Hannes Mayer studies what architecture is today and conceives the architecture of tomorrow. In an era of rapid specialisation, he bridges between academia and practice, between thinking and making, between science, art and architecture.

Combining his expert knowledge in digital technologies with his profound interest in nature and culture, he realises paradigmatic projects at the intersection of research and practice, investigating how traditional building methods and advanced technologies can contribute to an ecological architecture of novel beauty.

Between 2016 and 2022 he led Gramazio Kohler Research at ETH Zürich, a leading research group for robotics and digital technologies in architecture, and directed the Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture and Digital Fabrication programme. Based on his research, he curated exhibitions on the digital future of building at Swissnex San Francisco, Cooper Union New York, Venice Biennale, Ars Electronica Center, in Milan and Zurich and realised large-scale architectural installations for the Centre Pompidou, V&A Dundee and Istituto Svizzero in Rome. More recently, he completed a three-storey timber-frame structure for the Aichi Triennale 2022 in Japan, which updates traditional wood-joints for the age of robotic assembly. This led to an ongoing collaboration with the choreographer and performer Kenta Kojiri investigating gradual spaces and how the body moves through and defines its surrounding environment. As a Creation & Transition laureate of the Fondation d'entreprise Martell, Hannes works with cooperages in the French Cognac region to explore how computation and digital fabrication can inspire new relationships between local craft, material cycles and architectural expression.

Hannes is the author of How to Build a House, a monography on the DFAB HOUSE, the world's first inhabitable building created by robots, as well as publisher of the architecture magazine manege für architektur, whose current issue automations explores the relevance of artificial intelligence in architecture. Furthermore, Hannes conceives, produces and organises public formats, which intensify architectural debate.

Committed to define the conditions of the future, Hannes is a passionate educator, having taught at the Bartlett School of Architecture, Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, University of Westminster, TU Munich, University of Bremen, University of Innsbruck, Kassel University and ETH Zurich.

Hannes holds a Diploma and Master's degree in architecture from the Bartlett School of Architecture and pursues his PhD research on Non-Binary Spaces at the University of Tokyo.

contact@unitedcircus.com