REX|LAB, 2019
A 3D printed pavilion designed for the University of Innsbruck’s 350th anniversary, 2019.
A cooperation of researchers and students at the University of
Innsbruck (Institute for Experimental Architecture, Unit Hochbau, Faculty of Architecture;
Department of Structural Engineering and Material Science, Unit Concrete Structures and Bridge Design, Faculty of Engineering Science), the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands (3D Concrete Printing research group), and industry partners (the University of Innsbruck spin-off incremental3d GmbH; Baumit GmbH; PORR Bau GmbH).
Manufactured in segments by the robot-controlled 3D-concrete-printing-system BauMinator® and partially reinforced by steel and carbon fibers the prefabricated parts are assembled to create a pavillion as a place to linger as well as a technology platform for all faculties and departments situated at the Technical Campus of the University of Innsbruck.
Design: Marjan Colletti, Georg Grasser, Hannah Köll, Lorenz Pammer, Emanuel Werner
Fabrication: Lukas Härtenberger, incremental3d GmbH
Structural engineering: Freek Bos, Eindhoven University of Technology
Fabrication: Georg Bursik, Baumit GmbH, Eduard Artner, Baumit Gmb, Gottfried Prinz, PORR Bau GmbH, Martin Stopfer, PORR Bau GmbH, Manfred Kilzer, PORR Bau GmbH, Hannes Maurer, PORR Bau GmbH, Herbert Pichler, PORR Bau GmbH, Rupert Asanger, Image Credits
Drone footage Peter Massin; Photogrammetry: Marc Ihle.
The COHESION pavilion was designed and erected as part of the celebrations of the 350th
anniversary of the University of Innsbruck on the Campus Technik site.
The design, a complex, irregular, segmented, doublecurved and robotically 3D printed concrete shell, is the result of a cooperation of researchers and students at the University of Innsbruck (Institute for Experimental Architecture, Unit Hochbau, Faculty of Architecture; Department of Structural Engineering and Material Science, Unit Concrete Structures and Bridge Design, Faculty of Engineering Science), the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands (3D Concrete Printing research group), and industry partners (the University of Innsbruck spin-off incremental3d GmbH; Baumit GmbH; PORR Bau GmbH). Manufactured in segments by the robot-controlled 3D-concrete-printing-system BauMinator® and partially reinforced by steel and carbon fibers the prefabricated parts are assembled to create a pavillion as a place to linger as well as a technology platform for all faculties and departments situated at the Technical Campus of the University of Innsbruck.
Based on initial sketches and preliminary studies developed by architecture students and technical sciences students, the final design was adapted to be sited in one of the existing central water retention reservoirs of the main courtyard at the Campus Technik. In this prominent location, visible early on from the main northern entrance the temporary construction acts as a central meeting point and signpost on the campus. On the outer shell, the numbers 3-5-0 are embossed in font size 2m to clearly mark the University’s anniversary. The structure rises westwards towards the main wind direction with a small bar table that cantilevers out of the infiltration basin. From the east-facing access a slightly declining ramp leads to the interior, where integrated seating invites to linger and to relax.
From the very beginning, the team had to examine in depth several constraints of 3D concrete printing processes, such as geometry, topology, weight, structural soundness, manufacturing processes, transport and assembly. As a result, the whole continuous object was subdivided into 47 radial vertical segments, partially reinforced by steel and carbon fibers. All 47 parts were 3D printed by the robot-controlled concreteprinting system BauMinator® at the incremental3d facilities in Upper Austria and assembled on site with a truck crane.
Drone footage Peter Massin; Photogrammetry: Marc Ihle.
