Keynote Lectures

Julian Lienhard

Julian Lienhard received his Diploma in Civil Engineering at the University of Stuttgart in 2007. In April 2014 he completed his doctorate summa cum laude for his dissertation on bending-active structures at the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE), supervised by Prof. Jan Knippers. At the ITKE he played an active part in the academic environment between 2007 and 2013, engaging in research and teaching, where he was leading the German ministry funded research project Pliable Surface Structures on the basis of biomietic principles awarded the Techtextil Innovation Prize 2011, the Bionic Award 2012 and the Gips-Schüle-Forschungspreis 2013. He was also involved in the ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion rewarded with the DETAIL Prize 2011. Along with a number of different design studios, he is teaching the Principles of Membrane Structures course at the University of Stuttgart. Since 2011 he has been a visiting lecturer for the Masters of Engineering Program at the Technical University of Vienna. He is a co-author of the Construction Manual on Polymers and Membranes, having written the chapters on form-active structures as well as material properties and construction methods with foils and membranes.

In 2008, Julian founded the engineering and design practice studioLD now str.ucture GmbH. Previously, he worked as a Structural Engineer at SL-Rasch in Stuttgart, focusing on the structural design and form-finding of large membrane structures, such as the convertible umbrellas of the Madinah Piazza Shading Project.