From confectioners to robots – Tor Alva in Mulegns is unveiled

Digital craftsmanship The form of the structure is reminiscent of an ornate layered cake – a reference to the emigration history of confectioners from Graubünden who exported their skills from here to the whole of Europe. Thirty-two sculptured white concrete columns rise up over four storeys, becoming thinner and more branched, before fanning out in an almost tree-like fashion to form the domed space at the top. The tower was designed by architect Michael Hansmeyer and ETH Professor of Digital Building Technologies Benjamin Dillenburger. Instead of relying on traditional concrete formwork, they opted for an additive manufacturing process, whereby an industrial robot applies the concrete layer by layer into free-form elements without any supportive casting moulds. The design is based on complex algorithms that generate the ornamental and the structural aspects at the same time. New concrete, new technology To make this process possible, a specially developed concrete was needed. It ... Read full article.