Uncovering Heinz Isler’s engineering practice – WG 17 & WG 5 webinar

IASS WG 17 & WG 5 Webinar
UNCOVERING HEINZ ISLER’S ENGINEERING PRACTICE

Heinz Isler, Form-finding model for the Sicli SA company building, 1968 (gta Archives, ETH Zurich)

WG 17 – Historical Spatial Structures and WG 5 – Continuous Shells
invite all IASS members to
a webinar on Heinz Isler, led by Giulia Boller

WEBINAR SHORT ABSTRACT
Despite the general acknowledgement of Isler’s work within and beyond the IASS Community, Isler’s presentations and publications have never explained the details behind his unconventional approach to shell design. After Isler’s death in 2009, gta Archives at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) acquired his entire personal and professional archive, including more than 1’200 drawings, 450 physical models, photos, video documentation, books, technical devices, and personal letters. The research project recently concluded at ETH Zurich and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (principal investigators Prof. Laurent Stalder, Prof. Joseph Schwartz), of which Giulia Boller’s doctoral thesis was part, had the possibility to look for the first time at the original materials without any interference from Isler. In this framework, the webinar will uncover Heinz Isler’s engineering practice thanks to the recent archival findings. It will show how Isler’s archive is used for teaching and research projects at ETH Zurich.

SHORT BIO OF THE PRESENTER
Giulia Boller is a scientific assistant and postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich. She is both an engineer and an architect.
Giulia’s research interests lie at the interface between history, architecture and structural engineering disciplines. In 2022 she completed a doctoral thesis at ETH Zurich on the role of the models in Heinz Isler’s engineering practice. Her doctoral thesis has recently received the 2023 Lino Gentilini Award for the best doctoral dissertation in the history of engineering and the ETH Medal for outstanding doctoral thesis. Giulia gained professional experience at Renzo Piano Building Workshop. She graduated with honors in Building Engineering and Architecture at the University of Trento (Italy) in 2015.

DATE:

The webinar will take place on December 7, 2023, at 15:00 (CET)
on the Zoom platform.

LINK:

The link to the webinar will be distributed via email soon.