News
Special issue on 'Architecture and Development' - ATDF Journal
10.05.2010
Prof. Block has been invited by Dr. Philipp Aerni to be guest editor of the special issue "Design-Revolution in Architecture and its Impact on Development" for the ATDF Journal. The African Technology Development Forum (ATDF) partners with United Nations organizations such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Economic Commission in Africa (UNECA), businesses and has a wide readership consisting of scholars, policy makers and professionals.More Info
Robot-fabricated unreinforced brick columns on ETH campus
08.05.2010
Two of the unreinforced robot-fabricated brick columns produced during the design-build workshop "The Programmed Column", by Gramazio & Kohler - Architecture and Digital Fabrication and the Block Research Group are displayed on the ETH Hönggerberg campus for the Brick Award 2010 Exhibition.More Info
Invitation Inaugural Lecture Prof. Block
26.04.2010
Prof. Block is giving his inaugural lecture, entitled "Conserving the Past / Designing the Future: New Studies in Equilibrium" on Wednesday April 28 2010 at 17:15 in the Auditorium Maximum (HG F 30) in ETH's Main Building. Come check out why Prof. Block was hired! More InfoPodcast
Apply now for ETHiopia SummerSchool 2010 in Addis Ababa
20.04.2010
The ETHiopia Summer School will bring together interdisciplinary faculty members and students from ETH Zurich and the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) to teach and apply sustainable, collaborative and innovative architecture. The summer school will take place from June 28 - July 18, 2010 on the EiABC campus in Addis Ababa. More Info
3-day Graphic Statics Workshop in Salerno
03.04.2010
Prof. Block has been invited by Profs. Fraternali and Sicignano to give a 3-day intense workshop on Graphic Statics at the University of Salerno, Italy on May 25-27, 2010. Prof. Block, assisted by Valentina Cima, will be giving an introduction to graphic statics in three seminars: "Funicular structures", "Fan and Tree structures", and "Shaping trusses". More Info
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 Hönggerberg campus.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
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.
