Printed Habitats

Come to the exhibition “Printed Habitats" and discover how facades can serve as ecosystems for urban biodiversity and how urban planning can be automated in such a way that it unites the living spaces of humans and animals.

Admission to the exhibition is free, opening hours are Monday to Friday from 09:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m..

At the Chair of Digital Fabrication at the Technical University of Munich, researchers are working with the Chair of Terrestrial Ecology to develop new methods to bring nature back into our cities with the help of digital technologies and robotics. Digital planning processes can be used to design habitats for various animal species in a targeted and automated manner. For example, 3D printing is used to create special bird tiles for building facades.

As part of the research-based student project "Printed Habitats - 3D printed façades as ecosystems for urban biodiversity”, students investigated how this approach can be implemented in the city of Ingolstadt in the summer semester of 2025. The students developed concepts for the renovation of various buildings that are designed not only for people but also for animals. In addition to several urban planning examples, the focus was on the historic water tower in Ingolstadt. Designs and prototypes of 3D-printed clay façades were created that combine ecological, climatic and architectural functions - and thus enable a biodiversity-promoting, sustainable form of building renovation.

The exhibition is taking place as part of the Future Festival 2025 "Science in the City" in cooperation with the City of Ingolstadt, the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and the Chair of Digital Fabrication at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).