Brazil
Andrei Jipa

Digital Fabrication between research and practice

Join us on 6 October for a discussion on the importance of digitalization and automation processes for the built environment including computer-aided design methods and digital manufacturing processes such as large-format 3D printing. Cheryl Jacobs, President of AIA Miami, will moderate the discussion between Fabian Scheurer, founder of Design-to-Production, and Benjamin Dillenburger, Professor at the ETH Zurich. Event organized with Insight Architecture at 14:00 (Brazil)/19:00 (Switzerland).

Facing a dramatically increasing urbanization worldwide and our limited resources, we need to find new ways to design and fabricate buildings. Digitalization and automation, which are still in their infancy in architecture and the construction industry, must play a key role in this field. The research group Digital Building Technologies investigates how to create a more sustainable and more diverse built environment through the combination of computer-aided design methods and digital manufacturing processes such as large-format 3D printing. This webinar will focus on the possibilities of additive manufacturing in the field of concrete construction. Several strategies will be presented in which 3D printing can not only help to use concrete more efficiently but also to fabricate complex and customized designs. Finally, the webinar will present a vision of a radically digitalized process from design to fabrication in architecture towards a digital building culture.

How to get complexity away from the building site? Design-to-Production is based on the simple fact that architecture is made of parts that need to come together on site in a controlled and safe way. Digital Fabrication has not only changed how we create those parts but also how we create their connections, allowing to embed a lot of onsite-complexity in offsite-prefabrication.

To explore these topics, Insight Architecture and Swissnex in Brazil invite Fabian Scheurer (Switzerland), founder of Design-to-Production and Benjamin Dillenburger (Germany), professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich to this webinar. They will present their work and discuss the challenges and opportunities they see in digital fabrication between research and practice. Cheryl Jacobs, president of the AIA Miami will moderate the conversation. The event will be held in English and Portuguese, with simultaneous translation to both languages. The webinar is part of the Insight Architecture’s Future Now event, which investigates the use of sustainable materials and new construction techniques such as digital fabrication in architecture as part of the 27th World Congress of Architects UIA 2021 Rio calendar.

Participants

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    Bio

    Fabian Scheurer

    Founder and Managing Partner, Design-to-Production

    Fabian Scheurer studied informatics with subsidiary studies in architecture, and began his professional career as an assistant in the CAAD department at the Technical University in Munich. Appointments followed as a software engineer in Munich, as well as a consultant for new media in Zurich. He was a research assistant at the CAAD Chair at the ETH Zurich, where the idea to set up his own company evolved. Fabian Scheurer has been a managing partner at Design-to-Production since 2007, alongside which he has taught as a guest lecturer at the Architectural Association School of Architecture AA London, the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalunya, IAAC Barcelona, and at the HTW Chur, amongst others.

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    Bio

    Benjamin Dillenburger

    Professor, Institute of Technology in Architecture, ETH Zurich

    Benjamin Dillenburger is an architect who explores computational design methods and digital fabrication to broaden the design freedom for architecture and to develop performative and sustainable building solutions. He develops new digital ways of translating information into matter. In this context, his research focuses on additive manufacturing and its potential to challenge traditional paradigms of design and construction. Benjamin Dillenburger holds a Ph.D. from the ETH Zurich and is a Professor at the Institute of Technology in Architecture at the ETH Zurich, where he leads the research group Digital Building Technologies. Currently, he is also Principal Investigator of the Swiss National Competence Centre of Research NCCR DFAB.

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    Moderator

    Cheryl H. Jacobs

    Executive Vice President, American Institute of Architects AIA Miami and Miami Center for Architecture & Design MCAD

    As Executive Vice President of both American Institute of Architects AIA Miami and Miami Center for Architecture & Design MCAD, Cheryl Jacobs guides both organizations in the development and implementation of programming that promotes architecture, design and the built environment. Cheryl works closely with both organizations’ outstanding volunteer boards to create forums, seminars and events that improve awareness of the industry and that build strong community and member connectivity.
    With 20+ years in association and non-profit leadership experience, Cheryl has developed an exceptional network of high-level contacts in the architecture and real estate industry in south Florida. She is a strong and inspirational leader with a talent for recruiting and motivating volunteers, and a passion for the creative industries. In 2013, Cheryl was awarded the AIA Florida Presidential Award. She also serves as the Director of the Downtown Miami Welcome Center.
    Cheryl has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey and is a graduate of Leadership Miami and Leadership Daytona Beach.

Partner

This webinar is organized in collaboration with Insight Architecture.