The Concrete Design Competition is organized biannually in Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. By rotation, one of the participating countries is the organizer and host country for the joint International Concrete Design Materclass. For the 11th edition of the Competition 2023-2024, it is the Netherlands’ turn. In the Netherlands, participants will get to work in our 3D concrete printing factory in Eindhoven.
Here they will work on their design and various master classes. On the last day, the participants actually get to work in the concrete printing factory.
3D-concrete printing in Masterclass
We will make our knowledge and facilities available for a week in August 2024 so that students can learn to design for the 3D concrete printer. The Master Class under the guidance of bureaubaker is also meant to be a hands-on workshop where the students themselves make the molds for the designs in concrete. In this Master Class, in addition to designing for the 3D concrete printer, molds will be made from textiles.
“The formal language of both textile molds and 3D printing can be called special, perhaps even organic, and can therefore be explored perfectly well together by the students.”
Siebe Bakker – bureaubakker
In the printing plant at Weber, the printing process is completely digitally controlled. And with these innovative techniques we have been able to realize many projects in recent years. The first printed bicycle bridge in Gemert was in fact the starting signal for a whole series of printed bridges in Nijmegen, Steenwijkerland and now for the province of North Holland, among others. Various bicycle and pedestrian bridges are also being printed. In addition, of course, we cannot forget the Milestone project, consisting of about 5 printed houses, the first of which has already been inhabited. And in 2022 we even made it to the Guinness Book of Records with the highest printed object in the world (12.10 meters), the 3D printed version of the Burj al-Hamam was on display at the Floriade in Almere.
Student design contest
In the Netherlands, the design competition for architecture, civil engineering, interior design and art students is organized by Tektoniek, platform for concrete architecture. “We challenge students to design with concrete, to explore the unique and aesthetic properties of this material within the theme of this edition ‘Presence’. This challenging theme addresses how the material can impart a certain tactile experience to the form of a space or object in the built environment,” said Cindy Vissering of Tektoniek.
The students who are allowed to attend the Concrete Design Masterclass are the winners of the Concrete Design Competition from the five participating countries. Each country organizes its own similar competition. In the Netherlands, in addition to participation in the Master Class, prize money is available to the winners. An expert jury evaluates the entries and the winners are announced in June. The Dutch jury consists of: Pim Peters of IMD consulting engineers, Albert Herder of Studioninedots, Arjen Ketting of MVRDV, Paul Stavert of Powerhouse Company and Jan de Koning of De Jong Beton. In previous editions, there were around 40 entries. “We are very curious about this edition’s entries,” Cindy Vissering concludes.
