Building a Web with Carbon Fiber

John Hill

13. July 2015

Photo: ICD/ITKE University Stuttgart

The Institute for Computational Design (ICD) and Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) fused nature and technology in their Research Pavilion 14-15, based on the nests of underwater spiders.

As illustrated in the below video from ICD/ITKE, the biometric pavilion was made by robots spinning carbon fiber strands onto a pneumatic formwork, progressively stiffening it into a lightweight shell. It is the outcome of one and a half years of development by researchers and students of architecture, engineering and natural sciences, under the guidance of professors Achim Menges and Jan Knippers of ICD and ITKE respectively.

For much more information on the pavilion and the people involved, be sure to visit the ICD website.