DDF - Professur Digital Design and Fabrication

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Deutschland
Karlsruhe
DDF - Professur Digital Design and Fabrication

Exploring novel design and construction technologies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

21/05/2026

Tenured! 🎉
The last five years have been quite a journey, and we are happy to share that Prof. Moritz Dörstelmann has successfully completed his tenure process and will continue as Full Professor at the Professur Digital Design and Fabrication (DDF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
A big thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey so far - we are excited for what comes next 🚀

19/05/2026

BUCABUMA - Building Capacity in Circular Natural Building Materials 🌍
Last April, the BUCABUMA consortium came together first in Brussels for the EU Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme Kick-off and Cluster Meeting on Green Transition in Africa, before continuing the exchange in Karlsruhe.
Researchers and collaborators from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the University of Nairobi, Addis Ababa University, and the University of the Witwatersrand joined Karlsruhe Institute of Technology for three days of research exchange, lab visits, workshops, and collaboration.
BUCABUMA is part of the EU–Africa Global Gateway and investigates how circular construction systems based on locally sourced natural materials - especially bamboo and earth - can be developed and scaled across African built environments. By combining traditional building knowledge with frugal digital fabrication strategies, the project works toward accessible, low-carbon, and climate-responsive construction solutions.
During the visit, partners explored various labs at KIT, shared ongoing research findings, and aligned future collaboration strategies. The program also included presentations at KIT’s Faculty of Architecture and discussions with researchers across sustainable construction, urban planning, and technology assessment.
These face-to-face exchanges are essential: they strengthen partnerships, sharpen research agendas, and keep the shared mission in focus - rethinking construction through materials the earth already provides.
More about the project: https://bucabuma.org/

IntraAfrica ClimateResponsiveDesign

22/04/2026

What if you could just tell a construction robot what to do?
No code. No endless retraining. Just a conversation.
Our new project at .kit and is exploring how Vision Language Models (VLMs) can turn robots into collaborative partners on the construction site. We’re using In-Context Learning to teach robots how to use tools through simple descriptions and demonstrations.
We’re aiming to:
:white_check_mark: Lower the skill barrier for robotic fabrication.
:white_check_mark: Make construction more agile.
:white_check_mark: Bridge the gap between human intuition and machine precision.

Partners
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) – Professorship Digital Design and Fabrication (DDF) & Intuitive Robots Lab (IRL)

10/02/2026

We are excited to launch Gradientenlehm (‘Gradient Earth’), a research project that investigates robotically prefabricated earthen slabs with integrated natural fibre reinforcement as a circular, low‑carbon alternative to concrete slabs. Through graded variation of earth composition, fibre and additive placement, we aim to tune local stiffness, weight, acoustic and thermal behaviour within each slab, maximising material efficiency while still achieving the required performance.
Over the coming months, we will investigate this graded hybrid system in material tests and prototypes, and develop digital and robotic workflows to realise the first graded earth slab demonstrator.

Gefördert im Rahmen des Ideenwettbewerbs „Forschung für nachhaltiges Bauen“, ein Programm der Klimaschutzstiftung Baden-Württemberg.
Founded as part of the ideas competition ‘Research for sustainable construction’, a program of the Climate Protection Foundation Baden-Württemberg.

ReinforcedEarth

04/02/2026

How can circular natural materials shape the future of construction in Africa?
We are pleased to participate in BUCABUMA (Building Capacity in Circular Natural Building Materials), an international collaboration funded under the EU Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme, part of the EU–Africa Global Gateway.
The project advances higher education, research, and skills development in sustainable construction across four African countries.
BUCABUMA connects a transdisciplinary network of universities in Ghana (.gh ), Kenya ( ), Ethiopia ( ), South Africa ( ), and Germany ( ), enabling student and staff mobility, collaborative research, and active knowledge exchange.
At its core, the project explores circular natural building materials, pairing locally available resources - such as clay, laterite, bamboo, and agricultural by-products and fibrous residues - with digital design and fabrication tools.
Through joint curricula, workshops, hands-on training, and applied research, BUCABUMA develops practical expertise in climate-responsive construction, digital fabrication, and entrepreneurship, contributing to low-carbon development, climate resilience, and scalable, locally adapted solutions for Africa’s rapidly urbanising construction sector.

