5. April 2023
Photo © DART Laboratory
The DART Laboratory (Digital Architecture Research Technologies) at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College has unveiled a “groundbreaking advancement in creating an ultra-lightweight, 3D printed concrete wall.” A short film shows the design and construction of Shell Wall.
World-Architects is no stranger to robotic constructions involving concrete and other liquid materials (see: Block Research Group's NEST Hilo Roof Prototype; ETH Zürich's Fast Complexity; TECLA by Mario Cucinella Architects and WASP; and TOVA by IAAC), but Shell Wall is one of the first in recent memory coming from a university in an American, rather than European, context.
Photo © DART Laboratory
Led by Taubman College professor and DART Laboratory director Dr. Mania Aghaei Meibodi, Shell Wall is billed as “the first lightweight, freeform 3D-printed, structurally reinforced concrete wall,” one that “facilitates the practical implementation of 3D concrete printing (3DCP) with thermal insulation while requiring significantly less concrete and rebar.” Furthermore, “DART Laboratory’s innovative technique allows for waste-free concrete construction and efficient use of material by placing it precisely where it is needed for structural purposes.”
Photo © DART Laboratory
The Shell Wall demonstrator, placed in the Taubman College courtyard, “uses a significantly smaller amount of concrete and rebar than the much larger quantities that would typically be required for a wall of the same dimensions.” Watch a short film illustrating the design and construction of Shell Wall:
Project Team:
- Prof. Dr. Mania Aghaei Meibodi, director of the DART laboratory at the University of Michigan
- Alireza Bayramvand, Researcher at the DART laboratory
- Yuxin Lin, Researcher at the DART laboratory