Ninth Edition 2023-2024
Matthias Kohler
Switzerland
Member
Matthias Kohler is a full professor of architecture and digital fabrication and dean of the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich. Together with Fabio Gramazio, he founded the architecture firm Gramazio & Kohler Architekten in 2000. Since then, they have realised a number of award-winning buildings. Their recent works include the NEST research and technology building of the Empa. In 2005, they established the world’s first robot laboratory for non-standardised manufacturing processes in architecture at ETH Zurich, thereby opening up a completely new field of research. Their research ranges from construction projects such as the robot-fabricated brick façade for the Gantenbein Winery (2006) and exhibition installations such as Flight Assembled Architecture (2011) to the design studio The Design of Robotic Fabricated High Rises in Singapore (2012-2013). His most recent publications include the Architectural Design issue Made by Robots (Wiley, 2014) and the first anthology on the use of robots in architecture: The Robotic Touch – How Robots Change Architecture (Park Books, 2014). From 2014 to 2017, Matthias Kohler headed the new National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication – Innovative Construction Processes in Architecture, which is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.