HONORARY LECTURE Professor Thomas Keller
Date: 07 may 2025
Time: 17:45
Introduction by the Dean Katrin Beyer, IIC Director Dimitrios Lignos and Prof. João Correia. Lecture by Prof. Thomas Keller. Followed by an Apero.
Place: EPFL, SG1
Live stream: coming soon...
Title: Novel structural materials: how to build with and opportunities in the context of climate change
Abstract:
As history shows, progress in the development of the built environment was repeatedly linked to the appearance of novel structural materials, such as Roman concrete, iron (later steel), prestressed concrete and, recently, fibre-polymer composites. Crucial material properties in this context are the strength-to-weight ratio and the degree of functionality. The transition from heavy to lightweight monofunctional construction initiated the division of the master builder profession into that of an engineer and an architect in the 18th century, while today’s lightweight multifunctional composites reunite them in a required integrated design. To fully benefit from the capacity of novel materials and meet sustainability requirements, equally important is the transition from the usually initial phase of material substitution towards a material-tailored use – a transition that generally lasts several decades.
After illuminating such cross-material aspects, the lecture content will be deepened taking the example of composites, whose material-tailored and sustainable use in structural engineering and architecture was the subject of research and technology transfer at the Composite Construction Laboratory (CCLab) for almost 30 years. The transition from early composite bridges and buildings, constructed in the 1990s by mimicking monofunctional and one-dimensional steel, towards material-tailored multifunctional sandwich construction of possible complex shapes will be discussed. Significant achievements in research that supported this transition will be highlighted such as adhesive bonding, and the integration of building physics and transparency. An outlook will be given on the use of composites for coastline protection, where they can efficiently and sustainably contribute to mitigating disastrous effects of climate change such as significant sea level rises and increased storm surges.
Biography:
Always interested in engineering structures, Thomas Keller studied civil engineering at ETH Zurich, before working several years at the architecture and engineering firm of Santiago Calatrava. In 1996, he was appointed as part-time Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture at ETH, in 1998 as part-time Associate, and in 2007 as Full Professor of Structural Engineering at EPFL. In parallel, he worked as a practical engineer and co-owner of an engineering firm in the structural engineering field.
In 2000, Thomas created the Composite Construction Laboratory (CCLab) at EPFL. His research focused on the development of material-tailored use of composites in structural engineering and architecture. He was a founding member of the International Institute for FRP (composites) in Construction (IIFC), and a Project Team member of the European Technical Specification “Design of fibre-polymer composite structuresˮ (CEN/TS 19101), published in 2022. The TS is intended to be converted into Eurocode 11 in 2026.
As a practical engineer, he designed the Pontresina Bridge in 1997, which is one of the first composite bridges in Europe. Furthermore, he performed the structural design of the five-story mobile Eyecatcher Building (Basel, 1998), which is still the tallest building in the world with a primary composite structure. He also contributed to the design of the free-form multifunctional composite sandwich roof of the Novartis Campus Entrance Building (Basel, 2006) and the hybrid Avançon (vehicular) Bridge with an adhesively bonded composite-balsa wood sandwich deck (Bex, 2012). Currently, he is involved in the design of the 1K pedestrian bridge in the Ticino Alps, a one-kilometre suspension bridge composed of 50 bending-active composite modules.
Time: 17:45
Introduction by the Dean Katrin Beyer, IIC Director Dimitrios Lignos and Prof. João Correia. Lecture by Prof. Thomas Keller. Followed by an Apero.
Place: EPFL, SG1
Live stream: coming soon...
Title: Novel structural materials: how to build with and opportunities in the context of climate change
Abstract:
As history shows, progress in the development of the built environment was repeatedly linked to the appearance of novel structural materials, such as Roman concrete, iron (later steel), prestressed concrete and, recently, fibre-polymer composites. Crucial material properties in this context are the strength-to-weight ratio and the degree of functionality. The transition from heavy to lightweight monofunctional construction initiated the division of the master builder profession into that of an engineer and an architect in the 18th century, while today’s lightweight multifunctional composites reunite them in a required integrated design. To fully benefit from the capacity of novel materials and meet sustainability requirements, equally important is the transition from the usually initial phase of material substitution towards a material-tailored use – a transition that generally lasts several decades.
After illuminating such cross-material aspects, the lecture content will be deepened taking the example of composites, whose material-tailored and sustainable use in structural engineering and architecture was the subject of research and technology transfer at the Composite Construction Laboratory (CCLab) for almost 30 years. The transition from early composite bridges and buildings, constructed in the 1990s by mimicking monofunctional and one-dimensional steel, towards material-tailored multifunctional sandwich construction of possible complex shapes will be discussed. Significant achievements in research that supported this transition will be highlighted such as adhesive bonding, and the integration of building physics and transparency. An outlook will be given on the use of composites for coastline protection, where they can efficiently and sustainably contribute to mitigating disastrous effects of climate change such as significant sea level rises and increased storm surges.
Biography:
Always interested in engineering structures, Thomas Keller studied civil engineering at ETH Zurich, before working several years at the architecture and engineering firm of Santiago Calatrava. In 1996, he was appointed as part-time Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture at ETH, in 1998 as part-time Associate, and in 2007 as Full Professor of Structural Engineering at EPFL. In parallel, he worked as a practical engineer and co-owner of an engineering firm in the structural engineering field.
In 2000, Thomas created the Composite Construction Laboratory (CCLab) at EPFL. His research focused on the development of material-tailored use of composites in structural engineering and architecture. He was a founding member of the International Institute for FRP (composites) in Construction (IIFC), and a Project Team member of the European Technical Specification “Design of fibre-polymer composite structuresˮ (CEN/TS 19101), published in 2022. The TS is intended to be converted into Eurocode 11 in 2026.
As a practical engineer, he designed the Pontresina Bridge in 1997, which is one of the first composite bridges in Europe. Furthermore, he performed the structural design of the five-story mobile Eyecatcher Building (Basel, 1998), which is still the tallest building in the world with a primary composite structure. He also contributed to the design of the free-form multifunctional composite sandwich roof of the Novartis Campus Entrance Building (Basel, 2006) and the hybrid Avançon (vehicular) Bridge with an adhesively bonded composite-balsa wood sandwich deck (Bex, 2012). Currently, he is involved in the design of the 1K pedestrian bridge in the Ticino Alps, a one-kilometre suspension bridge composed of 50 bending-active composite modules.
Links
Practical information
- Informed public
- Registration required
Organizer
- IIC - Gesualdo Casciana
Contact
- gesualdo.casciana@epfl.ch