
Günther H. FilzUniversity of Innsbruck | UIBK · Faculty of Architecture
Günther H. Filz
Dipl.Ing. Dr.techn. M.Eng.
#FatFreeDesign
#LSU LightweightStructures.unit
About
71
Publications
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Introduction
Architect and Engineer at the intersection of architectural design, lightweight structures & geometry.
. / Professor of Structures and Architecture, Aalto University, Finland
. / Professor of Lightweight Architecture, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Additional affiliations
Aalto University // University of Innsbruck
Position
- Professor
April 2020 - present
January 2016 - September 2019
Education
March 2009 - March 2015
IMS Bauhaus, Institute of Membrane and Shell Technologies
Field of study
October 2006 - July 2010
October 1994 - May 2000
Publications
Publications (71)
In our ongoing research, inspired by the nest-building strategies of weaverbirds, we have explored the potential of utilizing variations in pattern topology for the design of bending-active surface structures. While the results show success in addressing multiple objectives such as architectural and geometrical aspects during the design process, th...
Flexible grid structures are considered efficient structures due to their form, structural performance, and low material consumption. For many years, the search for optimal structural forms of elastic grids has been mainly based on repetitive patterns with changing boundary conditions and cross-section of the grid by multi-layer lattices. In our pr...
Botanical exploration allows us to glean insights into structures that showcase the optimum use of materials, multifunctionality, and aesthetic appeal across different scales. The way plants naturally branch out reveals their adaptability and flexibility in thriving and evolving. Also, it inspires structural and architectural design about the tecto...
The impact of the construction industry, as one of the biggest contributors to the climate crisis, urges designers to explore new approaches and solutions that embrace strategies to circular design and reuse of materials. However, geometrically complex structures such as gridshells, are in many cases assembled from a magnitude of bespoke members, d...
In Finland and many other countries worldwide, standard-quality wood is used as a building material in countless ways, from permanent to temporary uses as auxiliary construction and formwork. Unfortunately, formwork is difficult to clean after its use, which is why the construction industry considers it contaminated, no longer usable and, therefore...
Progressive transformation of the built environment is ultimately realized by industry practitioners and designers from companies, coupled with targets set by contracting authorities. Thus, insights on real-world collaborative networks in procurement can inform how progressive targets and innovative designs can be incentivized and proliferated thro...
The BuildDigitalCraft project (2019 - 2022) underscores the importance of education in fostering interdisciplinary knowledge exchange for creating high-quality urban spaces. It highlights a shift towards deeply integrating digital tools into professional practices while acknowledging societal concerns about digitalization in education. Findings ind...
Inspired by the traditional notched planar reciprocal frame (RF) that uses short elements to build load-bearing structures with a span longer than individual elements, we search for an innovative way of using salvaged timber for building RFs specifically connected with wooden nails. A planar rectangular slide-in RF system is proposed as a possible...
The current work presents the generation of a comprehensive spatial dataset of a lightweight beam element composed of four twisted plywood strips, achieved through the application of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) - Multi-view Stereo (MVS) photogrammetry techniques in controlled laboratory conditions. The data collection process was meticulously condu...
The current work aims to investigate the geometrically nonlinear behaviour of flexible plywood strips that undergo large displacements during the formation process of a structural element. Such deformations allow bending-active structures to reach curved geometries from initially planar elements. As our literature review points out, firstly, twist...
The "Medijana" project was designed to protect one of the most important archaeological excavation sites from the ancient Roman period in Serbia, and presented a significant challenge due to its location as a candidate for UNESCO heritage protection. In 2023, the project has been completed, with total covered surface of 12,000 m2, a main clear span...
Carpatec is a company dedicated to Textile Architecture, Mobile Structures and Canopies with design, structural calculation, manufacturing and installation under one roof. Typically, the design of membrane structures and their details are governed by a design brief, the project location, the installation process, and in practice often by economic c...
