Research

Innovative Strategies for Design and Assembly in Architecture and Construction

The translation of industrial production methods into the context of architecture and building construction has largely been unsuccessful.

The concepts that have been developed in product design or the automotive industry, which are based on a high degree of standardisation and the mass customisation of the products have proven difficult and the projects where they have been applied are of low architectural ambition and leading to oversimplified solutions. The desired cost and time savings rarely materialise.

At the same time, most architectural projects are designed as one offs, with no systemised transfer of embedded knowledge and a highly manual and bespoke construction process.

Our research explores how we can achieve the individual responses architecture is expected to provide, while leveraging the industrial capacity of the construction supply chain; how we can develop the most technically advanced solutions and respond to the growing social and environmental sustainability challenges.

In other words: How can we close the current fabrication gap and what does this mean for architectural design and architectural culture.

www.fabricationgap.org

While our first symposium in Vienna focused on design process, technology, and architectural quality, we will continue the conversation in Munich, bringing in the perspective of clients, policy makers and the supply chain.

With a range of international speakers we will explore what is needed to drive systemic change. Who drives this change? What are the success criteria? What are the blockers?

Fabrication Gap: Munich 2025

Two day symposium and panel discussions on how we can industrialise the construction industry, bringing together architects, engineers, clients and consultants.

Fabrication Gap: Vienna 2024

Temporary Architecture, Alexandra Terekhova

Architectural design strategies and technology approaches for short-life buildings, including design for dismantling and reuse in other contexts.

Damascus Re-Coding, Ziwar Al Nouri

Development of mass-usable design and construction approaches for the assessment and reconstruction of bombed structures in Syria, with a focus on preserving usable remaining structures.

Generative Architecture: AI-Supported Fusion of Aesthetics and FEM Simulations, Simon Weißhäupl

Development of AI-driven automation and integration of structural analyses in conjunction with architectural design for real-time optimization.

Re-use of Concrete Buildings, Tobias Haas

Design, engineering, and construction strategies for the reuse of reinforced concrete elements from demolished buildings.

Ziwar Al Nouri is doing his PhD under the title of Reparametrize Initiative AID: Recoding Post-Crisis

Our building materials are among the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Getting those to zero is a major challenge.

We are exploring different routes to get there. What role does structural design play on this journey? What are the materials of the future? How do they influence design, tectonics and architecture?

In a series of explorations we are collecting a database of references and ideas, analysing them and building a stock of knowledge that will allow us to help define an architectural culture in light of one of our biggest challenges. We aim to develop this database every year, building upon this repository of work, learning from what had come before us.