) Speck, Thomas; Cheng, Tiffany; Klimm, Frederike; Menges, Achim; Poppinga, Simon; Speck, Olga; Tahouni, Yasaman; Tauber, Falk; Thielen, MarcBecause plants are considered immobile, they remain underrepresented as concept generators for soft robots and soft machines. However, plants show a great variety of movements exclusively based on elastic deformation of regions within their moving organs. The absence of gliding parts, as found in the joints of vertebrates and insects, prevents stress concentration and attrition. Since plants have no central control unit (brain), stimulus-sensing, decision-making and reaction usually take place noncentrally in the hierarchically structured materials systems of the moving organs, in what can be regarded as an example of physical intelligence. These characteristics make plants interesting models for a new group of soft robots and soft machines that differ fundamentally from those inspired by animals. The potential of such plant-inspired soft robots and machines is shown in six examples and is illustrated by examples applied in architecture and medicine.Item Open Access Rubble Works: Leveraging digital technologies for design and construction with mixed mineral construction and demolition waste(Stuttgart : ICD University of Stuttgart, 2025) Svatoš-Ražnjević, Hana; Wyller, Maria; Schad, Eva; Menges, AchimThis report presents the results of the research project Robots//Reuse, funded by the Research Initiative Zukunft Bau. In this research project, David Chipperfield Architects Berlin and the Institute for Computational Design and Construction at the University of Stuttgart explored the reuse of rubble by looking at how material, techniques, and digital technologies can be combined to make construction and demolition waste relevant to contemporary architecture. Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is Europe’s largest waste stream and a major global problem. Despite an emergent interest and focus in the material group, it does not find its way back into architecture to a sufficient extent as the most widely currently applied recycling practice for CDW is crushing to secondary aggregates. Achieving a circular use of building materials requires both the development of cost-effective and time-efficient technologies that enable the reuse, and an architectural aesthetic that attracts users, investors, and architects to choose to build with it. In the past, the reuse of building materials was common practice, and many renowned architectural projects were built from, for example, reused wood, stones, and brick. These projects showcase both the large and varied aes-thetic potential of reuse. Yet, common for all of them is the dependence on manual labor. Skilled craftspeople would select, adapt and carefully implement found or taken building components and elements into new architecture. Today, the scale of both the mass manufacturing industry and the CDW problem overgoes the scale at which a craftsperson works. The high costs associated with the processing of non-standardized and irregular materials are, next to barri-ers relating to material quality, building code and logistics, one of the greatest barriers to the reuse of CDW in architecture. However, recent advances in robotics and scanning allow us to disassociate the technique from the manual effort and open up new design possibilities. The evolution of manufacturing—from traditional craft production to mass production and then to mass customization—points towards a future of flexible automation. Here, complex fabrication and assembly processes involving non-standardized materials are as efficient in terms of time, cost, and energy-consumption as the production of new materials. Beyond automating existing techniques, digital technologies also offer the chance to develop entirely new ones. While the potential of matching CDW with new building technology has already been explored in other research projects, there seems to be little research compared to the large amount of this type of waste and the research project tend to focus on larger pieces. The aim of the project is through a combined expertise from both practice and academia to explore how a synergy between material, tools and aesthetics can be achieved in the light of four overarching research questions: What are the current limitations of computer-based design and digital fabrication processes used to process and assemble non-standardized building materials? Which digital design processes could be suitable for building with reused building materials? How can the use of computer-based design and digital fabrication methods make the reuse of building materials attractive to architects, companies and users in terms of aesthetics, scalability and efficiency? How can we bridge the gap between architectural design practice and current academic research on the reuse of building materials? Inspired by both traditional crafts and new technologies, these research questions and new potentials for designing with reclaimed materials were explored on a both theoretical and practical level. The project was split into a historical pre-study of reuse in architecture, and a case study focused specifically on rubble. Through methods ranging from an analysis of traditional and contemporary reuse and masonry-related techniques, to material classification and prototyping, we developed different approaches to how to think about, handle and design with rubble. One direction, jammed rubble, was explored in depth along with concepts for robotic rubble placement and pouring. The project is a conceptual, basic research project and although it is out of the project’s scope to develop finished solutions, certifiable building systems, or complete robotic workflows, it provides a starting point for rediscovering the potential of reuse of reclaimed materials through digital tools. The overall outcome of the project is a series of rubble works that, rather than offering a definitive solution to rubble’s challenges, provide a starting point for rediscovering its potential.Item Open Access Agent-based principal strips modeling for freeform surfaces in architecture(2024) Chai, Hua; Orozco, Luis; Kannenberg, Fabian; Siriwardena, Lasath; Schwinn, Tobias; Liu, Hanning; Menges, Achim; Yuan, Philip F.The principal curvature (PC) of a freeform surface, as an important indicator of its fundamental features, is frequently used to guide their rationalization in the field of architectural geometry. The division of a surface using its PC lines into principal strips (PSs) is an innovative way to break down a freeform surface for construction. However, the application of PC networks in architectural design is hindered by the difficulty to generate them and flexibly control their density. This paper introduces a method for PS-based reconstruction of freeform surfaces with different umbilical conditions in the early stages of design. An agent-based modeling approach is developed to find the umbilics and increase the degree of control over the spacing of PC lines. This research can effectively expand the application range of PS-based surface reconstruction methods for freeform architectures.