Semesterprogram

Semester Programme SoSe 2026

Cutting Strategies for Adaptive Reuse

Bachelor-Thesis / Master

15-02-7400 / 15-92-6411

Abstract

The transformation of existing buildings will become one of the central architectural tasks of the coming decades. Yet many obsolete office buildings, department stores, and production facilities are difficult to convert because of their excessively deep floor plans, limited daylight, and outdated spatial organizations. This design studio investigates subtraction as an architectural strategy for adaptive reuse.

Instead of approaching the existing building as a passive container, students will explore how selective removal of slabs, walls, and structural elements can generate new voids, courtyards, atria, spatial connections, and sources of daylight and ventilation. The studio introduces the wire saw as a design instrument: a cutting process in which a tensioned wire moves through space and generates geometrically defined ruled surfaces. The limitations of the cutting process become productive drivers for architectural design.

Through computational design, physical experiments, and the transformation of a selected existing building, students will develop an architecture in which geometry, fabrication, structure, and reuse are closely interconnected.

Content and Learning Objectives

The studio explores a central question: How can obsolete buildings be transformed through precisely designed acts of subtraction rather than demolition and replacement?

Many twentieth-century buildings were designed for programs that are currently disappearing or changing fundamentally. Department stores, office complexes, parking structures, and industrial buildings often contain large amounts of valuable material and embodied energy, but their deep floor plates make them difficult to adapt to new uses such as housing or contemporary work environments. Introducing daylight, natural ventilation, circulation, and new spatial relationships frequently requires the selective removal of parts of the existing structure.

The semester investigates this challenge through the relationship between geometry, cutting processes, and architectural space. In an initial experimental phase, students will work with Rhino and Grasshopper to develop a catalogue of elementary Cutting Operations. By moving straight lines through three-dimensional space, they will generate ruled surfaces and volumes that could, in principle, be produced by a wire saw. Digital investigations will be accompanied by physical experiments using techniques such as hot-wire cutting, wire cutting of clay, and sawing of solid or skeletal models. These studies focus on the relationship between mass and void, tool movement and geometry, and the interaction between a continuous cutting surface and an existing structural frame.

In subsequent phases, these operations will be applied to one or more existing buildings with deep floor plans. Students will analyze the architectural, structural, and environmental potentials of the building and develop strategic interventions that selectively remove material while retaining as much of the existing structure as possible. New atria, courtyards, vertical spaces, light wells, circulation systems, and spatial connections will emerge from these cuts.

Students will learn to use parametric modelling as a design method, to understand ruled surfaces and fabrication constraints, and to connect digital geometry with physical making. They will develop strategies for adaptive reuse, circular construction, and design with existing structures, while critically examining the relationship between architectural intention and fabrication technology.

The studio understands constraints not as limitations, but as generators of architectural possibilities. Rather than asking how a predetermined form can be fabricated, it asks:

What kind of architecture emerges when the possibilities of the cutting tool define the space of possible transformations?

Time: Wed, 14:00 – 18:00 h

First Meeting: 14.10.26

Location: L3|01 3. OG DDU

Contact: Oliver Tessmann / Sandro Siefert / Tim Schumann

Language: German / English

B433 (formerly B322 – Gestalten mit Medien)

The lecture introduces the most important digital tools and methods as well as their application in design, representation, and modelmaking. Examples of effective use of digital processes and interfaces in design and creation will be discussed. A particular focus lies on learning processes: How do different tools interact? What interfaces exist between them? What impact does the tool have on the design outcome? How can contemporary digital tools and methods be placed in a historical context?

In the practical exercise, participants learn to create drawings and 3D models, derive axonometric and perspective vector graphics from 3D models and illustratively edit them, grasp the principles of parametric design, and prepare data for modelmaking using digital fabrication (3D printing and laser cutting). The module thus empowers participants to understand and effectively utilize digital processes and interfaces in their design process.

Time: Tue, 09:50 – 11:30 h – Lecture & Tue, 11:40 – 13:20 h – Exercise

First Meeting: 13.10.2026

Location: Lecture L 3|01 / 93 & Exercise online

Contact: Oilver Tessmann / Tim Schumann

Language: German

Bachelor / Master

15-01-0354 / 15-01-6465 / 15-01-7731

15-02-6465 / 15-02-7731

The seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

One theme will be synagogues of the Rhein-Main-Gebiet destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

Time: Tue, 09:50 – 11:35 h

First Meeting: 13.10.2026

Location: L3|01 3. OG DDU

Contact: Oliver Tessmann / Marc Grellert

Language: German

Master

15-02-6464 / 15-02-7730

The seminar “Digital Stereotomy” explores how digital design and fabrication methods can translate classical principles of stereotomy into contemporary practice. The seminar investigates how geometry, material logic, and digital fabrication tools can be conceived as an integrated design framework for producing precisely cut components from mineral material.

Stereotomy, the art of cutting solids, historically developed for building with natural stone, provides the conceptual foundation. Students will study historical and contemporary reference projects, reconstructing their geometric logic in parametric computer models. Through Rhino and Grasshopper, participants will develop digital models in which form, joint logic, and fabrication strategy are intrinsically linked. These digital models will then be materialized through 3D-printed templates and molds, which students use to process real mineral material at 1:1 scale, testing tolerances, tool guidance, and material characteristics in physical prototypes.

The seminar unfolds progressively: early sessions study stereotomic geometry, historical reference projects, and the underlying constructive principles. Subsequent phases focus on digital modeling, the development of fabrication templates, and iterative prototyping. By oscillating between digital modeling and physical fabrication, students gain insight into how digital precision meets the particularities of real material, and how this engagement can actively inform spatial design.

At its core, the seminar emphasizes constructive thinking through geometry. Students are encouraged to understand digital fabrication not simply as a production technology, but as a medium that reshapes the relationship between historical craft and contemporary architectural reasoning. By engaging with material, precision, and fabrication logic, participants will explore how computational geometry and digital fabrication can generate new tectonic possibilities.

