Block Research Group

News

Masonry Lecture at ETH by Dr. Matthew DeJong (POSTPONED!)

17.03.2010

Prof. Block invited Dr. Matt DeJong, Lecturer in Structural Engineering at the University of Cambridge, UK, and founding partner of the structural consultancy firm ODB Engineering, for an IBK seminar on his research on historic structures. His talk "Novel Modelling Strategies for Masonry Structures" will be in May (date, time and location TBD) on the ETH HÃ¶nggerberg campus.More Info

Seminar Lorenz Lachauer at MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

17.03.2010

Lorenz Lachauer is invited to present his research on novel interactive and parametric structural design tools based on graphic statics at the MIT Masonry Research Group on Monday April 12 at 4pm in Room 4-237. His talk is entitled "Parametric Structural Design: An intuitive approach using graphic statics".More Info

Why Design Now?

05.01.2010

MIT's Masonry Research Group and ODB Engineering have been invited to build a vaulted installation "Vault201" at the Design Triennial for the Cooper-Hewitt-National Design Museum in NYC, USA, "Why Design Now?", which is opening on May 14 2010 and features designers from around the world pushing sustainable design.More Info

Lecture at the EiABC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

10.12.2009

Prof. Block was invited for a lecture at the newly founded Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) by Scientific Director and former lecturer at ETH, Dirk Hebel. His talk "Understanding the Past / Designing the Future: New Low-Cost, Sustainable Building Solutions" initiated the close collaboration between the EiABC and the BLOCK Research Group on developing Appropriate Construction Technologies for rural Ethiopia. More Info

World Building of the Year Award for Mapungubwe

14.11.2009

Peter Rich's Mapungubwe Interpretive Center in South Africa (also see older post) just won two major prizes at the World Architecture Festival. First, it won for the world building in the "Culture Category" and secondly, it won "WORLD BUILDING OF THE YEAR", beating out hundreds of designs by leading architects from around the world!

Lectures at the University of Salerno, Italy

24.10.2009

Prof. Block has been invited by Profs. Fernando Fraternali and Enrico Sicignano to present his PhD research at the University of Salerno. Two back-to-back lectures on Tuesday October 27: "Conserving the Past / Designing the Future" and "Exploiting Structural Indeterminacy". More Info

Mapungubwe project wins Sustainability Award

11.10.2009

The Mapungubwe National Park Interpretive Centre project in South Africa won one of the prestigious Structural Awards 2009. The project received the David Alsop Sustainability Award for "achievement in structural design, where outstanding commitment to sustainability and respect for the environment has been demonstrated." Prof. Block was involved in the structural analysis of the unreinforced, soil-pressed tile vaults.More Info.

Release "Form & Forces: Designing Efficient, Expressive Structures"

01.10.2009

"Form & Forces: Designing Efficient, Expressive Structures", the reworked and extended new edition of "Shaping Structures", by Allen and Zalewski is arguably (one of) the most comprehensive classroom textbook on structures and structural behaviour for designers. It re-introduced graphic statics and is strongly geared towards practical design problems, from conception to detailing to realisation and construction. Prof. Block co-authored the chapter on masonry design with Prof. John Ochsendorf, MIT.

Opening ITA Exhibition at ETH Hoenggerberg on 24 September

21.09.2009

On September 24 2009, the exhibition "Einblicke" opens, celebrating the new Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA) at the Faculty of Architecture (D-ARCH) of the ETH Zurich. Philippe Block will be showing his research and projects introduction his BLOCK Research Group at ETH. The latest model of the Escobedo Vault will be featured at the exhibition.More Info.