DRESDEN – GERMANY THE CUBE, THE FIRST CARBON FIBRE REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING
The architecture studio HENN and the Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) have built the world’s first carbon-fibre-reinforced concrete building, completely reconsidering one of the most important contemporary architectural materials, reinforced concrete, which is very polluting and resource-intensive to construct. On Fritz-Foerster-Platz, in the centre of the TU Dresden campus, with its 243 square metres of laboratory and area for events, ‚The CUBE‘ sets an important precedent for architectural and structural innovation.
Carbon-fibre reinforced concrete can drastically reduce the consumption of raw materials, as it can be up to four times lighter (due to its smaller structural sections) and four times stronger than traditional concrete. The use of this material could therefore lead to more flexible construction processes and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 50 per cent.
‚The CUBE‘ is the result of a collaboration among Professor Manfred Curbach, his Institute for Solid Construction, at the TU Dresden, and HENN. Its shape recalls the fluid, almost textile nature of carbon fibres, merging walls and ceilings into a continuous form.
Source: Domusweb.it Photo courtesy by Stefan Müller and Stefan Gröschel
