Let us introduce you to an architect with a strong passion for the fabrication process, use of materials in unusual contexts and experimentation. Mariana will share her experience from multidisciplinary projects while designing solar cars, fully self-sustaining houses or parametric design processes in the Netherlands.

As of 2015, Mariana is a Ph.D. researcher at the Block Research Group and part of the NCCR Digital Fabrication. Her research focuses on the development of KnitCrete, a novel, material-saving, labor-reducing, cost-effective formwork system for casting of doubly curved geometries in concrete. The system uses a custom, 3d-Knitted, technical textile as a lightweight, stay-in-place shuttering, coated with a special cement paste to create a rigid mold.

Mariana Popescu successfully defending her Ph.D. dissertation on KnitCrete: Stay-in-place knitted fabric formwork for complex concrete structures on June 4, 2019. Additionally, her thesis committee, consisting of Prof. Dr. Chokri Cherif of TU Dresden, Prof. Dr. Jan Knippers of University of Stuttgart and Prof. Block, nominated her for an ETH Medal for outstanding thesis.

This year, Mariana has been named to MIT Technology Review’s prestigious annual list of Innovators Under 35 as a Pioneer.

The novel and cost-effective formwork system called KnitCrete enables the casting of double-curved geometries in concrete in a material-saving and labor-reducing way. The system uses a custom, 3D-knitted technical textile as a lightweight material, coated with a special cement paste to create a rigid mold.

But wait until mid-November to get the full story.