Future of Construction 2024

The Industry Insights on 7 November in the morning we will hear insights from Claudia Eugenin Soto, Anton Savov and Birgitta Schock. T2CM - Tailings to Construction Materials produces materials for the construction industry from mining waste. Claudia Eugenin Soto from T2CM will talk about "Circular economy between mining and construction: Waste rock as a building material". Anton Savov is Deputy Director of Design++, ETH Zurich++ and a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Digital Building Technologies, ETH Zurich. His talk will offer an insight into how the Center for Augmented Computational Design in #Architecture, #Engineering and #Construction approaches collaboration with industry partners in the research fields of Artificial Intelligence #AI and Extended Reality #XR. Birgitta Schock is a board member of the SIA Schweizerischer Ingenieur- und Architektenverein and Chairwomen of Bauen digital Schweiz / buildingSMART Switzerland, a platform for the digital transformation of the Swiss construction and property industry. Her talk is focussed on an ongoing project at SIA called Forum Future of Construction. The third panel of this symposium will be moderated by Kathrin Dörfler and Bernd Bickel.

On the second day of #FoC24 we will concentrate on building materials and processes and deal with the definition of #Materials. In the third session of the talk series, we welcome three guests who work with natural materials. Tsz Yan Ng works on #3D-printed ceramic #Façades that enable climate change adaptation and resilience by collecting, retaining and controlling release of rainwater. She is a professor of architecture at the Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning, University of Michigan. Her talk at #FoC24 is entitled “Hygroscopic Building Envelopes for Climate Adaptation”. Viviana Pozzoli  is co-founder of the Paraguay-based firm Equipo de Architectura and  works with #NaturalMaterials like earth. Last year, her work was honoured with the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture. Her lecture is entitled “Down to Earth”. Fabio Gramazio is Professor of Architecture and Digital Design at ETH Zürich where he co-leads Gramazio Kohler Research. Fabio's research ranges from #ComputerDesign and #Robot production to material innovations. At FoC24, he will talk about “Malleable Bricks”. Institute of Technology in Architecture, ETH Zurich

In the second Industry Insights on November 6, Hadi El Hage from the European Cultural Centre will talk about the role of Venice: a platform for novelty in #Construction. The USI startup Foldcast uses paper as a formwork material. Together with its industrial partner MÜLLER-STEINAG Gruppe, Fabio Amicarelli from Foldcast and Cédric Domon, Müller-Steinag, will provide insights into the process from research to industry. We are looking forward to the talk "Foldcast SlabX: from research to industry". Finally, Eliott Sounigo from LAYERED will talk about spray-based mobile plaster printing. LAYERED has set itself the goal of automating surface finishing in construction using autonomous #Robots. After the Industry Insights a panel discussion with the afternoons speakers will be kicked of by moderators Birgitta Schock and David Jenny.

Building Material and Processes- Digitising Processes is the umbrella topic for the second session of Talks at #FoC24 on 6 November. ETH researcher Ana Anton, Dr Sc spends a lot of time with 3D concrete printing #3DCP. In her talk, she will focus on an ongoing project, Tor Alva, tallest 3D-printed structure in the world. Her talk is entitled: Tor Alva: Bridging tradition and #Innovation through digital fabrication. Robert Flatt is a Professor at the Faculty of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering and deputy head of the Institute of Building Materials at ETH Zürich. His group is working intensively on the digital production of concrete. His talk is entitled: Sustainability of (digital) concrete We are looking  forward to hearing your insights into #DigitalFabrication with concrete. Digital Building Technologies, ETH Zurich NCCR Digital Fabrication

The first Industry Insight session of #FoC24 focuses on how we can activate building cultures. BETONSUISSE actively promotes the #Transfer of knowledge between #Industry, #Research and the public. The association awards a Prix Beton, which recognises outstanding achievements. Patrick Suppiger from the BETONSUISSE association will focus on the Concrete Award 2025: “Building between tradition and the future”. Martina Bischof from RE-WIN will dedicate her talk to “Building Futures. Reuse, resilience and reconstruction”. The company Re-Win for example collects used windows in Switzerland and sends them to Ukraine as part of the Windows for Ukraine project. The company Quadraligna is dedicated to the renovation of windows in architecturally valuable buildings. Jochen Ganz from Quadralinga will speak in the Industry Insight about “#Robots in monument preservation - digitisation strategy in window renovation”. The morning will conclude with a panel discussion with all speakers, moderated by Valens F. and Konrad Graser.

