Achim Menges, Universität Stuttgart
Response by Scott Marble, Columbia University GSAPP

Founding Director of the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) at the Universität Stuttgart, Achim Menges presents design strategies “at the intersection of evolutionary computation, algorithmic design, biomimetic engineering, and computer aided manufacturing” that “enable a highly articulated, performative built environment.” Menges’s materializations—ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2011 and 2010, FAZ Pavilion Frankfurt, to name a few—aim to unpack and embed the behavior, geometry, manufacturing constraints, and assembly logics of materials into computational processes, thereby promoting an interrelated understanding of form, material, and structure.