image: New, digital timber construction system that minimizes material consumption and the structural height of point-supported floor slabs. Photo: University of Stuttgart, ICD, Hans Jakob Wagner
Credit: Photo: University of Stuttgart, ICD, Hans Jakob Wagner
New triad of design, production and material
The European Union is funding international and interdisciplinary consortia, including the University of Stuttgart's UniversalTimberSlab project and two others in which it is involved as a partner, under the “Architecture, Engineering, and Construction - Digitalization for a New Triad of Design, Manufacturing, and Materials” category of the EIC Pathfinder Challenge 2023. All three research projects are linked to the Cluster of Excellence Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture (IntCDC ) “This is a great success for our researchers from the fields of architecture and civil engineering. Above all, I am delighted for the participating scientists in the early stages of their careers who are so committed to successfully promoting the sustainable design of the construction industry at the University of Stuttgart,” says Prof. Manfred Bischoff, Vice Rector for Research and Early Career Researchers at the University of Stuttgart.
UniversalTimberSlab: Tailor-made wooden floor slabs for sustainable buildings in the city
As part of UniversalTimberSlab , a multidisciplinary team of young researchers from the University of Stuttgart is developing innovative computational design methods and robotic fabrication processes to develop and construct a resource-saving building system for wood floor slabs. The tailor-made, high-performance plate structure is point-supported and provides architects and engineers with full design freedom, as it is only known from conventional reinforced concrete slabs. The new system is particularly interesting for buildings in city centers as the slabs can not only be adjusted to any shape of the site, but can also be constructed 30% slimmer than alternative wood floor slabs. Coordinated by the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) at the University of Stuttgart, the Institutes of Building Structures and Structural Design (itke) , for Acoustics and Building Physics (IABP) , for Construction Materials (IWB) and the Materials Testing Institute (MPA) are all participating in the project.
ArchiBioFoam: Organic building materials for breathing buildings
The ArchiBioFoam joint project aims to reduce CO2 emissions in the construction sector by replacing concrete, steel and glass with multifunctional architectural systems made from monomaterials and robot-assisted additive manufacturing. To this end, the interdisciplinary team is developing sustainable and versatile biofoams, which are mechanically strong and can be “programmed” to adapt their shape to changes in temperature and humidity. This makes the material suitable not only for insulation, but also for the load-bearing structure and passive ventilation of buildings. The Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) at the University of Stuttgart is contributing its expertise in adaptive architectural design and robotic additive manufacturing to the project. The ICD team is responsible for controlling the extrusion of biofoam-based structures with a large-scale 4D printer. ArchiBioFoam is coordinated by Aalto University in Finland. Other partners are the University of Milan and the Finnish start-up Woamy.
RAW: Natural and recycled materials for the circular economy
The international experts working together in the RAW - Computation for a New Age of Resource Aware Architecture consortium will set up a paradigm shifting new digital infrastructure, that combines non-destructive material sensing technologies with adaptive design and fabrication. This will allow the building industry for the first time to assess and use natural materials in the variability with which they are grown or have been reclaimed, minimizing the current energy consumption and wasteful practices of material homogenization. With a focus on reclaimed timber, biopolymers from agriculture waste and composites from fast growing hemp fibers the project will help to reduce CO2 emissions, support the circular economy and create new aesthetic possibilities for architecture. The University of Stuttgart is contributing its expertise in the field of data modeling and natural fiber materials to the project through its Department for Computing in Architecture at the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD/CA) and the Institute for Building Structures and Structural Design (itke) . Under the leadership of the Royal Danish Academy, five other European universities are participating in RAW.
About the EIC Pathfinder
The EIC Pathfinder is one of the main funding lines from Pillar 3 (Innovative Europe) of the Horizon Europe program launched in 2021. This funding line does not support traditional basic research, but rather visionary projects at an early stage of development on new technologies that have the potential to create new markets.