Department of Architecture | ETH Zurich

Making of the Armadillo Vault, the centrepiece of the “Beyond Bending – Learning from the past to design a better future” ...

How can architecture improve the lives of people around the world? This year's International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia examines this question – is also the focus of many ETH Zurich researchers. For this and many other reasons, the programme for the 15th International Architecture Exhibition includes several installations and exhibitions that represent ETH Zurich.

The Block Research Group (BRG) led by Professor Philippe Block uses historical knowledge to combine the analysis of masonry structures with modern manufacturing and construction technologies. The results can be seen in the Beyond Bending exhibition, which shows how forces, like compression, can be used to achieve maximum stability with minimal materials. Furthermore, the Block Research Group makes a significant contribution to the Droneport project initiated by Lord Norman Foster.

Professors Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, as well as guest lecturers Anna Heringer and Martin Rauch, also have projects in the main exhibition.

Christian Kerez is not only represented in the main exhibition, but also has the honour of presenting his interdisciplinary project: Incidental Space in the Swiss Pavilion. The project explores new technological possibilities in architecture and questions habitual thought patterns.

Professor Dirk Hebel is taking part in the Time-Space-Existence exhibition, a collateral Biennale event held at Palazzo Mora. His installation shows how alternative building materials such as bamboo or fungal structures can be used in specific environments, depending on the local availability of material, human capital, and skills.

The professors Alfredo Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner are also involved in this year's International Architecture Exhibition. The project «Sarajevo Now: The People's Museum» is presented by Urban-Think Tank and Baier Bischofberger, in partnership with the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina at Arsenale Nord.

The 15th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, themed “Reporting from the Front”, will take place from 28 May to 27 November 2016 and is directed by Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena.

Read more about the projects «Beyond Bending», «Droneport» and «Daring Growth» from Philippe Block and Dirk Hebel in the background information of ETH Zürich.
Further information about Christian Kerez' projekt «Incidental Space» you find on the website of  Pro Helvetia.