Patents by Rem Koolhaas

Some of the famous architects and builders from the 20th century, as e.g. Le Corbusier, Buckminster Fuller, and Luigi Nervi, considered themselves as inventors and held several patents. Rem Koolhaas contributed in 2004 to this specific topic in an ironic way:


These and several other fake patents have been published in the book Content and the Bejing Manifesto.



In the same year, Rem Koolhaas also applied for a real patent, for a Panel for architectural design:

Open Source Architecture?

Time seems to be ripe for the development of an open design license for architecture. The manifesto of Open Source Architecture (OSArc) has been published few months ago in domus.


Yesterday, Daniel Davis raised the exciting question, whether Evolute is right to patent a certain geometry of a freeform roof construction.


This question is related to the discussion, whether it is right and possible to patent architecture in general. In 2007, there has been a heated discussion in Switzerland and internationally, about a patent by the Swiss architect Hans Zwimpfer, concerning a special housing type. After a fight with the Swiss architectural societies BSA and SIA, he managed to claim patent rights for his invention in Europe and the USA. While this US lawyer defends the idea of applying patent law to architecture in specific cases, this Swiss lawyer states that it is more appropriate to protect a work of architecture, as cultural artifact, by the more flexible copyright law, rather than the rigorous patent law.


Considering that patent law seems to be applicable to the rather fuzzy case of Zimpfer’s architectural innovation, there seems to be a good chance for Pottmann and RFR to defend their protected rights concerning geometric innovation of support structures.

The introduction of an Open Source Architecture license may be a way to actively defend intellectual property in architecture against protection by others.

Herzog & de Meuron online

Since Wednesday, HdM’s website is finally online. Interesting design though...

Experimental Wood Structures at ETH

Lately, a variety of experimental wooden pavilions have been erected at the ETH Hönggerberg campus, Zurich.


A pavilion made from bent plywood, designed and built by students of the AA Emtech, with support form the Structural Design chair.



Two pavillons built as reciprocal frame structures, as part of a research project at the chair of Architecture and Technology.


Jaú, designed and built by students from the studio Tom Emerson. Watch the time-lapse here.


The Sequential Structure 2, Build by students of the chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication, in cooperation with the BLOCK Research Group.

OpenStreetMap for Rhino

Using rhino.python, a script has been written, that imports a static map from OpenStreetMap as background bitmap to Rhino, based on an address and zoom level entered by the user. In a first step, the geographical location of the address is identified using the Nominatim API. The location coordinates are used as input parameter for the MapOf service. Finally, the map image obtained from the web service is placed as background bitmap, in the right scale according to the zoom level.


Additionally, an appropriate EarthAnchorPoint is set based on the geographical location and scale. This allows for the export of geometry in relation to the imported static map to Google Earth using the KML format. The units of the Rhino file are automatically changed to meters, in order to obtain the right scale of the map.


Download the script here.

Computation for Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism

An upcoming symposium at ETH, Zurich: "The aim of this first symposium on computation for sustainable architecture and urbanism is to discuss information-based approaches that augment design processes and descisions towards sustainable buildings and cities." (SUAT)

Attila Csörgő

Last weekend, I saw the great exhibition "Archimedean Point" by the Hungarian artist Attila Csörgö in the Kunsthalle Hamburg: "Csörgõ’s work explores the margin between art and science. The artist conducts thorough experiments with precise machines of his own design and optical apparatuses that reinforce his likewise epistemological and playful, humorous approach. His interests lie in optical illusions, metamorphoses of space into surface as well as hypnotic plays of light that touch upon mechanical movements and other inventions, where he combines imagination and a curiosity for various physical and mathematical phenomena." For a describtion of the work by the artist himself, view the interview (Part 1 and Part 2).


Dodecaherdon=Icosaherdon (1999) is a kinetic construction, based on geometric correspondances between platonic solids. The dodecaherdon is transformed into the icosaherdon and reverse.




Möbius Space (2006-2010) an endless panorama photograph on a möbius strip, taken by a special camera.


Spherical Vortex (1999) is the path of a flashlight bulb made by connecting three seperate whirling movements of different velocity.