Time: Thu, 14:00 – 16:00 h

First meeting: 15.10.2026

Location: L3|01 3. OG DDU

Contact: Oliver Tessmann / Sandro Siefert

Language: German / English

Bachelor/Master

15-01-6466 / 15-01-7732 / 15-01-1458

15-02-6466 / 15-02-7732

This course introduces digital fabrication methods and tools in the field of architecture. The course allows for experimenting with digital fabrication tools such as CNC laser cutting machines, 3D printers, and 3D scanning devices. Students also learn the necessary modelling skills. This makes Digital Fabrication Basics a valuable addition to ENKO V, where constructive model making is required. A series of exercises in the course give a step-by-step introduction into digital fabrication, geometrical principles, and material behaviour. Participants acquire knowledge and experience to solve complex design-to-fabrication challenges in their future practice. The assignments include the production prototypes and the documentation of the design-to-fabrication process. This course is open to students of the Architecture Master program, TU Darmstadt. Basic knowledge of Rhino and Grasshopper knowledge is a prerequisite or need to be acquired individually.

Time: Tue, 10:00 – 12:00 h

First meeting: 13.10.2026

Location: online

Contact: Oliver Tessmann / Iyad Ghazal

Language: English

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://tu-darmstadt.zoom-x.de/j/65381201053?pwd=w7CFSsGiYGuwVS0Ovjo8tZHUOxDksL.1

Meeting ID: 653 8120 1053
Passcode: dfb2026

Previous Design Studios

Problem Statement / Context

How can high-quality architecture and design be achieved through modularity, reversibly joined components, and industrial prefabrication? This question has occupied architects since the early days of industrialization and is gaining renewed relevance through digital fabrication and computational design. The growing demand for housing, coupled with shrinking resources, forms the societal dimension of this topic. Architectural history has produced a range of approaches: Konrad Wachsmann, Walter Gropius, Miguel Fisac, Jean Prouvé, Kengo Kuma, and Gilles Retsin have all engaged with modular construction at different points in time.

Structure of the Design Studio

At the beginning, students work in small groups using reverse engineering methods to analyze modular building systems from architectural history. By developing digital and physical models (3D printing, cast elements, tension cable structures), participants gain a deep understanding of the respective systems. Reflecting on these prototypes, students formulate their own research questions, which over the course of the semester lead to the design of a construction method—accompanied by an architectural scenario.

Designing Construction Systems

The diverse systems explored in the first phase serve as inspiration and a starting point for the individual design of new modular, reversibly assembled construction systems. Participants are encouraged to leverage emerging digital possibilities to further develop or fundamentally rethink the topic. By the end of the studio, each system should enable at least two different architectural configurations, demonstrating the principles of assembly, disassembly, and reassembly (in altered configurations).

Problem statement

The construction industry consumes enormous amounts of resources – and at the same time generates a lot of mineral construction waste, which today is, in the best case, converted into new mineral products through downcycling, but often still ends up in landfills. The non-standard geometries and heterogeneity of construction waste make direct reuse difficult: industrial processes, standards, and planning tools are designed for standardized products. At the same time, however, these materials have aesthetic potential—visible material biographies and textures and qualities inherent in the material that can be exposed—which, when precisely designed, can increase the social acceptance of reuse architecture.

Studio Structure

At the beginning, students work in small groups on prototypes for state-of-the-art research projects and organize them according to three strategies: adding (e.g., customized connectors), subtracting (e.g., sawing/milling/chiseling), and rearranging (rearranging unchanged elements). Based on their reflections on these prototypes, students develop their own research questions, which culminate in the design of a construction method during the semester—including a speculative architectural scenario.

Hands-on & Material Focus

The studio is material-focused and experimental: scanning, cataloging, prototyping on a scale of up to 1:1. Learning by doing combines digital strategies (Rhino/Grasshopper, photogrammetry, data models) with material-appropriate construction. The goal is a reflective, sustainable architectural practice that tests robust, reversible solutions—and shows that irregular construction waste can be transformed into spatial, constructive, and aesthetic quality.

DDU Design Studio on 3D printed Adaptive Clay Architectures

Clay constructions have been an integral part of architecture for millennia, offering a locally sourced, low-carbon, and thermally efficient solution for building envelopes. 3D printing clay carries the potential to selectively position the material for contemporary, high-performance architecture. This studio explores the architectural and spatial qualities of 3D-printed clay modules. Students will fabricate an adaptable, modular façade prototype, incorporating urban farming, water regulation, and climate-responsive design.

Using parametric and performance-driven design, students will explore thermal, structural, and environmental properties, through the use of computational tools. The project challenges participants to balance microclimatic responses, geometric constraints, and agricultural interfaces, ultimately producing a functional prototype including experiments with different leafy green plants and facade assembly strategies. During the course, students will receive introductions to computational design, 3d clay printing and urban farming concepts.

In the botanical garden of the TU Darmstadt, a large number of bamboo stalks are available this year after the rare flowering.

Together with students of civil engineering (Prof. Knaack), the participants will design a shading roof structure, to be built in summer semester 25. The group work includes harvesting, drying, structural detailing and first built prototypes of this natural high-performance material. The results will be shown in an exhibition on the TU Darmstadt campus.

In individual projects, the architecture students will use this technical and material-specific knowledge to design urban interventions for events as part of the World Design Capital Frankfurt. In addition to roofs, interior spaces will also be created, using digital technologies to enable precise work with the natural and irregular material. The plan is to 3D scan the culms and create 3D printed connection details. Students will use computational design methods and simulations to research the performance of the material and make optimum use of it for the design.

The DDU design studio will operate at the nexus of design, digital technologies, and their impact on architectural futures. During the studio, participants will develop individual architectural design proposals for a public building. The assignment is to speculate on plausible near-future architecture scenarios as well as to detail and visualize them. The scenarios will revolve around a potential paradigm shift in construction, providing speculative answers to the question:

What if architectural permanence is shifted from buildings towards its building elements in constant, circular transformation?

Responding to changing societal needs of public buildings, students are asked to incorporate a continuous process of assembly, disassembly and reassembly into their designs: What if the means to assemble a building become part of the building itself rather than being construction site equipment? What if users are able to interact with structures and construction elements to transform a given space?

The studio will kick-off with a workshop phase in which students will dive into one of three technology topics, exploring either Robotics, Mixed Reality or Circular Economy in small groups. Each of these groups will be guided and supported by experienced DDU team members. Students will then enhance their individual design proposals based on the learned technology skills, incorporating one or more of these technologies into their work.

