ReFrame is a modular structure that shows how reclaimed timber can be given a second life through digital design and robotic fabrication. It highlights the structural potential and distinct histories embedded in reclaimed timber, showing how it can turn reclaimed timber from a low-grade waste stream into a valuable resource for construction.

Developed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in collaboration between the Professorship for Digital Design and Fabrication and the Professorship for Design of Structures, ReFrame explores new ways to integrate sustainability and circularity into digitally enabled construction practice.

Um die Aufenthaltsqualität auf dem Platz zu verbessern und damit auch die Innenstadt Ost attraktiv weiterzuentwickeln, war es ein Anliegen des KIT und der Stadt Karlsruhe, den entsprechenden Bedarf an Möblierung und Beschattung durch einen kreativen und innovativen Ansatz im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojekts am KIT zu lösen. Als Resultat entstand komorebi.

The ReSidence research demonstrator introduces a hybrid structural system that promotes a circular local bio-economy. By establishing closed material loops, the project addresses key challenges in the construction sector, reducing waste while extending the use of renewable materials.

In the interdisciplinary seminar “Cycle in Circles”, a pavilion for the Gartenschau Bad Urach 2027 is being designed in collaboration with the BuE and dos professorships and structural engineering students.

In the project “My City Lounge @Kronenplatz”, we will develop strategies to improve the comfort and the quality of stay as an interdisciplinary Design-Build collaboration between Design of Structures (dos), the Institut für Regionalwissenschaft (IfR), and the South German Climate Office at KIT. We will explore the design of temporary shading systems, introduce green urban furniture, and reconfigure the space to significantly enhance its usability and comfort.

Digital Skins offers an in-depth exploration of digital tools and computational strategies for the geometric processing and patterning of surfaces. The seminar will delve into the use of computational tools through scripts and definitions that will be developed during the course to manipulate mesh and NURBS objects by creating bespoke structural and ornamental patterns. 

The Building & Structure seminar examines the functional and effective modes of structural design in more detail. Therefore, the use and the limitations of materials like timber, steel, concrete, and clay will be analysed in detail.

The basic and general principles of the behaviour of building materials and the load carrying behaviour are taught to which buildings are exposed and which they must withstand. Basic knowledge of mathematics and physics is applied to the recording and description of load transfer in building structures.