2025

Geological Microbial Formations

19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia curated by Carlo Ratti. Intelligens. Natural. Artificial,  Arsenale Exhibition: Matter Makes Sense Geological Microbial Formations explores biocementation as a radical approach to transforming construction waste into architectural materials. At the center of the installation, a robotic arm performs a continuous layering process using sand, microbial cultures, […]

2024

Cadenza

Cadenza is a helical concrete stair installed in the BASF office STEP2 Unit at NEST in Dübendorf for Empa and Eawag. The stair shows how cutting-edge engineering and fabrication technology enable bespoke designs with radically new aesthetics that efficiently use high-performance materials. The stair demonstrates a structurally optimised use of material, with steps less than 20 mm thick and weighing […]

2024

Digital Fabrication of Biologically Cemented Spatial Structures

The environmental impact of the construction industry demands sustainable alternatives to traditional concrete production. Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) offers an alternative solution where microbes can produce biocemented structures at a low cost and ambient temperature. This study integrates MICP with nonplanar granular 3D printing methods, overcoming casting limitations such as geometrical constraints and uneven […]

2023

Prōtóplasto – an ultra lightweight plastic media installation

Prōtóplasto is an ultralight media installation exhibited at the innovation hub “Futurama” in Aargau, Switzerland. It is created with a novel constructive system pairing two new technologies: an innovative 3D printing method for polymers with very high build up rates which are similar to concrete extrusion, and 3D printed connections whose bespoke geometry enables support-free […]

2023

Fluid Forms

‘Fluid Forms’ is a  2.0-meter tall lightweight shell fabricated using non-planar robotic 3D printing. Exploring the applications of robotic fabrication, this project showcases an innovative robotic additive manufacturing method that enables the printing of doubly curved thin shells more efficiently. Technical innovation lies at the heart of this project, unveiling a new method for 3D […]

2023

Airlements

This research investigates using foam 3D-printing of cement-free mineral foams from recycled waste for monolithic, lightweight, and insulated wall construction. It aims to reduce the amount of material, labor, and costs required for bespoke building parts by leveraging moldless fabrication through large-scale robotic 3D-printing. Using porous materials with different densities provides insulation and strength where […]

2023

Arzo – 3D Printing with waste from marble quarries

The challenge of disposing of large quantities of stone waste from quarries is a reality: in Ticino, this rock flour can reach 40% of the total production. To counteract this problem, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) have developed a 3D […]

2022

Cold Production: Programming Concrete Openwork with Ice Formwork

Cold Production explores a zero-waste fabrication method for concrete that uses digitally sculpted ice as a moulding material. The project explored spatial concrete lattices and their stacking principles. Ice units were press-formed using 3D-printed multiparty moulds. The rapid and waste-free production is done in the Sub-Zero lab at -10C. The concrete was poured, cured, and […]

2021

FoamWork

 Building complex concrete elements that are optimized for resource efficiency requires custom formwork, which is often wasteful and labor-intensive to produce. FoamWork explores how foam 3D printing (F3DP) can be used to create unique shapes for functional stay-in-place or temporary and recyclable formwork in concrete casting. The printable mineral foams based on recycled waste […]

2021

HiRes Concrete

The HiRes Concrete Slab is an ultra-efficient structural element that showcases the unique advantages of 3D-printed formwork: material reduction, integrated building services, and the spectacular aesthetic of free form. The slab implements these principles in a real-world building, demonstrating a disruptive new construction method. This new approach can have a significant positive impact on the […]

2021

Beyond Transparency: Robotically Enhanced Glass Architecture

Glass has played a key role in architecture not only bringing light into buildings and enabling views to the world around us. Throughout history, properties of color and form in glass, brought a transformative, sublime power to the material and to spaces. In the 20th century, the mass fabrication of glass enabled its use as a […]

2021

Tor Alva

  For updated informations, visit: www.tor-alva.ch Tor Alva (“Weisser Turm”) is a 30-meter tall, 3D-printed building situated along the Julier mountain pass in the remote village of Mulegns, Switzerland. Designed for Fundaziun Origen, the tower offers space for art installations and for music and theater performances. Visitors ascend a spiral staircase through a series of […]

2020

Digital Bamboo

The Digital Bamboo pavilion explores the innovative combination of a bio material with digital fabrication. Bamboo is an excellent sustainable building material, because of its rapid growth and very low weight-to-strength ratio. Customized computational tools were developed to design the ultra-lightweight structure, whose bespoke connections were manufactured using 3D printing technology. The structure covers more […]

2020

Fast Complexity

Concrete is responsible for 8% of our global carbon footprint. Now more than ever, it is imperative to use concrete more efficiently. With optimisation algorithms, we can design complex buildings that use less than half the amount of concrete. Still, we are limited by the available fabrication technologies: the conventional formwork solutions only allow us […]

2019

Additive Archetypes

Additive Archetypes is a series of prototypes based on the research Dissolvable Formwork. They are the first large-scale concrete prototypes cast inside water dissolvable 3D printed formwork (3DP).  This demonstrator showcases how low-impact FDM 3D printed formwork can be used in architecture, by showcasing its use for producing load-bearing ornamented or integrative columns. CONTEXT  With the advent […]

2019

Concrete Choreography

  From ancient civilisations to the present day, columns have served as elements of architecture particularly tied to the harmony, balance and proportion of architectural orders – so much so that they have come to be recognised as works of art in their own right. What could the contemporary design of a new column order […]

2019

Docofossor

Docofossor is developed in collaboration with Ilmar Hurkxkens from the Chair of Landscape Architecture, ETH Zurich. Docofossor is a terrain modeling plugin for Rhino 6 + Grasshopper. It enables easy editing of cut and fill operations for landscape architecture. It is available for download on food4rhino.