As the climate crisis puts renewed strain on all resources, new places of preservation and of study must be created, allowing for a reinvention of our relationship to these resources. The studio proposes the planning of a seed library preserving strains and the associated knowledge, as well as researching new possibilities for their cultivation in the current conditions.

The seed archive and associated research center are to be placed within the Mathildenhöhe Künstlerkolonie in Darmstadt, a highly valued and marked architectural heritage. The study of Jungendstil is key to the studio and will unfold both in the work on the Künstlerkolonie and in a fieldtrip to Vienna.

The studio provides the students with a range of computational design workflows enabling them to manipulate emblematic ornamental and architectonic elements from Jugendstil buildings of the Mathildenhöhe Künstlerkolonie. The elements are recombined to form novel spaces for a seed library located nearby. The students familiarize themselves with the potential for recombination, reinvention and iteration of digital design tools, while expanding their knowledge of architectural history, both regarding older attempts at cataloguing combinatorial components and regarding Jugendstil ambitions for design.

The seed archive therefore not only explore conditions of preservation of our resources, but also demonstrates the architectural reinvention emerging of its encounter with computational design methods.

3D-printing is changing architecture and design as well as engineering and construction. We want to explore this change and its significance for architectural design within the studio.

The course focuses on the application of 3D printing in design. Starting with an open brief where students are asked to develop a new 3D-printed building connected to an existing building. The focus is on natural materials such as clay, loam, and ceramics. A restaurant is to be created. In addition to the building design, students will have the opportunity to focus on different objects within the space at different scales – tableware, lighting, furniture, partitions, facades. Alternatively, they can focus on the technical structure and functioning of 3D-printing, or the materials used for 3D printing as part of the design. Each of these thematic focal points, which are proposed to the students as part of the open brief, offers a different approach to sustainable design and its challenges.

learn more

Participants will design a fair booth that exemplifies novel concepts of reuse and circular economy in architecture. It hosts multiple and changing activities of visitors and exhibitors. The space is supposed to change over time, facilitated by modular and discrete building components, equipped with reversible connections as well as robots that assemble, dis-assemble and re-assemble. Participants will design elements specifically for reuse but also work with scrap and off-cut materials. Students will learn computational design techniques, digital fabrication, robotic assembly and prototyping. Furthermore, they will learn to assess the environmental impact of their designs using Life Cycle Assessment in a collaborative workshop with ENB. Design proposals will be digitally modelled and physically prototyped. The studio is part of the project „Design with Debris“, a collaboration of DDU and ENB, which is funded by the Sto Stiftung.

What if the architecture moves, becomes dynamic and animated? What if architectural space transforms from being static into reconfigurable compositions that adapt themself to the use and the users? In this studio we design ever-changing architectural spaces and materialize them in concrete with the help of advanced robotic fabrication. We explore how colossal (but hollow) building blocks that would usually rely on heavy lifting equipment can be moved, rotated and interlocked. These hollow objects balance, role and dance in a choreography of concrete to form animated spaces. The participants learn Rhino/Grasshopper and according computational design methods but also cast concrete, build formwork and rotomould building components with a robot. The group will build a large-scale dynamic installation at the start-up center of Darmstadt, HUB-31.

The DDU studio “Circular Production” explores how digital technologies in design and fabrication can contribute to novel strategies of circular economy in architecture and the construction sector. During the studio, participants will develop novel digital design strategies that exploit and benefit from circular economy by reusing building elements and apply them for the design within a given architectural context. Participants will design a building for urban production and learn parametric, combinatorial and algorithmic design techniques with which architecture can address the challenges of the climate crisis and resource scarcity.

Circular Production

The goal of the studio is the development of a design algorithm, which will produce geometry and architectural drawings for a pavilion proposal. This pavilion is to be designed for the Cour Carrée, historically the first built part of the Louvre Palast, which later developed into a collage of numerous interventions by at least fifteen different architects, over four centuries. Each of these interventions are specific to their exact location, their time of design and of construction, their architect – yet they echo one another through the formal rules defining them. These formal echoes extend through Paris along its historical axis all the way up to La Défense, making the Louvre Palast an exceptionally rich context, especially fit to inspire specific rules for the design algorithm developed during the studio. Groups of students will develop a rule-based aggregation system derived from the Louvre context, thus creating site-specific combinatorics in order to produce the pavilion drawings.

The LouvreWriter*

This studio explores how colossal building blocks that would otherwise rely on heavy equipment can be moved, rotated and interlocked. Hollow objects allow for a dynamic repositioning of their center of mass by charging and discharging inner cavities with water. Participants will design a joyful floating playground on the Main river in Frankfurt. Participants will learn computational design tools (Rhino, Grasshopper), online collaboration on 3D models and the use of game engines to dynamically simulate physical behavior. Finally, students will use Augmented Reality to generate immersive experiences of their design proposals within the urban context.

Floating Amusement

The studio explores new ideas and processes for a resource-efficient circular economy using digital technologies and design methods. Existing buildings will be 3D-scanned and converted into digital models. Construction elements such as columns, beams and slabs will be cut into smaller modules (at model scale) with the help of robots, which can then be digitally re-assembled into new buildings. The process is prototypically implemented in the DDU RoboLab. The participants learn the technologies robotics, 3D-scanning, 3D-printing and photogrammetry. The architectural design includes a temporary, modular building that will also become repository for future buildings. The possible “Vertiefer” of the studio starts with an intense workshop from 2. – 6. March 2020.

Design for (Re)Assembly

Computational Design and Digital Fabrication enable the exploration, the design and the construction of material-efficient structures and differentiated spaces. In this studio we will use the technology of rotoforming concrete, developed at the DDU, to speculate about the architectural design potential of this technology. Participants are invited to investigate the structural, constructional and architectural possibilities of designing and building with rotoformed constructions. No previous knowledge of 3d modelling, simulation, parametric design is expected or required. Software tutorials will be included in the course.