The "Medijana" project was designed to protect one of the most important archaeological excavation sites from the ancient Roman period in Serbia, and presented a significant challenge due to its location as a candidate for UNESCO heritage protection. In 2023, the project has been completed, with total covered surface of 12,000 m2, a main clear span...
Bridging traditional experts’ disciplinary boundaries is important for nuclear knowledge management systems. However, expert competences are often described in unstructured texts and require substantial human effort to link related competences across disciplines. The purpose of this research is to develop and evaluate a natural language processing...
Elastic bending, nowadays referred to as bending active, of initially straight elements has become increasingly popular in the construction of spatial structures, such as elastic gridshells. According to our previous review [1], despite the introduction of modern gridshells over 80 years ago, their geometric patterns tend to be similar and a clear...
Elastic gridshells are a sub-category of shell structures, covering long-span with high performance and low materiality using actively bent elements. Our literature review and previous studies revealed some difficulties in integrating spatial grid patterns with multiple purposes such as architectural, environmental, structural, etc. during the form...
“The Kouvola Trail” is part of our timber-only research project and consists of 2 realized parts, (i) the prefabricated, “Modular Trail” and the customized “Plaza” modules. On the example of the trail project, this paper describes its combined systemic horizontal and vertical processes, network, knowledge management and multidisciplinary collaborat...
In this paper, we address reducing material consumption, conscious material selection, taking advantage of upcycling opportunities, and considering the reuse of components after the structure’s end-of-life in the context of ephemerality. We observe the realized Zero Gravity Pavilion through the lens of (dis-)assembly and (re-)use. The pavilion is p...
In the light of today’s challenges regarding sustainable solutions for the built environment, our research focuses on building entire structures with timber only. Salvaged timber and wooden nails are selected as starting points to explore the structural and archtiectural possibility by following a timber-only concept. Reminding of the ancient Maste...
In the field of architecture and urban planning “settlement” usually refers to planned, organized and finally realized buildings and infrastructure that are superimposed on the (natural) environment by man. However, the history of civilization knows innumerous unplanned settlements. Today we are learning from what was criticized for its seemingly i...
This book contains all project results of the Erasmus+ project “New mindset for high-quality European Baukultur: bridging digital and craft”, in short BuildDigiCraft. The project was realized between 2019-2022 as an Erasmus+ strategic partnership between eight universities from the Baltic Sea Region.
BuildDigiCraft explores the interrelation of the...
Contents
1.0 Material knowledgeand the ancient Master builder
2.0 Materiality in architecture, engineering,and material sciences
3.0 The Davos Convention andmaterial in the context of Baukultur
4.0 BuildDigiCraft: material in thecontext of process and knowledge
5.0 Outcomes relating to materialwithin the BuildDigiCraft project
6.0 Three perspective...
Even in the field of lightweight structures, where structural, material-related, and design aspects must be considered simultaneously, mostly a serial and top-down process can be identified in the design and realization of projects. Typically, designers specify a geometric shape, and engineers then try to find a method to realize it. In the design...
In this paper, we present a preliminary investigation of planar rectangular reciprocal frame (RF) structures considering structural, architectural, environmental, fabrication and assembly aspects. Following a timber-only concept and a low-tech design philosophy, we specifically propose to use salvaged timber and wooden nails only, as materials for...
The shape of a structure and its members does play a significant role in structural and architectural questions, especially in the design of lightweight structures. Starting from this point, this paper provides a comparison of a torque-generated structural element to standardized profiles, namely circular, square, and rectangular profiles regarding...
Elastic gridshells offer the possibility to create complex shapes with efficient structures in terms of structural performance and material consumption. The pattern of the spatial structure plays an important role in the overall aesthetics and structural performance of the structure. The curvature of the surface, the density of the grid, and their...
Combining "scientific" and "artistic" modes of thinking can stimulate multidisciplinary creativity, with compelling evidence from psychology, cognitive and social sciences. Building on our existing research on artificial intelligence in civil engineering, this project aims to computationally generate a "eulogy" of Heinz Isler, as an emotive express...
