“WAUXI”-Wall Structure Awarded 3rd Prize at the IASS Symposium

The project “WAUXI – Wall Auxetic Structure Installation” was developed as part of the course “Supporting Structures in Design” in the winter semester 2020/21 at the Institute of Structural Design under the direction of Christoph Holzinger and David Gierlinger and was further developed independently by a student team. The project captivated the jury at this year’s online symposium of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS). The double-shell wall construction, designed by the students Simon Winter, Kilian Hoffmann and Hanna Gletthofer, is made of Y-shaped plywood elements and triangular flexible parts, and deforms into a pavilion by means of a pulley mechanism. This design is based on the concept of “auxetic structures,” that allows lightweight constructions to be delivered flat so that they can develop their final size and curvature on-site. By using simple application of force, these constructions unfold without distortion.