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Achim Menges’ Explorations in Computational Pavilions
How Computational Design and Material Ecology are Shaping the Future of Architecture
- Architecture| Computational Design
- January 9, 2025
Key Words – Achim Menges, Computational Design, Computational Tools, Material, Pavilions, ICD, University of Stuttgart
Have you come across this famous pavilion?? Have you wondered what this is made of?
If you haven’t this is one of the Research Pavilions at University of Stuttgart. This is ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2012. Achim Menges is a professor at ICD – Institute of Computational Design, he along with students, researchers from ICD and ITKE and people from other disciplines come together and work on these research pavilions. This series of research pavilions, all of which are pushing the boundaries of architecture and materials.
Achim Menges Ideology –
Achim Menges’s work is one of the people because of whom i am able to see material in such a different light and capacity. One of the things that he has objected to is that – Design and Making are being treated as two different processes. If we give it a thought that is actually true, at least in my academic studio, I have always come up with a concept design and then given it a material based on what material would be best in terms of its structure and aesthetics. Detailing in the material is the last stage.
His research is based on the “Morphological complexity and performative capacity from material constituents without differentiating between formation and materialisation processes” (Design Research Agenda | Achimmenges.net, n.d.). This means basically identifying and using the inherent complex properties of the material for formation/design.so you don’t have to make s formation first then see what material can be used to realize it.
He also sees FORM, STRUCTURE, ENVIRONMENT and MATERIAL are interrelated and not separate entities and how does work where all these aspects work together is through computational tools. Computational design processes allow us to conceptualize the material capacities and limitations (Design Research Agenda | Achimmenges.net, n.d.), it is possible to simulate how the material would change, adapt with time, with its interactions with climate, external factors etc., material can be used as a designing aspect.
When I first got to know about architects like him, I realised there is so much that we can extract from nature and such intelligent design which might just be the solution to heavy construction waste.
Achim Menges has explored this idea at length at University of Stuttgart by collaborating on many research pavilions, all of them are a unique intersection of material and its biology /structure/fabrication and architecture.
So, here I am discussing the only two crazy ideas that he has worked on. I have summarised their idea for you to understand – what kind of an approach he has.
ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2013-14
Key Idea – Natural fibre composite when wound over a form work in a complex geometry, this organization makes it very strong and stable.
This is also a part of the research pavilion series at University of Stuttgart. It is also an exploration in Light weight structures. It was built by students and a multidisciplinary team of biologists, paleontologists, architects and engineers (ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2013-14 | Achimmenges.net, n.d.).
It focused on “winding technique for modular, double layered fiber composite structures, which reduces the required formwork to a minimum while maintaining a large degree of geometric freedom” (ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2013-14 | achimmenges.net, n.d.).
This structure is made with natural composite fibre – Elytron which is a protective shell found in beetles, it is chitin (protein based fibre). (ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2013-14 | achimmenges.net, n.d.) So imagine if we like winding a extremely strong wire over a formwork lets say a ring..to make a dense pattern it would become structural right like strong making it highly material efficient and also light weight
So they studied its biometric composition and using computation and simulation tools they developed a fabrication system to develop it into a geometry. Testing its structural capacity, how can it be organised into complex geometries ..to make it even stronger.
ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011
Key Idea – Modular construction using freeform surfaces to make different geometries to make it a stable form.
It is a temporary Bionic pavilion made out of 6.5 mm plywood sheets (ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011 | Achimmenges.net, n.d.), yes you read that correctly!
This developed over a Sea Urchin’s biological structure – its skeleton is a modular plates which are joined by finger like calcite protrusion, so this particular geometry and joinery allow high load bearing capacity (ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011 | Achimmenges.net, n.d.).
They transferred this morphology to the design – 3 plate edges only meet at a point – which makes it only axial loads – so now lightweight construction are not limited to certain form, this technique can be used for a variety of geometries and forms (ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011 | Achimmenges.net, n.d.).
Computational tools made it possible to repeatedly test and observe the critical point in the complex geometry, possibilities of how to arrange this to reach maximum efficiency with structural qualities.
Who knew we could built with plywood like this….
Are you blown away already!
after Going through the works of architects like Neri Oxman and now Achim Menges I always end up saying “I understand the idea, but how do you do this ?” How do they simulate and create datasets that help them understand and inter-relate so many aspects. What goes behind all this research? How do you make a robotic fabrication system compatible with the material and its properties? It’s so cool!! Well that’s COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN.
If I have to silence the computational design fan in me, and think about this approach critically it leads me to two questions –
First – Why are we not designing like this?
Second – Why do we have to design like this? Is this one of the approaches we could have ?
Like Louis Kahn asks the brick – what does it want to be ?? Is he talking on similar lines? Too many questions, and I don’t have the answers just yet so let’s find out! Come along with me on this journey.
And if you are even a little bit intrigued by this blog post, just go through his website – http://www.achimmenges.net/
…in theory if it feels like a crazy idea no? But I very much like your opinions/thoughts about his works. Thankyou Reading! So let’s meet in the comment section.
Citations –
- Design Research Agenda | Achimmenges.net. (n.d.). http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=4897
- ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011 | Achimmenges.net. (n.d.). http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=5123
- ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2013-14 | achimmenges.net. (n.d.). http://www.achimmenges.net/?p=5713
References – if you are interested in knowing his ideology in depth –
I know these are lengthy lectures to sit through but trust me just even seeing one of them will make you quite familiar with this thinking process.
About Me
Devanshi Jain
Hi! Welcome to my blog. I’m an architecture student sharing my journey, from personal stories to diving into computational design as a complete beginner. Join me as I explore new techniques, tackle challenges, and discover how technology transforms design. Whether you’re a student, professional, or just curious, you’ll find valuable insights and a fresh perspective on architecture.