Our recent research interests in lightweight, architectural design and investigations focus on bending-active torsional structures with regards to its selforganized geometry, structural and architectural potentials, limits and qualities. This paper provides a description and comparison of the structural geometry of a beam element from 4 torqued, th...
Stewart–Gough platforms are well known for their extraordinary kinematic motion and therefore they are widely used as devices, ranging from flight simulators to microsurgical manipulators. However, they have not yet been explored much as architectural objects and transformable spaces with regards to irregular arrangements of legs and their associat...
Our research-based design approach suggests an integrated architectural and structural design concept by using local, salvaged timber in a "material and connection-structure-architecture" sequence, which is in line with Neri Oxman´s discussion of the "Form First, Structure First, Material First: the Designer's Causality Dilemma". Following the phil...
With increasing environmental concerns, the building sector must rethink the selection of building materials not only for structural members but also for connections. Densified wooden nails might become an alternative to metallic fasteners, at least in applications with lower structural requirements. However, their structural behaviour in timber-to...
The "Geodesic Winding of Minimal Surfaces-Pavilion" is a realized, irregular gridshell, assembled from thin, elastic plywood strips in a geodesic pattern, perceived as a winding pattern. The architectural space has been created for the arrival area of the Alpine Coaster (summer-toboggan run) at the ski resort of the Serlesbahnen Mieders, Austria. A...
In June 2013, the report "ARTS+ENG, Future Collaborative Academic Models at Aalto: Cooperation between the Schools of Arts, Design and Architecture, and the School of Engineering in Aalto University," was published. The most significant collaboration endeavor between the schools was the project work course, here referred to as The Synthesis Studio,...
This paper describes the structural geometry of a beam element, which is assembled from 4 coupled, thin elastic strips through intentionally applied torsion. Consequently, the beam element generates a self-restraining system. Our investigations are based on architectural design studies of preliminary paper models, laboratory experiments of the full...
Architectural Democracy is an ongoing doctoral research at Aalto University proposing a conceptual framework for a structured exploration of the relationship between Architecture (exemplified as the life cycle of a building) and Democracy (defined here as the assurance of all person's rights and freedoms, that every person can access information an...
Creativity is the essential driving force, and creative engineers are the drivers entrusted to propel the technology-driven industry to the pinnacle of innovations in all engineering sectors. Accordingly, creativity is being integrated into engineering education in different ways, from a single lecture to more extensive curriculum level approaches....
In 2018, the Airport City office park in Belgrade, Serbia has commissioned an unusual membrane structure. The project has been designed, produced and installed by ArTech inžinjering, Belgrade, Serbia. This paper presents the comprehensive process and workflow from the design phase to the structural analysis, to the production and to the installatio...
Using wood as building material has long tradition in many countries, and it is deeply rooted in Finnish culture. The city of Kouvola (Finland) is about to realize a high quality, recreational route for pedestrians and cyclists. In order to improve the functional connections and the recreational activities on the Kymi riverfront approximately a doz...
A Stewart-Gough platform (SGP) is a six degree-of-freedom (DOF) parallel mechanism, initially introduced by Gough and Stewart to animate flight simulator platforms. In common use an SGP consists of a mobile rigid platform, which is connected to a fixed base by six articulated legs in a regular (isosceles) constellation. Each leg is connected to the...
The construction sector is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emission. Therefore, sus- tainability and more environmentally friendly structural concepts and structures structures are becoming increasingly relevant. Timber, as a natural grown building material, can play a key role in this process, in particular due to its large potenti...
The experimental research structure “Pringle”, its concept and general idea are rooted in the un-realized, competition winning entry (Filz, 2009) for the permanent tensile cover for the Guate-mala relief map. In 2009, this competition project proposes a merger of a complex, bor-dering frame-like structure and its filling membrane surface, and raise...
