Concrete Design Masterclass lets students 3D print with concrete 

The location of the Concrete Design Masterclass 2024 has been announced. About 30 students will be the guests of Saint Gobain Weber Beamix in Eindhoven this summer. The students are the winners of the Concrete Design Competition from five countries. In the Masterclass, they will spend a week under supervision developing their designs in two ways: for the 3D concrete printer and by making their own concrete models with textile molds.

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 2023-2024 Competition, it is the Netherlands' turn. During this 11th edition, 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. 

3D concrete printing

Weber Beamix is providing its knowledge and facilities 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 bureau Baker is also intended 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, textile molds will also be made. "The formal language of both textile molds and 3D printing can be called special, perhaps even organic, and can therefore be perfectly explored together by the students," explains Siebe Bakker of bureaubakker. What is even more special is that the 3D concrete printer in question is an industrial printer, from which (with worldwide firsts!) quite a few bridges have already been rolled out.

Student design competition

The students who get to go to 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 Masterclass, 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," Vissering concludes. The conditions and detailed explanation of the assignment and theme can be found at www.concretedesigncompetition.com