We are reaching capacity for #FoC24 and will close #Registration at midnight on 31 October. All sessions on September 6 and 7 will be streamed. You can register until 5 November to receive the link for the #LiveStream of the sessions. Online-streaming tickets are available for CHF 25 and can be ordered on the registration website. https://lnkd.in/e9QdRSam

Patty Hopkins is one of the most prominent #Architects of the high-tech age. #FoC24 co-organiser Prof. Dr. Silke Langenberg and Matthias Brenner, interviewed the architect. The article is ideal as a thematic introduction to Matthias Brenner's Talk on 6 November on "Activating High-Tech Heritage: Exploring WAAM for Façade Repair". https://lnkd.in/e_WXwtW6

We will soon be gathering for #FoC24. Time to take a closer look at the #SymposiumProgramme. Jacqueline Pauli and Matthias Brenner will kick off the first series of #Talks. Both work with existing buildings and deal with the question of how and with which technologies #BuildingStock can be activated. Jacqueline Pauli is Professor of Structural Design at ETH Zürich and a member of the Executive Board of ZPF Ingenieure. Her research focuses on finding ways to design strong, load-bearing #Structures that use materials as efficiently as possible. Her talk at FoC is entitled “The Future of Structures”. Matthias Brenner is a doctoral student at the Chair of Construction Heritage and Preservation at ETH Zurich. He is investigating the potential of #DigitalFabrication for the repair of high-tech #Architecture from the 1980s and will talk about “Activating High-Tech Heritage: Exploring WAAM for Façade Repair”. We look forward to the Talks on Wednesday, 6 November. Institute of Technology in Architecture, ETH Zurich Institute for Preservation and Construction History (IDB), ETH Zurich

Personalities from #Research and #Industry will be speaking at #FoC24. The organising committee has invited companies to participate that promote socially sustainable building and pursue new technological approaches. In the researchers' contributions, we will hear approaches to various #BuildingMaterials and innovative #Technologies. The professional association BETONSUISSE and the European Cultural Centre are also part of the programme and contribute significantly to the expansion of the professional network. Each session is rounded off with a panel discussion in which people from science meet people from business and discuss challenges and potential with input from both areas. USI Università della Svizzera italiana Accademia di Architettura - USI ETH Zürich Departement Architektur (D-ARCH) ETH Zürich Institute for Preservation and Construction History (IDB), ETH Zurich Institute of Technology in Architecture, ETH Zurich NCCR Digital Fabrication Design++, ETH Zurich ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften ZHAW IBP Institute for Building Technology and Process EPFL SIA Schweizerischer Ingenieur- und Architektenverein Bund Schweizer Architektinnen und Architekten (BSA) Real Capital Management Picture: Future of Construction 2022 Panel Discussion

The Accademia di Architettura - USI is the venue for this year's FoC. The campus is located in the centre of the city of #Mendrisio, surrounded by a beautiful city park. The conference itself will take place in the Teatro dell'architettura Mendrisio. The Teatro was designed by Swiss architect Mario #Botta and offers a space for cultural dialogue on #Architecture, the city and the landscape. USI Università della Svizzera italiana is also the home institution of #FoC24 co-organiser Ena Lloret-Fritschi. Ena founded her research group there at the Accademia di Architettura USI (ARC-USI) and is dedicated on exploring Fabrication- and Material-Aware Architecture #FMAA. Photos: © Università della Svizzera italiana