Tensile structures and conventional building techniques are both highly developed, but they have never been explored as coalescent architectural and structural unity. We are proposing hybrid configurations, which will merge 3 aspects, firstly architectural design from the complex interplay of conventional and fluent forms, secondly structural desig...
As a follow-up research to the competition winning entry (Filz) for a roof cover for the Guatemala relief map, this paper presents the experimental structure of the “Pringle” composed from an actively bent, annular stripe and its equitangentially aligned filling by a minimal surface. Generally, a closed elastic stripe with overlenght is frustrated...
Membrane surfaces usually follow the principles of traditional formfinding methods. In analogy to soapfilm experiments, anticlastically curved, tension-only surfaces are formfound by predefining closed boundary conditions. In the realization, these boundary conditions represent essential structural elements, but mostly they are neglected in terms o...
Engineering and Design have foundationally different values, which are reflected in how the respective education as well as the professional practices are organised. Adherence to these values introduces problems for the planning of studies where different pedagogical approaches confront, whilst both design and engineering tasks are explored and pro...
The Z‐Snap Pavilion has been representing a central spatial installation at the exhibition “The Nature of Form: Properties of Imagination“ in the historical Fortress Franzensfeste in South Tyrol, Italy, 2016/17. With its realization, we document the research on a novel design method and geometrical setup, which activates a bending active behavior o...
In the context of the realized “Z-Snap-Pavilion” the authors (Filz and Kumric [4]) described the principles on how to achieve a transition from planar, zip-assembled sheet elements into 3dimensional bending active, modular structures by z-folding one or more pairs of coupled straight and curved lines. The category of how spatial configurations can...
Inspired by the work of David Huffman [1], especially his research on cones, this work investigates one particular strategy to generate freestanding structures from assemblies of folded cones. The reflective folding strategy described by Huffman is adapted to generate stable elements consisting of folded sheet material that are assembled into a lar...
We present a topologically-based doubly curved building system, based on a single bending thin plate element. The system extends Buckminster Fuller’s plydome research, by proposing an elastic form finding technique through the introduction of strategic singularities in a periodic grid of originally coplanar plates. The potential of this technique i...
Our investigation is based on a seemingly simple phenomenon that we all know from kinking sheets of paper. In this sense it is related to selforganizing processes and forms. The controlled elastic deformation of thin, planar sheet elements into 3dimensional objects describe above mentioned phenomenon by predefining 3 points (MAB) on the surface wit...
This paper describes the realized case study of the " Cloud for fresh snow " , which is based on research on bending active elements as part of a hybrid solutions, namely the interaction of bending active wooden members and membrane surfaces in terms of an architectural design approach as well as in terms of structural performance.
Keywords: Bendi...
By means of "Z‐Snap‐pavilion " this paper documents research on novel design methods and joining technology using coupled straight and curved line folding with inverse folding directions. This folding principle triggers a transition from planar, zipassembled sheet elements to a 3dimensional bending active structure as well as a self‐locking snap‐ac...
This paper describes a novel timber gridshell design method and building technique by means of the realized
pavilion “2Landscapes”, which uses a modified Stewart - Gough - principle to interconnect two gridshells to a
closed, extremely lightweight structural and architectural system. With the realization of the pavilion "2Landscapes" we put the iss...
This paper presents ongoing research related to the self-organized folding of fiber cement and textile concrete sheet elements, with gravity and friction as guiding concept. Textile concrete is mostly produced in textile-like sheets that present the potential to create 3D objects from developable surfaces. This type of manufacturing is consistent w...
Rapid assembly implies simple and fast fabrication as well as simple (archi-) tectonics enabled by simple or without joints. This paper presents preconditions and principles how planar quadrangular, self-interlocking modules can rapidly be assembled to self-supporting, anticlastically curved forms and focuses to minimal surfaces of catenoids. The r...