.gh

CapacityBuilding
ClimateAndEnergy
Digital
EducationAndResearch

30/01/2026

🌱 RENABUMA – Reinterpreting Natural Building Materials 🌍
RENABUMA is a collaborative design-build research project between the Professorship Digital Design and Fabrication (.kit) at KIT and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (.gh) in Ghana. The project explores how locally available natural materials — especially bamboo and earth — can be combined with frugal digital construction methods to create scalable, circular, and low-carbon building systems, even in contexts with limited digital infrastructure.
In September 2025, interdisciplinary teams of students and researchers realized this research in a 1:1 demonstrator pavilion on the KNUST campus. Built using a bamboo–earth hybrid system, the construction process was guided by projection-based digital instructions, bridging computational design and on-site craftsmanship. Today, the pavilion serves as a space for learning, exchange, and exhibition focused on sustainable construction practices.
Integrated into master-level teaching at both institutions, RENABUMA fosters intercultural collaboration and hands-on knowledge transfer. Beyond the built prototype, the project contributes to an open-source knowledge base for natural building and aims to actively shape sustainable building cultures and regulations in Ghana and beyond.

29/01/2026

We’re happy that our project ReSidence has been nominated for the 2026 Building of the Year Awards in Small Scale & Installations! :ballot_box_with_ballot::sparkles:
Support us with your vote here (link in bio): https://boty.archdaily.com/us/2026/candidates/180200
:date: Nominations are open until Feb 10, 2026 – 18:00 EST (Feb 11 – 00:00 CET).
Every vote helps - thank you for the support! :raised_hands:
Credits:
KARLSRUHE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (KIT)
Professorship Digital Design and Fabrication .kit
Professorship design of structures .kit
Professorship Timber Structures and Building Construction + VAKA
Research group Project and Resource Management of the Built Environment (IIP)
Professorship Building Science and Technology (bst)
Institute of Concrete Structures and Building Materials (IMB) + MPA
Professorship of Design and Building Construction .bauko
FIBR GMBH
STIFTUNG NATURSCHUTZ PFRUNGER-BURGWEILER RIED

KIT Architecture ResearchInstallation

09/12/2025

Our “Robotic Brushstrokes” workshop was a 2-day deep dive into robotic painting:
Students sketched curves in Rhino & Grasshopper, then watched our 6-axis robot turn those lines into layered brushstrokes on paper 🖌️🤖✨
digitalfabrication computationaldesign

31/10/2025

ReFrame [3/3] An industrial robotic arm on a linear axis executes automated pick-and-place routines, handling the reclaimed timber's irregular geometries and small deviations. Robotic nailing with wooden nails forms precise timber-to-timber joints. The result is also expressive: ReFrame makes the qualities of reclaimed timber visible, revealing variety and traces of prior use, and turning irregularities into a distinctive part of the design language.
kitkit

♻️

29/10/2025

ReFrame [2/3] We inventorise each piece of reclaimed timber, then use a computational workflow to generate and evaluate multiple component variations. The design aligns itself with the actual inventory while balancing structural performance, fabrication requirements, and production time. When no match is possible, we supplement with sawmill-sourced timber, still aiming to minimise cutting and reduce waste. By working with dimensions, imperfections, and fibre directions rather than against them, we produce assemblies that are modular in principle yet unique in detail.
kitkit

♻️

Adresse

Englerstraße 7
Karlsruhe
76131

Telefon

+4972160846685

Webseite

http://ddf-kit.de/

Benachrichtigungen

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