Prof. Achim Menges

Professor Achim Menges, born 1975, is a registered architect and professor at the University of Stuttgart, where he is the founding director of the Institute for Computational Design since 2008. He also is Visiting Professor in Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design since 2009. He graduated with honors from the AA School of Architecture in London where he subsequently taught as Studio Master of the Emergent Technologies and Design Graduate Program from 2002 to 2009, as visiting professor from 2009 to 2012 and as Unit Master of Diploma Unit 4 from 2003 to 2006. From 2005 to 2008 he was Professor for Form Generation and Materialisation at the HfG Offenbach University for Art and Design in Germany. In addition he has held visiting professorships in Europe and the United States. Achim Menges practice and research focuses on the development of integral design processes at the intersection of morphogenetic design computation, biomimetic engineering and computer aided manufacturing that enables a highly articulated, performative built environment.

Karola Dierichs

Karola Dierichs is an architect, doctoral candidate and tutor at the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) with Professor Achim Menges, University of Stuttgart. She has been educated at the Technical University of Braunschweig, the ETH Zurich and the Architectural Association (AA) in London and has graduated from the Emergent Technologies and Design Program with Distinction in 2009. She has been teaching at the Architectural Association/London, the Städelschule Architecture Class/Frankfurt and the Institute for Computational Design/Stuttgart. Her recent work has been recognized with the Holcim Acknowledgement Award Europe 2014. At the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) Karola Dierichs is leading the research field of Aggregate Architectures, where she is developing performance-oriented computational manufacturing and construction techniques for designed granular matter.