Prof. Achim Menges - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prizewinner 2023
Architecture, University of Stuttgart
Achim Menges is awarded the Leibniz Prize for his research in the field of digital planning methods and robotic manufacturing in architecture, which enable new types of construction. Menges’ research aims to achieve end-to-end digital processing of construction from design to execution. The focus is also on integrating the interactions between form, material, structure and environment in computational design. Menge’s approach is highly interdisciplinary in that he collaborates with researchers from civil engineering and robotics, materials science and biology, for example, as well as drawing on the social sciences and the history of architecture. His innovative architectural designs are inspired by natural biological forms, also using forward-looking techniques and computational intelligence tools. In this way, Menge’s work also contributes to the conservation of resources and the reduction of energy- and process-related CO2 emissions in the construction industry.
Achim Menges completed his architectural studies at TU Darmstadt and the Architectural Association in London. After graduating in 2002, he began a teaching career there. He then became a professor at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach, subsequently moving to the University of Stuttgart, where he founded the Institute for Computer-Based Design and Construction in 2009. Menges is the spokesperson for the Cluster of Excellence “Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture”. His architectural concepts and experimental buildings have been or are being shown at international exhibitions such as the Centre Pompidou or the Venice Biennale.