The Micro Factory

In this studio we will explore 1:1 prototypes and speculative design proposals based on the material system RotoForm. Participants will learn computational design strategies, simulation of material properties and materialization based on digital fabrication and robotics. Subsequently the constructive, design-related and potentials of the mineralic, hollow elements will be investigated through prototypes. In a design study the spatial, architectural and aethetic potential will be further explored. Design, digital and physical form finding, material research and fabrication and the materialisation process will be regarded as holistic and cyclic design process.

RotoForm

In this studio you will design a habitat for 1000 people. We will learn from existing residential typologies how to address the need for high-density in todays cities while maintaining good quality of life. We will investigate how to empower the architect to make design of high-density residential buildings better and faster by engaging non-architects in the process using computer games. We will use DDU’s Minecraft-based framework 20.000 BLOCKS where you will create you own design game and Rhino/Grasshopper where we will perform automated evaluations on the designs created by players of your game. Techniques that you will master include: analysing residential designs in Grasshopper, digitally fabricating building models, presenting complex designs in drawings. The studio will be taught in English and German.

Habitat 1000

Previous Seminars

Recent discussions on artificial intelligence, particularly the notion of “Infinite Minds” proposed by Ivan Zhao, emphasize that AI should not be understood merely as a tool for efficiency, but as a structural transformation reshaping how knowledge, work, and production are organized. While challenging existing labor structures, this transformation also offers opportunities to expand cross-domain capabilities, shifting human roles toward coordination, supervision, and intervention within teams of AI agents, each assigned a distinct professional role with domain-specific skills aligned with its responsibilities.

This seminar positions students as organizers and orchestrators of agentic AI systems. Following a shared introductory phase covering human-in-the-loop systems, AI-assisted research, and AI-mediated vibe coding, students develop individual projects along one of two directions: (1) knowledge-oriented investigations into AI theory, practice, and ethics, including critical studies, analysis, and visualization; or (2) design-oriented explorations focused on developing computational tools and workflows through AI-mediated coding. Programming is not treated as a prerequisite human skill. Instead, the course emphasizes system thinking, conceptual clarity, and informed intervention in AI-driven processes across digital design, fabrication, and robotic assembly.

The Seminar Robotic Stereotomy explores how robotic fabrication can transform classical principles of stereotomy into contemporary construction systems. The seminar investigates how geometry, material logic, and robotic motion can be conceived as an integrated design framework for producing topologically interlocking assemblies.

Stereotomy, the art of cutting solids, historically developed for stone construction—provides the conceptual foundation. Students will study geometric principles of interlocking and dry-joined assemblies, translating them into computational models and robotic fabrication strategies. Through Rhino and Grasshopper, participants will develop parametric geometries in which form, structural logic, and toolpaths are intrinsically linked. These digital models will then be materialized through robotic cutting processes, allowing students to test tolerances, assembly sequences, and spatial effects in physical prototypes.

The seminar unfolds progressively: early sessions introduce stereotomic geometry, topological interlocking systems, and robotic workflows. Subsequent phases focus on toolpath generation, fabrication constraints, and iterative prototyping. By oscillating between digital modeling and physical experimentation, students gain insight into how robotic motion influences geometric articulation and how fabrication constraints can actively inform spatial design.

At its core, the seminar emphasizes constructive thinking through geometry. Students are encouraged to understand robotics not simply as a production technology, but as a medium that reshapes architectural reasoning. By engaging with material, precision, and assembly logic, participants will explore how computational geometry and robotic fabrication can generate new tectonic possibilities for architectural construction.

The seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

One theme will be synagogues of the Rhein-Main-Gebiet destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

The course introduces students to the tools and methods of computational design. Students will be introduced to 3d modeling techniques with Rhinoceros, parametric and algorithmic design with Grasshopper, and scripting with Python.

This course is recommended as a valuable preparation for Bachelor students who will do “Enko 5”.

The lecture introduces the most important digital tools and methods as well as their application in design, representation, and modelmaking. Examples of effective use of digital processes and interfaces in design and creation will be discussed. A particular focus lies on learning processes: How do different tools interact? What interfaces exist between them? What impact does the tool have on the design outcome? How can contemporary digital tools and methods be placed in a historical context?

In the practical exercise, participants learn to create drawings and 3D models, derive axonometric and perspective vector graphics from 3D models and illustratively edit them, grasp the principles of parametric design, and prepare data for modelmaking using digital fabrication (3D printing and laser cutting). The module thus empowers participants to understand and effectively utilize digital processes and interfaces in their design process.

This course introduces digital fabrication methods and tools in the field of architecture. The course allows for experimenting with digital fabrication tools such as CNC laser cutting machines, 3D printers, and 3D scanning devices. Students also learn the necessary modelling skills. This makes Digital Fabrication Basics a valuable addition to ENKO V, where constructive model making is required. A series of exercises in the course give a step-by-step introduction into digital fabrication, geometrical principles, and material behaviour. Participants acquire knowledge and experience to solve complex design-to-fabrication challenges in their future practice. The assignments include the production prototypes and the documentation of the design-to-fabrication process. This course is open to students of the Architecture Master program, TU Darmstadt. Basic knowledge of Rhino and Grasshopper knowledge is a prerequisite or need to be acquired individually.

The seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

One theme will be synagogues of the Rhein-Main-Gebiet destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

This seminar explores how robots can not only follow commands but also see, listen, and act—an approach known as Vision–Language–Action. To support this, we have developed a digital toolchain that extends the abilities of two UR10 robots with vision, speech-to-speech interaction, and motion control. With this setup, students can speak directly to the robots, describe design ideas, and receive their responses through text, voice, or physical actions. For example, a robot might sketch variations of a verbal idea, test different assembly sequences for modular blocks, or attempt new ways of assembly by rotating, sliding, or offsetting pieces.

The toolchain is built in COMFYUI—a visual platform that enables designers to create workflows for different tasks involving images, audio, video, or 3D models. These workflows are powered by pretrained AI models, but without the need for complex coding. The course unfolds step by step: early sessions introduce COMFYUI and Rhino/Grasshopper, followed by interactive experiments with robots. Building on these experiences, participants will design their own topics, and shape the final group projects.

