Cluster of Excellence IntCDC Receives Funding for a Further Seven Years

Transforming design and construction in a future-proof and climate-positive way with computational technologies: this has been the research focus for researchers at the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems since 2019, within the interdisciplinary Cluster of Excellence IntCDC. Today, there is great excitement in Stuttgart following the announcement by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Council of Science and Humanities that the federal and state governments will continue to fund the Cluster of Excellence “Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Transformative Architecture” (IntCDC), together with the participating institutions, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and Bauhaus Earth, for a further seven years as part of the Excellence Strategy.

The University of Stuttgart has achieved a significant success in the recent funding decision by the Excellence Commission for the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments: the Cluster of Excellence IntCDC has been granted a second funding period. This decision highlights the international visibility and academic excellence of the University of Stuttgart in the fields of architecture and construction.

The continuation of the Cluster of Excellence IntCDC into a second funding phase provides the foundation for further development, building upon the scientific groundwork laid during the first funding period and for opening up new areas of research. 

Through interdisciplinary Co-Design, novel construction methods have been developed to significantly reduce resource consumption and CO₂ emissions. In addition, productivity has been increased considerably through robotic construction and new forms of human-machine interaction, while also opening up new architectural possibilities. 

“Researchers within the Cluster of Excellence IntCDC share a common goal: to establish the methodological foundations for a future-proof, resource-efficient, and climate-positive transformation of design and construction through integrative and interdisciplinary research”, says IntCDC spokesperson and Leibniz Prize winner Professor Achim Menges.

In collaboration with the partnering institutions Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and Bauhaus Earth, IntCDC brings together internationally recognised expertise from the fields of architecture, civil engineering, computer science, robotics, and the social and economic sciences. Over the next seven years, the Cluster will expand its research focus towards Co-Agency and advance key future topics, including the development of bio-based building materials, AI technologies, circular computational design and cyber-physical construction methods, and a resilient building culture. The establishment of the Stuttgart Centre for Integrative Computational Design and Construction will further strengthen the long-term institutional anchoring and international visibility of the Cluster.

Please find the full press release from the University of Stuttgart, here:
https://www.uni-stuttgart.de/en/university/news/all/Stuttgart-Cluster-of-Excellence-IntCDC-receives-funding-for-a-further-seven-years/