PhD opening in 3D printed stone for heritage buildings

You will design, build, and commission a laboratory-scale powder-bed printer with dual powder and dual liquid feeds, derived from the chair's architectural-scale system and conceived as a modular research instrument, to be reconfigured as the printed work poses new questions to the machine. You will use it to produce stone replacement parts for heritage buildings, elements that satisfy the compatibility requirements of conservation practice while entering a dialogue with the historic fabric they join. You will develop tectonic strategies for connecting printed parts to the existing structure, and investigate through making how a printed element addresses the surface it meets, with graded color, texture, and printed veining among the means available. Your printed samples will additionally serve the deterioration research of the partner chair, whose findings will in turn inform the development of the printing process. You will publish in leading venues, present at international conferences, and contribute to teaching through the supervision of semester and master's projects.

The Chair for Digital Building Technologies within the Institute of Technology in Architecture conducts research at the intersection of computational design, materials, and construction-scale fabrication. Over more than a decade, the group has developed and operated powder-bed and extrusion-based printing systems at architectural scale, with built results including the tallest 3D-printed structures in the world. In-house expertise in mechanical design, electronics and software, together with complete workshop and prototyping infrastructure, allows research ideas to move directly from concept to machine to printed artifact, and doctoral researchers are given considerable latitude in shaping that trajectory. Our highly diverse and international group offers extensive networks within ETH and internationally. We are committed to diversity by offering flexible working hours, home office options, and other measures to ensure team members can perform their roles effectively.

• We seek a candidate with a strong background, and ideally a demonstrated body of work, in digital fabrication, and the ambition to treat material behavior as a subject of design research

• You hold a Master's degree in architecture, or in a closely related discipline, combined with substantial design work

• You have genuine competence in building fabrication equipment: the printer will be constructed and repeatedly modified by you, so proficiency in mechanical design and prototyping is essential, and experience with electronics, sensing, or control software is a strong asset

• You are fluent in computational design and experienced in carrying work across the threshold between digital model and physical result

• An interest in the behavior of stone is welcome; its scientific characterization lies with the partner group

• An excellent oral and written level of English is essential; conversational knowledge of German is an advantage

• As the project involves collaboration between research groups and field practitioners, strong communication skills and a genuinely collaborative disposition are essential