At its core, the seminar emphasizes innovation in thinking: how new patterns, methods, and strategies may emerge when robots are treated not just as machines, but as collaborators in design. As a designer, you are encouraged to position yourself in this dialogue—using the tools not just to produce outcomes, but to critically rethink how human–robot interaction can reshape the ways we imagine, design, and build.

The course introduces students to the tools and methods of computational design. Students will be introduced to 3d modeling techniques with Rhinoceros, parametric and algorithmic design with Grasshopper, and scripting with Python.

This course is recommended as a valuable preparation for Bachelor students who will do “Enko 5”.

Digital Reconstructions SoS 25

The seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

One theme will be synagogues of the Rhein-Main-Gebiet destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

This seminar offers hands-on experience in robotic-oriented design and assembly of reconfigurable architectural structures. A methodological framework will guide students in understanding the entire workflow for discrete design and robotic assembly planning. Instead of starting from scratch, students will work with predefined assembly tasks, which include a set of standard parts (e.g. sticks, plastic bottles, blocks), developed connection types, and various combinatorial configurations.

Weekly sessions will focus on robotic-oriented design, optimizing the given assemblies through rapid prototyping, robotic simulation, and real-world experiments. Students will refine geometrical features to ensure compatibility with robotic grippers and establish compliant tolerances for robotic manipulation. Additionally, they will analyze assembly sequences and paths, structural stability, and develop strategies for material feeding, robotic picking, and placement to enhance overall assembly efficiency.

All design refinements, physical assembly trials and robotic execution processes will be systematically documented through drawings, diagrams, images and videos, ensuring a comprehensive record of experimentation, challenges, and optimizations.

The Chair of Architectural Theory and Science (ATW) and the Digital Design Unit (DDU) are offering a seminar on the relationship between humans and machines in architecture:

The relationship between humans and machines has always captured the human imagination, increasingly supported by machines. In the age of digitalization, their boundaries are constantly expanding, diversifying and merging, reaching into all areas of life and being charged with a wide range of mythical ideas. In architecture, too, people and machines work hand in hand every day – their relationship can be observed at digitally supported desks, workshops and construction sites. Their interfaces usually function reciprocally, as when human information is fed into the architecture machine (BIM) or when mechanical units are implanted or attached to buildings or human bodies (sensors). Machine learning and generative AI are already changing human-machine cooperation. This process is based on digital training and world models, whose algorithms are often inaccessible. Machines are increasingly taking over creative processes that were supposedly reserved for humans and acting autonomously in complex contexts.

In the seminar, we want to critically reflect on the tools understood as technical innovation in the process of architectural creation. We want to explore what freedoms the architect gains in the process of digitalization and what limitations the human being experiences through the machine.

The seminar is intended as a field for experimentation, where theory and practice come together and students can set their own focus in this regard.

The theoretical frame of reference includes both classical references, e.g. Norbert Wiener, Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948), Gilbert Simondon, On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects (1958), Lewis Mumford, The Myth of the Machine (1967/70), or Nicholas Negroponte, Being Digital (1995), but also includes texts from the feminist philosophy of technology, as represented by authors such as Donna Haraway, Rosi Braidotti, Caroline Criado-Perez, Catherine d'Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein, Lucy Suchman, or Judy Wajcmann.

The practical part involves developing your own human-machine models, in which sensors perceive the physical environment, process the resulting data and finally interact with the physical world by means of actuators.

The seminar “Bespoke Bamboo Prototype” builds on the knowledge gained in the Bespoke Bamboo Studio (WiSe 24/25) and leads to a design-to-build project with a 1:1 demonstrator made of locally harvested bamboo. The focus is on an end-to-end digital workflow: from algorithmic and parametric modeling to prefabrication using digital fabrication and final assembly on site. Participants not only deepen their knowledge of computer-aided design and construction methods, but also develop a fundamental understanding of the natural high-performance material bamboo. Through practical implementation, they gain valuable experience in the entire design, planning and construction process and at the same time contribute to the testing of sustainable construction methods.

Bringing lost architecture back to life using 3D reconstruction has been a task of the Digital Design Unit for almost 30 years. The technology of Virtual Reality (VR) has given this topic a new form of presentation that comes closer to the original sense of space than any other medium has previously made possible.

The task of the block seminar will be to develop new ideas for the mediation of lost architectural spaces using VR. The presentation of historical sources, 3D reconstructions and the emotionality of the content will be a subject.

The concepts developed will be partially implemented in VR with the help of appropriate game engines. A brief training course on the respective tools is therefore part of the block seminar.

Previous experience in 3D reconstruction or virtual reality is desirable, but not a requirement for participation.

The lecture introduces the most important digital tools and methods as well as their application in design, representation, and modelmaking. Examples of effective use of digital processes and interfaces in design and creation will be discussed. A particular focus lies on learning processes: How do different tools interact? What interfaces exist between them? What impact does the tool have on the design outcome? How can contemporary digital tools and methods be placed in a historical context?

In the practical exercise, participants learn to create drawings and 3D models, derive axonometric and perspective vector graphics from 3D models and illustratively edit them, grasp the principles of parametric design, and prepare data for modelmaking using digital fabrication (3D printing and laser cutting). The module thus empowers participants to understand and effectively utilize digital processes and interfaces in their design process.

The seminar investigates robot-oriented design and assembly automation in the field of prefabrication and modular construction. Students will be introduced to robotic techniques, exploring the possibilities, limitations, and challenges of using pre-programmed robots to assemble various building structures.

Throughout the semester, students will develop physical demonstrators, including basic building elements, joining methods, and their combinatorial design. Simultaneously, they will learn to program UR10 6-axis robotic arms using Rhino and Grasshopper, optimizing the robots' sequences, paths, and motions through both simulation and physical operation of the robotic assembly.

At the end of the seminar, students will document the robotic assembly process of physical demonstrators, critically evaluate their results, and propose potential methods for further improvement.

The seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

One theme will be synagogues of the Rhein-Main-Gebiet destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

This course introduces digital fabrication methods and tools in the field of architecture. The course allows for experimenting with digital fabrication tools such as CNC laser cutting machines, 3D printers, and 3D scanning devices. Students also learn the necessary modelling skills. This makes Digital Fabrication Basics a valuable addition to ENKO V, where constructive model making is required. A series of exercises in the course give a step-by-step introduction into digital fabrication, geometrical principles, and material behaviour. Participants acquire knowledge and experience to solve complex design-to-fabrication challenges in their future practice. The assignments include the production prototypes and the documentation of the design-to-fabrication process.