2018

Acoustic Mirrors

With its performative form, engineered to create a spatial acoustic effect whilst being structurally optimized for efficient material use, the installation “Acoustic Mirrors” showcases the potential of computational design and large scale 3D printing for construction. The interdisciplinary project bridging physics and architecture consists of two 2 meter monolithic concave mirrors. These mirrors are designed […]

dbt, WEF Prototype
2019

Functional Formwork for a Funicular Floor

The Funicular Floor demonstrator for the NEST HiLo, showcases how 3D-printed formwork can be used to integrate functional features in structurally optimised building components. Context The weight of concrete slabs represents up to 85% of the dead load of a building. Despite this significant share, slabs are usually designed as monolithic, oversized boxes due to […]

2018

LevisErgon

3D Printing for Lightweight Ergonomic Chaise Longue. With its ergonomic design, intricate details and its optimized geometry, the robotically 3D-printed LevisErgon chair showcases the potential of a strong interplay between digital fabrication and computational design. Consequently, the chair could be 3D-printed with a thickness of only 2mm, enabling the weight of the deckchair, with its […]

2017

Digital Metal: Deep Facade

Project Date: 2017/2018 Deep Facade explores the unique potential of 3D printing sand mould and casting metal for architecture. We combine these two fabrication methods to make the production of custom and complex structural metal parts possible and affordable. This course of the MAS Digital Fabrication is a two-month collective project to design and fabricate a 1:1 […]

dbt, 3D Printing concrete, ETH
2018

The Smart Slab

The Smart Slab enhances the excellent structural properties of concrete with a radical new aesthetic enabled by the 3D-printed formwork. Innovation The pioneering construction method of the Smart Slab uses 3D-printed formwork for casting and spraying concrete in geometrically complex shapes. 3D printing overcomes the geometric limitations of traditional formwork fabrication methods. Furthermore, it enables […]

2018

Axolotl

AXOLOTL provides a set of components for volumetric modeling in Rhino Grasshopper. They work based on the principle of signed distance functions (SDF). In boundary representations (BRep), objects are defined by vertices connected by edges and faces. In function representations (FRep), objects are defined by a function f that maps any point (x,y,z) to a real value d, the distance […]

dbt
2016

Topology Optimisation for a Concrete Slab

Concrete is one of the most consumed products in the world, with more than ten billion tonnes being produced every year. Optimising the use of concrete in prefabricated components can have a global impact in reducing material costs and the carbon footprint of buildings and infrastructure. However, optimisation algorithms often result in highly complex geometries […]

dbt
2016

3D Printed Slab

Topology optimisation can be used as a design method to reduce material without affecting the functionality of an object. Despite being one of the most demanding economic sectors in terms of material consumption, the construction industry has not yet adopted such design methods. This is generally because computational optimisation algorithms produce complex solutions which are […]

2017

3D Printed Reinforced Beam

The 3D Printed Reinforced Beam is part of the ongoing research of Digital Building Technologies into 3D printed, structural building components. Two-sided cantilevering beams, up to 4.5 meters long, are fabricated out of sandstone. Components are 3D printed on a large-scale binder-jetting machine. All seven interlocking segments are dimensioned to fit the printer’s maximum volume. […]

2017

Digital Metal:  Shaping Liquid Pavilion

Digital Metal structure is a 4 meter wide, 6 meter long and 5 meter high space frame that consists of over 200 customised joints and over 400 meters of off-shelf aluminum-profiles. It was set as an experimental project to explore the potential of   3d printing  for producing sand mold to be used for casting metal […]

2017

Electrical Skin

“Electrical Skin” is a robotically 3D printed free-form façade-panel with integrated lighting. For the first time in architecture, not only the complex form, but also the electric infrastructure are fabricated in a single process. This project showcases how leaps in computation and digital fabrication can revolutionize architectural components.

2017

skelETHon, the Concrete Canoe

3D printed plastic formwork for a fully-functional concrete canoe. The Concrete Canoe Regatta Every other year, a two-day long concrete canoe race takes place in a city in Germany, bringing together a fun sporting competition and the latest advancements in concrete technology. This year, over 1’000 participants from universities from all over Europe raced 90 […]

2016

Digital Grotesque II at Centre Pompidous “Imprimer Le Monde”

Digital Grotesque II – a full-scale 3D printed grotto – has premiered at Centre Pompidou’s ‘Imprimer le monde’ exhibition. This highly ornamental grotto is entirely designed by algorithm and materialized out of 7 tons of printed sandstone. It heralds a highly immersive architecture with a hitherto unseen richness of detail.