Advances in Free-Form Masonry

This model of a free-form compression-only vault has been build using rapid prototyping. It stands just by gravity and friction. It is part of a research project of the BLOCK Research Group at the ETH Zurich. Two publications describe details about the structural models and the design process.


Form and force diagrams in plane, the force distribution in the network, and the form of the network in 3d.
The form-finding process is based on TNA, a method developed by Philippe Block.




Pictures and movie (c) by BLOCK Research Group

New Evolutions in ZipShape

Christoph Schindler, co-founder of schindlersalmerón, develops the principle of ZipShape since 2007, in order to build curved elements from cnc-manufactured plain material without molds.


An element consists of two differently slotted panels that only interlock if bent to the desired curvature.


A grasshopper definition worked out during a workshop at the CITA Copenhagen shows the dependency between slot geometry and global curvature.


The newest development allows the fabrication of developable twisted surfaces.


This principle has been applied to a sculpture produced and tested at the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Biel.

Twisted Beams on Surface

Twisted beams with custom cross-section curve aligned normal to a given surface.


Download the gh-definition here.

PQ Mesh Design: Morpharchitecture Workshop - Lyon 2010

The gh definition presented here has been used for the design of a shell structure build from sheet material at Les Grandes Ateliers, Lyon, by architecture students of Ecole nationale supérieure d'architecture de montpellier and the TU Delft.



The pq design tool ensured the planarity of the quadrilateral faces, that allowed the fabrication of the shell from flat sheet material.


Photo by Robert Vierlinger.

Developable Surface Optimization

The artist Carlo Borer asked me to implement tailored developable surface modelling tools for rhino.


Using Grasshopper together with the evolutionary algorithm solver Galapagos, an optimization routine for lofted surface strips towards developable surfaces has been implemented.


Gaussian curvature of original and optimized surface. For developable surfaces, the gaussian curvature is zero.


Carlo Borer: 401, 2009.

Benoît Mandelbrot has died

Benoît Mandelbrot, father of fractal geometry and chaos theory, has died last thursday. The idea of self-similarity in nature and mathematics is described in his great book The Fractal Geometry of Nature.


The picture above shows the Mandelbrot set, a set of points in the complex plane, the border of the set is a fractal.


Not only coastlines, fern, and the vegatable romanesco exhibit self-similarity, but also stock price charts. Mandelbrot describes a fascinating, unorthodox view on finacial theory in his book The (Mis)behaviour of Markets: A Fractal View of Risk, Ruin and Reward.


Mandelbrot's TEDTalk from 2010.

Architecture and Governmental Violence

Stuttgart 21, the project for a new train station in Stuttgart, Germany, started with a winning competition entry by Christoph Ingenhoven and Partner, Frei Otto, Büro Happold, Leonhardt and Andrae, in the year 2000. The picture shows Frei Otto's model used for form-finding of the roof. The main functional idea behind the project is the transformation of the existing dead-end station into an underground through station.

A strong opposition against the expensive billion-euro project has been formed by the citzens of Stuttgart.

Frei Otto is now a strong opponent to the project, his position can be found in Stuttgarter Zeitung (in German). A strong supporter of the project is Werner Sobek, Professor at TU Stuttgart and successor to Frei Otto. His statment to the project can be found in Stuttgarter Nachrichten (in German).

On last Thursday, September 30, the police used water canons and tear gas against peaceful protesters, who tried to protect the trees in the park against cut down. BBC and The Guardian reported about this incident. Since chancellor Angela Merkel strongly supports the Stuttgart 21 project, it seems to become a hot election issue, even in national scale.