Basic knowledge of Rhino and Grasshopper knowledge is a prerequisite or need to be acquired individually.

The seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

One theme will be synagogues of the Rhein-Main-Gebiet destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

The course introduces students to the tools and methods of computational design. Students will be introduced to 3d modeling techniques with Rhinoceros, parametric and algorithmic design with Grasshopper, and scripting with Python.

The lecture introduces the most important digital tools and methods as well as their application in design, representation, and modelmaking. Examples of effective use of digital processes and interfaces in design and creation will be discussed. A particular focus lies on learning processes: How do different tools interact? What interfaces exist between them? What impact does the tool have on the design outcome? How can contemporary digital tools and methods be placed in a historical context?

In the practical exercise, participants learn to create drawings and 3D models, derive axonometric and perspective vector graphics from 3D models and illustratively edit them, grasp the principles of parametric design, and prepare data for modelmaking using digital fabrication (3D printing and laser cutting). The module thus empowers participants to understand and effectively utilize digital processes and interfaces in their design process.

The course introduces students to the tools and methods of computational design. Students will be introduced to 3d modeling techniques with Rhinoceros, parametric and algorithmic design with Grasshopper, and scripting with Python.

This course is also recommended complementory to the bachelor students, who are doing “ENKO 5”.

“Clay Printing Morphologies” deals with the topic of 3D printing with ceramic materials – with a focus on 3D printing of clay and porcelain. In terms of design, the seminar is dedicated to generative, digital, and novel design possibilities and processes for 3D printing with clay. The seminar teaches basic techniques for digital and generative design, as well as for preparing models for pasty 3D printing. The students are also introduced to novel processes such as non-parallel and non-planar slicing as well as the manipulation of tool paths for 3D printing. Students will then use the techniques learned to design and implement shape experiments in pasty 3D printing.

Experience with Rhino is required for participation! Experience in using Grasshopper is useful but not required.

The unbridled belief in progress, the future and economic growth had also taken hold of the HfG Ulm, which, four years after its founding in 1953, shifted its focus from practical craft teaching to scientific methods such as cybernetics, mathematical operations analysis, systems and information theory. Instead of free inspiration and artistic creativity, the students were to try out the newly imparted factual and methodological knowledge in architectural design according to the principle of scientific experiments. Meshes and grids served as geometric systems of order in order to be able to analytically determine, visually represent and systematically explore the most diverse influencing variables and parameters, dependencies and relationships in spaces and spatial sequences on a scientific basis. After rigorous experimental arrangements, the students used the methods of engineering and natural, human and social sciences to develop new approaches for an integral design of architecture of the most diverse building tasks: adaptable and mobile buildings of living and working, leisure and culture for mass demand in the 1950s-60s.

In the seminar, we will reconstruct selected exercises and designs by students of the Building Department. The basis for this are the drawings made at the time in analogue form with pencil, drawing pen and set square according to predefined geometric algorithms, whose spatial and design quality will be explored and examined through modelling with digital tools.

The seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

One theme will be synagogues of the Rhein-Main-Gebiet destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

This course introduces digital fabrication methods and tools in the field of architecture. The course allows for experimenting with digital fabrication tools such as CNC laser cutting machines, 3D printers, and 3D scanning devices. Students also learn the necessary modelling skills. A series of exercises in the course give a step-by-step introduction into digital fabrication, geometrical principles, and material behaviour. Participants acquire knowledge and experience to solve complex design-to-fabrication challenges in their future practice. The assignments include the production prototypes and the documentation of the design-to- fabrication process. This course is open to students of the Architecture Master program, TU Darmstadt. It is furthermore part of the UNITE! Architectural Engineering Pilot open to students from KTH Stockholm, Aalto University, Espoo/Helsinki, Wroctaw Tech, Grenoble INP-UGA, Politecnico di Torino, Universidade de Lisboa.

The seminar focuses on the topic of 3D-printing with ceramic materials using a Wasp Delta printer. Within this research area, we dedicate ourselves to generative and novel design possibilities that 3D printing with clay or porcelain paste offers. The seminar teaches both the basics of preprocessing for 3D-printing as well as the special geometric and process requirements for 3D-printing with ceramic materials. In addition, the students are introduced to new processes such as non-planar slicing and the subsequent manipulation of tool paths for 3D-printing within the framework of digital and physical experiments.

learn more

Robotic assembly is revolutionizing the way we build, offering new possibilities for architectural design and construction. This seminar will explore how robots are transforming the way we design and construct buildings, leading to a new era of building construction that is more precise, efficient, and sustainable.

During this seminar, you will discover how architects and designers are using a six-axis robotic arm to create innovative and complex geometries The process of designing and assembling demonstrators using the six-axis robotic arm will be introduced to show the potential of robotic assembly in architecture.

We will discuss different robotic assembly applications at various stages of the construction process, from prefabrication to on-site assembly, and explore the advantages and limitations of each approach. Additionally, we will examine case studies of buildings that have been designed and constructed using robotic assembly, ranging from small-scale installations to large-scale buildings. Through these examples, you will see how robotic assembly enables architects to realize previously impossible or impractical designs using traditional construction methods.

By the end of this seminar, you will better understand how the design for robotic assembly using a six-axis robotic arm creates more sustainable, efficient, and innovative buildings. You will also have the opportunity to design and assemble demonstrators that showcase the potential of robotic assembly in architecture. Let's begin exploring the possibilities of robotic assembly in architecture!

During this course, students will learn Python scripting in the environment of Rhino and Grasshopper. This seminar will investigate the potentials of algorithmic procedures for architectural design. It will enhance the student's knowledge of algorithms by developing computational thinking and scripting skills. Students will have an opportunity to explore forms and patterns generating based on mathematical and physical world principles. The seminar will be composed of a weekly course on Python scripting, with assignments focused on the production of drawings through coding. The last week of the seminar, a workshop will be hosted at DDU during which the students will have the opportunity to test a variety of tracing tools mounted on a six-axis robot to produce physical drawings based on their scripts of the semester. These drawings will be displayed later in the year at an exhibition organized as part of the LOEWE Architectures of Order research project.

The seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

One theme will be synagogues of the Rhein-Main-Gebiet destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

The seminar Researching Design and Prototypes teaches tools and methods for research by design. Participants have the opportunity to work on their own research questions in the field of digital design. In addition, DDU offers a number of topics that can be explored individually. A prerequisite for participation in the seminar is a basic knowledge of 3D modeling, parametric modeling, and digital fabrication. The seminar includes several colloquia in which master students working on a research module also participate, so that an exchange on research-based design can take place. Research topics from students and the department are presented and discussed at the first meeting.

During this course, students will learn Python scripting in the environment of Rhino and Grasshopper. This seminar will investigate the potentials of algorithmic procedures for architectural design. It will enhance the student's knowledge of algorithms by developing computational thinking and scripting skills. Students will have an opportunity to explore forms and patterns generating based on mathematical and physical world principles. The seminar will be composed of a weekly course on Python scripting, with assignments focused on the production of drawings through coding. The last week of the seminar, a workshop will be hosted at DDU during which the students will have the opportunity to test a variety of tracing tools mounted on a six-axis robot to produce physical drawings based on their scripts of the semester. These drawings will be displayed later in the year at an exhibition organized as part of the LOEWE Architectures of Order research project.

The seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

One theme will be synagogues of the Rhein-Main-Gebiet destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

The course introduces students to the tools and methods of computational design. Students will be introduced to 3d modeling techniques with Rhinoceros, parametric and algorithmic design with Grasshopper, and scripting with Python.

The seminar investigates past and present drawing machines architects resort to. The focus is set on machines producing perspective drawings, such as Deville or Lambert's perspectographs. Machines and the methods of descriptive geometry will be examined from a technical and from a historical point of view. Existing historical documentation available is used to retrace the story of the machines and to understand their functioning. The programming environment Processing is then used to virtually reproduce the machines. Finally, the machines are fabricated and controlled through Processing and the electronic prototyping tool Arduino. The seminar thus aims at the recreation and examination of major drawing tools that have served architects throughout time. Through this, the seminar interrogates the place of analog and digital drawing gestures.

During this course, students will learn Python Scripting in the environment of Rhino and Grasshopper. This seminar will investigate the potentials of algorithmic procedures for architectural design. It will enhance the student's knowledge of algorithms by developing computational thinking and scripting skills. Students will have an opportunity to explore forms and patterns generating based on mathematical and physical world principles.

Parametric Design unlocks novel design possibilities and enables interdisciplinary collaboration of architects and structural engineers. These tools and methods will be applied and explored for the design of space frame structures. In this course participants will learn about space frame structures and their nodal connections and their properties through examples from practice and a series of small design exercises. 3D-modelling, parametric design and structural calculations will be conducted in Rhino, Grasshopper and Karamba. Space frames and nodes will be materialized through the use of digital fabrication (3D-printing, laser cutting). The exam consists of one colloquium and three small design exercises. Architects and engineers will collaborate in design teams.

The seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

One theme will be synagogues destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

In 2021, the festival year 1700 Jewish Life in Germany will be celebrated. The department is using this year as an opportunity to continue the tradition of virtual reconstructions of synagogues. On the one hand, the seminar teaches the basic approach to virtual reconstructions of destroyed architecture. The students will get to know the professional visualisation software 3ds Max. On the other hand, students will deal with the building type of the synagogue and make a contribution to the culture of remembrance with the reconstruction of synagogues. The results will be incorporated into the department's exhibition “Synagogues in Germany – A Virtual Reconstruction”.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

During this course, students will learn Python Scripting in the environment of Rhino and Grasshopper. This seminar will investigate the potentials of algorithmic procedures for architectural design. It will enhance the student's knowledge of algorithms by developing computational thinking and scripting skills. Students will have an opportunity to explore forms and patterns generating based on mathematical and physical world principles.

This course is recommended to students with basic knowledge of Rhino and Grasshopper.

The building industry is responsible for considerable environmental impact due to its linear consumption of resources and energy, and the production of waste.

Modular architecture can reduce material waste and allows for constantly transforming structures. Discrete systems, consisting of a set of dry-jointed, interlocking parts provide great advantages for flexible and adaptable constructions with the ability of re-assembling the elements in different configurations. In the seminar participants will first get an overview of existing modular systems and subsequently design, simulate and fabricate interlocking, dry-jointed systems using computational modelling, rigid body simulation and 3d printing.

The course will be taught in English.

The course introduces students to the tools and methods of computational design. Students will be introduced to 3d modeling techniques with Rhinoceros, parametric and algorithmic design with Grasshopper, and scripting with Python.

In the seminar there are two main focuses that can be chosen. On the one hand the seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max. One theme will be synagogues destroyed 1938 by the Nazis. On the other hand, students should deal with the topics of memory and the Internet using the example of the destroyed synagogues, as well as with the topic of exhibition in virtual reality. For this, knowledge of the software Unreal or Unity is helpful but not a prerequisite.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

Parametric Design unlocks novel design possibilities and enables interdisciplinary collaboration of architects and structural engineers. These tools and methods will be applied and explored for the design of space frame structures. In this course participants will learn about space frame structures and their nodal connections and their properties through examples from practice and a series of small design exercises. 3D-modelling, parametric design and structural calculations will be conducted in Rhino, Grasshopper and Karamba. Space frames and nodes will be materialized through the use of digital fabrication (3D-printing, laser cutting). The exam consists of one colloquium and three small design exercises. Architects and engineers will collaborate in design teams.

In the seminar there are two main focuses that can be chosen.

On the one hand the seminar deals with the methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max. One theme will be synagogues destroyed 1938 by the Nazis.

On the other hand, students should deal with the topic of remembrance and the Internet using the example of the destroyed German synagogues and create a website. Knowledge of creating websites is helpful for this, but not a prerequisite.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

The course introduces students to the tools and methods of computational design. Students will be introduced to 3d modeling techniques with Rhinoceros, parametric and algorithmic design with Grasshopper, and scripting with Python.

