In the upcoming winter semester, we are excited to offer two elective courses: Computational Design and Fabrication 1, which runs throughout the entire semester, and an intensive hands-on workshop, Project Week Computational Design and Fabrication, scheduled for March 24–28, 2025. The courses bridge foundational principles of geometric design and computing with practical application in a comprehensive design project. You’ll explore methods and tools for 3D shape generation, simulation, structural design, and digital fabrication. [read more]

Climate Active Envelopes was featured at the Lange Nacht der Museen at the Deutsche Museum in Munich! The project shows how digital designs can be collaboratively realised by a mobile robot and masonry apprentices, demonstrating the integration of computational design and robotic fabrication in creating monolithic brickwork building envelopes. Visitors were invited to engage hands-on with the project’s interactive user interface, experimenting with their own self-shading building envelope designs. [read more]

The works of our chair — Terra Firma by Ema Krakovska, a multimedia installation presenting research on particle-bed additive manufacturing with earth, and Unbuilding by Begüm Saral, a video installation exploring the careful deconstruction of existing buildings through embodied Spatial AI — are featured in the exhibition “City in the Cloud – Data on the Ground” at the Architecture Museum, Pinakothek der Moderne. The exhibition runs from 16 October 2025 to 8 March 2026. [read more]

In September, our team gathered at the TUM Friedrich N. Schwarz Research Station in Berchtesgaden for a three-day retreat. The program featured research presentations, focused discussions, and activities beyond the usual work routine, creating space for exchange and strengthening our team bond. The retreat also provided opportunities to share experiences, explore new ideas, and collaborate in a more informal environment. [read more]

The eighth project meeting took place at our industry partner Leipfinger Bader, where the final demonstrator for the TES project was set up. This had been planned and implemented over the previous months, making the installation an important step in the project. The meeting provided an opportunity to examine the demonstrator on site, discuss the results, and reflect on the process. The successful setup underscored the good cooperation and paved the way for the next steps in further development. [read more]

Our project, “Climate Active Envelopes,” was featured in the national news broadcast on RTL+’s ‘Nachtjournal’ during their recent ‘AI Week’. The entry, broadcast as episode 158 on the RTL+ platform, focused on the project’s collaborative process between humans and robots. It highlighted the integration of digital planning, robotic fabrication, and skilled craftspeopleship that have the potential to create new capabilities in the construction process. [read more]

We are thrilled to announce the official opening of our prototype “Nistfassade” on July 1st in Munich! This prototype marks a significant milestone in the digital fabrication technologies for climate- and biodiversity-responsive architecture as a Germany’s first 3D-printed ceramic facade for supporting urban biodiversity. The project is part of the doctoral research of Iuliia Larikova, conducted at our Professorship in collaboration with the Chair of Terrestrial Ecology (Prof. Wolfgang Weisser, Dr. Fabio Sweet). The project was conducted as a part of the EU-funded projects. [read more]

Over 80 researchers from TRR277 gathered at the Haus der Bayerischen Landwirtschaft in Herrsching for a four-day summer school focused on digital construction through Additive Manufacturing. Set by Lake Ammersee, the event featured research workshops, industry pitches from SAEKI Robotics, MESH, Hyperion, and Terrestrial, and plenty of lively discussion. Beyond the academic exchange, participants enjoyed swimming, a sunset hike to Heilige Berg, and dinner at the historic Andechs monastery—making for an inspiring and memorable experience. [read more]

On June 6, Janna Vollrath presented the latest developments in the research project Timber Earth Slab as part of her talk "A Robotic Fabrication Strategy for Hybrid Timber-Earth Slabs (TES)" at the first Timber Colloquium Munich. Many thanks to the Chair of Timber Construction and Building Technology for the invitation and for organizing this great event. [read more]

Together with apprentices of the Building Guild Munich-Ebersberg, we robotically fabricated a building envelope segment composed of uniform bricks with different thermal and structural properties. A digital model linked the overall building layout directly to assembly instructions, allowing a robot to precisely place bricks in a complex, self-shading pattern calculated by solar simulations. This collaboration, part of the "Climate Active Envelopes" research project, merges digital planning with skilled craft to create sustainable, climate-responsive buildings. [read more]