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

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

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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

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 […]