The course introduces students to the tools and methods of computational design. Students will be introduced to 3d modeling techniques with Rhinoceros, parametric and algorithmic design with Grasshopper, and scripting with Python.

The seminar deals with the principal methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

Themes lie in the three dimensional visualization of drawings by Piranesi as well as in the reconstruction of a Roman military camps and cities for example Nida (Frankfurt Heddernheim).

The project will be scientifically guided by involved museums.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

The seminar deals with the principal methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

Themes lie in the reconstruction of a Roman military camps and cities for example Nida (Frankfurt Heddernheim) as well as the Berlin railway station Anhalterbahnhof.

Students learn about Roman architecture and its reconstruction and about the structure of one of the biggest railwaystations in Europe. The project will be scientifically guided by involved museums.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

Linking 3D-modeling software to industrial robots allows architects to materialize ideas in a continuous digital workflow. In the seminar, participants design prototypical constructions in the computer. Subsequently these systems will be transferred into robot fabrication processes. The seminar is supported by a start-up company that works at the interface of architecture, design and robotics. Participants work with Rhino and Grasshopper and learn new tools for computational design and robotic fabrication.

The course aims at introducing students to the tools and methods of computational design, including 3d modelling, algorithmic design and generative processes. Students will be introduced to 3d modelling techniques with Rhinoceros, parametric and algorithmic design with Grasshopper, and scripting with Python.

After introduction to all the tools, students will be asked to develop a personal project, applying the learned tools in one of these four areas: digital fabrication, discrete modelling, generative design, environmental modelling.

The course is thought as an introduction to the different tools used in computational design, and it is beneficial particularly for students interested in continuing their research in the field of digital design and fabrication.

Virtual Reality is becoming increasingly important for the visualization and experience of architecture. An interactive and immersive environment creates new possibilities and challenges for future design.

You will learn how to use the software Unity which is used in architecture for various purposes: e.g. for interactive 3D-visualization and simulation of a planned building, as well as for generative and parametric design. It also forms the interface between 3D-modelling and virtual reality.

During this seminar you will work in groups to realize and experience your own concepts and designs in virtual reality (HTC Vive). A 4-day workshop on intuitive design with modular blocks in VR in collaboration with Leibniz University Hannover is part of this seminar.

The seminar deals with the principal methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

Themes lie in the reconstruction of Roman military camps and cities for example Nida (Frankfurt Heddernheim) as well as the Berlin railway station Anhalterbahnhof.

Students learn about Roman architecture and its reconstruction and about the structure of one of the biggest railway stations in Europe. The project will be scientifically guided by involved museums.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.

Parametric Design unlocks novel design possibilities and enables interdisciplinary collaboration of architects and structural engineers. These tools and methods will be applied and explored for the design of space frame structures. These lightweight structures are relevant today as scarcity of resources and climate change are forcing us to rethink the way we design and build. In this course participants will learn about space frame structures and their properties through examples from practice and a series of small design exercises. 3D modelling, parametric design and structural calculations will be conducted in Rhino, Grasshopper and Karamba. The exam consists of one colloquium and three small design exercises. Architects and engineers will collaborate in design teams.

Virtual Reality is becoming increasingly important for the visualization and experience of architecture. An interactive and immersive environment creates new possibilities and challenges for future design.

In this block seminar we will teach how to use the software Unity and SteamVR. Unity is used in architecture for various purposes: e.g. for interactive 3D visualization and simulation of a planned building, as well as for generative and parametric design. It also forms the interface between 3D modelling and virtual reality.

During this seminar students will have the opportunity to realize and experience your own concepts and designs in virtual reality (HTC Vive) in project groups.

Current developments in computer-aided design methods, manufacturing techniques and robot control open up new possibilities for materialisation in architecture. Besides the automation of traditional manufacturing techniques, robotic tools offer the possibility to explore adaptive, interactive and reactive manufacturing methods.

We impart skills and understanding for computer-aided design strategies and robot control for digital manufacturing (e.g. sensor technology, data processing, livestreaming).

In small individual studies on these topics, your computer-aided manufacturing concepts will be investigated with robots. In the concluding workshop (12. – 16.08.2019) we will jointly develop an experimental prototype.

The course aims at introducing students to the tools and methods of computational design, including 3d modelling, algorithmic design and generative processes. Students will be introduced to 3d modelling techniques with Rhinoceros, parametric and algorithmic design with Grasshopper, and scripting with Python.

After introduction to all the tools, students will be asked to develop a personal project, applying the learned tools in one of these four areas: digital fabrication, discrete modelling, generative design, environmental modelling.

The course is thought as an introduction to the different tools used in computational design, and it is beneficial particularly for students interested in continuing their research in the field of digital design and fabrication.

Methods of measurement and representation influence the work of architects. 3D-Scanning for capturing three-dimensional objects and spaces and their digital representation invites you to take a new look at the relationship between process and result.

Participants first learn the basics of Rhino and Grasshopper and then various 3D-scan methods, data preparation in Rhino and the use of the technology as a design tool.

The course is aimed primarily at students in the studio of DDU.

While technological innovation has given us new tools of architectural representation, and as such have enriched the discipline, the architectural practice has not changed in more than 150 years. But technology is bound to disrupt it just like it did with every other industry today.

This demands that we rethink the role of the architect. The information age start in the 1960s triggered a lot of technology-driven experiments in architecture such as the Architecture Machine Group of Negroponte in MIT or the Flatwriter by Friedman that aimed to amplify the architect’s abilities and reposition them as a person creating design environments for others. This text research and writing seminar explores the theoretical background of participative and computational architecture. Each student will read and present two short texts on the topic and write an essay summarizing the aspects learned in the seminar.

The seminar deals with the principal methods of reconstructing virtually destroyed architecture. The students will learn about the professional visualization software 3ds Max.

Beside other themes the emphasis lies in the reconstruction of the Roman military camp in Albano, 20 km located before Rome. The Goal is the reconstruction of the thermae and the cistern.

Students learn about Roman architecture and its reconstruction. The project will be scientifically guided by involved archeologists and the Römisch-Germanisches-Zentralmuseum in Mainz.

Bachelor courses and master courses will be offered.