Lightweight structures and material optimized systems are of major relevance in the building industry and particularly in the design of concrete structures. This is not only for aesthetic reasons, but also to use material in a resource conserving way. The increase of strength characteristics, as one measure to reduce cross section dimensions, postulates the prefabrication of cementitious materials under laboratory conditions. This thesis examines the contradiction of the possibility to realize slender concrete elements and the complexity of the discontinued homogeneity arising from necessary segmentations. Proposals of implementation strategies are demonstrated and verified on the basis of selected case studies.

Over the past decades we witnessed a tremendous shift in the principles of architectural design based on the advancement of computer aided design and manufacturing. Computation in architecture came with a whole new set of techniques as well as theories that did change the way we build and design today. This research investigates ways to embed computational simulation and optimisation into architectural design processes at an early, conceptual stage. Simulation and optimization are not seen as a post-design strategy to improve performance aspects of a well-developed design, but rather as design strategies in their own rights. Therefore, design approaches employing simulation and optimization were developed, tested and discussed. Conditions and prerequisites for successfully embedding simulation and optimization into architectural design processes were formulated and benefits were derived. Design approaches that use digital simulation and optimization are characterised by not favouring rational form finding above intuitive form making, or vice versa – they rather support informed design decisions. Therefore, Informed Form Generation is established as a design approach within this thesis. It is not one specific, universally applicable process, but rather comprises a category of approaches and constitutes an attitude.

Energy, economic, and social concerns are becoming increasingly important due to climate change, threats to energy security, depletion of traditional resources, and threats to human health. Integration of green resources and the adoption of clean technologies are of strategic importance for civil engineering. To preserve natural resources and promote responsible engineering, it is essential to be aware of the clean technologies emerging in the field of civil engineering. Clean Technologies and Sustainable Development in Civil Engineering addresses clean technologies for the sustainable future of practical applications from civil engineering. It presents the latest research results and state-of-the-art methodologies that address top concerns and establish cooperative research and development worldwide. Covering topics such as green urbanization, sustainable waste management, and solar thermal energy, this premier reference source is an indispensable resource for civil engineers, scientists, environmentalists, students and educators of higher education, specialists, libraries, researchers, and academicians.

Bringing together pioneers in design and making within architecture, construction, engineering, manufacturing, materials technology and computation, Fabricate is a triennial international conference, now in its third year (ICD, University of Stuttgart, April 2017). The 2017 edition features 32 illustrated articles on built projects and works in progress from academia and practice, including contributions from leading practices such as Foster + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, Arup, and Ron Arad, and from world-renowned institutions including ICD Stuttgart, Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton University, The Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) and the Architectural Association.Each year it produces a supporting publication, to date the only one of its kind specialising in Digital Fabrication.

This book on flexible formwork for fluid architecture is a multi-faceted research that covers a broad field: from design to material and technology, and from history to future developments. It offers a pragmatic approach that can be extended with more cases, materials, techniques and methods for fluid architecture, and provides a better understanding of the main aspects of fluid architecture and to help them find the most suitable combinations of all aspects. The book is a challenging experience with many new discoveries, including two patents: one on moulding of fluid surfaces and one on 3D printing of fibre–reinforced ice. It also features two world records: the larges span (30 meters) and the highest thin shell structure (30,5 meters) in ice as well as a method for the construction of a fully laminated shell structure in insulated glass.

Fabricate 2020 is the fourth title in the FABRICATE series on the theme of digital fabrication and published in conjunction with a triennial conference (London, April 2020). The book features cutting-edge built projects and work-in-progress from both academia and practice. It brings together pioneers in design and making from across the fields of architecture, construction, engineering, manufacturing, materials technology and computation. Fabricate 2020 includes 32 illustrated articles punctuated by four conversations between world-leading experts from design to engineering, discussing themes such as drawing-to-production, behavioural composites, robotic assembly, and digital craft.

Fabricate 2024: Creating Resourceful Futures is the fifth volume in the series of Fabricate publications. The first conference – ‘Making Digital Architecture’ – explored the ways in which technology, design and industry are shaping the world around us. Since then, we have become finely attuned to the negative impacts of this shaping. The 2024 conference, hosted in Copenhagen, sets focus on the pressing need to develop new models for architectural production that rethink how resource is deployed, its intensity, its socio-ecological origins and sensitivity to environment. This book features the work of designers, engineers and makers operating within the built environment. It documents disruptive approaches that reconsider how fabrication can be leveraged to address our collective and entangled challenges of resource scarcity, climate emergency and burgeoning demand. Exploring case studies of completed buildings and works-in-progress, together with interviews with leading thinkers, this edition of Fabricate offers a plurality of tangible models for design and production that set a creative and responsible course towards resourceful futures.

This book gathers peer-reviewed contributions presented at the 2nd RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication (Digital Concrete), held online and hosted by the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands from 6-9 July 2020. Focusing on additive and automated manufacturing technologies for the fabrication of cementitious construction materials, such as 3D concrete printing, powder bed printing, and shotcrete 3D printing, the papers highlight the latest findings in this fast-growing field, addressing topics like mixture design, admixtures, rheology and fresh-state behavior, alternative materials, microstructure, cold joints & interfaces, mechanical performance, reinforcement, structural engineering, durability and sustainability, automation and industrialization.