Tailored Clay

TAILORED CLAY - DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDING COMPONENTS MADE OF CLAY AND NATURAL FIBER TEXTILES FOR CIRCULAR ARCHITECTURE

Nature-based materials are gaining increasing relevance as circular and sustainable alternatives. However, the implementation of new building systems using natural and alternative materials remains limited. For widespread adoption, materials must meet key requirements such as formability and availability. Clay, as a natural and widely available material, meets the criterion of availability and, when combined with digitally fabricated textile formwork, offers significant potential for freeform shaping. Structural performance and aesthetic or programmatic demands in architecture can only be addressed when building components are designed in direct relation to fabrication methods and the material system, rather than in isolation.

This project focuses on investigating the entire process chain, from design to fabrication, of clay building components shaped and reinforced using textile formwork made of natural fibers. The objective is to establish a design and planning foundation for automated fabrication and to identify and develop suitable computational design and manufacturing methods for this hybrid system. The aim is to examine how the combination of clay and natural fiber fabrics can function as a sustainable hybrid material system for producing performative components that meet the requirements of future-oriented architecture through digital manufacturing processes.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Prof. Achim Menges
Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), University of Stuttgart
Prof. Dr. Jan Knippers
Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE), University of Stuttgart

RESEARCHER

Rebeca Duque Estrada (ICD)

PARTNERS

Claytech

FUNDING

Forschungsinitiative Zukunft Bau: „Tailored Clay- Entwicklung hochleistungsfähiger Bauteile aus Lehm und Naturfasertextilien für eine kreislauforientierte Architektur" SWD: 10.08.18.7-24.62