Architecture and mechanical engineering face an increasing divergence of customized/individualized forms and more and more limited resources. Simultaneously we are surrounded by examples, where shape/geometry is separately solved from structure. In order to minimize total material consumption including storing, transport, etc. we have to look for l...
Usually 3d objects are generated from planar sheet elements by folding predefined sets of crease-lines. This paper presents investigations on the controlled elastic deformation of thin, planar sheet elements into 3dimensional objects by predefining 3 points on the surface with 1 of these points (M) fixed in space. The shape of the spatial object is...
This paper presents ongoing research related to the self-organized folding of fiber
cement and textile concrete sheet elements, with gravity and friction as guiding concept.
Textile concrete is mostly produced in textile-like sheets that present the potential to
create 3D objects from developable surfaces. This type of manufacturing is consistent
w...
Um den Reichtum von Formen räumlicher Strukturen aufzudecken und deren konstruktive Eigenschaften zu verstehen, beschäftigt sich das Institut für Konstruktion und Gestaltung mit Prozessen, in denen Formen und Konstruktionen entstehen und ihre Formwelten wie ihre räumliche und ästhetische Qualität sichtbar werden.
Die Festschrift für Eda Schaur ent...
Mit „Form“ beschäftigen sich ganz unterschiedliche Disziplinen wie Literatur- und Sprachwissenschaften, Philosophie oder Biologie. Der Begriff steht dabei nicht nur für die Form eines Gegenstandes. In der Architektur bezeichnet Form vor allem die räumliche und strukturelle Qualität und ist damit ein zentraler Forschungsgegenstand. Die vorliegende U...
Do membrane structures belong to low-tech or high-tech products?
The concept of low-tech is mostly understood as the counterpart to high-tech and refers to technology which is developed under the aspects of easy function, easy production, easy service, robustness and easy maintenance. In most cases low-tech-solutions bear a huge amount of intellige...
Looking at selforganizing forms, which are generated by physical parameters, the minimized detour system offers a whole world of patterns, which we perceive as irregular and complex. At the same time we can read the form as an equilibrium following its principles of genesis. Minimized detour systems were mainly used in 2D. This paper presents a fir...
Looking at selforganizing forms, which are generated by physical parameters, the minimized detour system offers a whole world of patterns, which we perceive as irregular and complex. At the same time we can read the form as an equilibrium following its principles of genesis. Minimized detour systems were mainly used in 2D. This paper presents a fir...
CONTEXT. After decades of research and development membrane structures still have a special status in architecture and engineering. We are thinking of lightweight structures that very elegantly can span wide distances with a minimum of material and stabilized by its anticlastic curvature. Due to its exceptional structural performance Minimal Surfac...
SUMMARY. Besides a textile realization of Minimal Surfaces in architecture we can think of many different approaches in materializing spatially curved forms. In this regard patterns, sub-division, etc. play an essential role and cause geometrical, material and detailing questions. This paper presents a mesh-based method to subdivide any rotational-...
CONTEXT. After decades of research and development membrane structures still have a special status in architecture and engineering. We are thinking of lightweight structures that very elegantly can span wide distances with a minimum of material and stabilized by its anticlastic curvature. Due to its exceptional structural performance Minimal Surfac...
Besides a textile realization of Minimal Surfaces in architecture we can think of many different approaches in materializing spatially curved forms. In this regard patterns, sub-division, etc. play an essential role and cause geometrical, material and detailing questions. This paper presents a mesh-based method to subdivide any rotational-symmetric...
This paper presents the experimental structure " cut.enoid.tower " *. The unusual project title represents the main components that are merged into an overall architectural structure. The distorted appearance of the tower is generated by the impact and interaction of irregularly arranged, hinged columns ** and prestressed, tension-only, minimal sur...
The desire for new mostly fluent "soft spaces" in architecture cannot be overseen any more. Therefore new tools and approaches are tried out to create architecture with special spatial qualities. In combination with common building-technologies and considered as architectural elements, spatially curved membrane structures and especially anticlastic...