Jan Knippers new member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin

"I warmly congratulate Professor Jan Knippers on receiving this prestigious honor," stated Professor Wolfram Ressel, Rector of the University of Stuttgart. "He and his building projects have garnered worldwide attention and stand for interdisciplinary and application-oriented architecture and building research that makes an essential contribution to the transformation to a sustainable society."

Knippers heads the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart and is considered one of the leading experts in the field of resource-saving load-bearing structures and biomimetic architecture. He utilizes biological principles and systems in his building designs. Throughout his career as a project engineer, he has successfully completed numerous innovative buildings in Europe, Asia, and the USA, drawing inspiration from nature in their development and construction. Most recently, he caused a sensation with buildings for the 2019 Federal Garden Show in Heilbronn and the 2024 State Garden Show in Wangen, which he designed and realized together with his colleague and head of the Cluster of Excellence "Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture" (IntCDC), Achim Menges. The shell construction of the "BUGA wooden pavilion" erected in Heilbronn, for example, is inspired by the plate skeleton of a sea urchin. The "Hybrid Flax Pavilion" in Wangen  utilizes flax fibers woven together in a manner inspired by natural plant structures.

"Being accepted into the Academy of Arts in Berlin is a great honor for me and I am delighted that I can now help shape the academy's cultural work with my academic and practical expertise," emphasizes Knippers. From 2021 to 2023, he was Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Stuttgart and has been Deputy Head of the Cluster of Excellence IntCDC since 2019. From 2019 to 2021, he was Vice Rector for Research at the University of Stuttgart, and from 2014 to 2019 he was spokesperson for the DFG Collaborative Research Center TRR 141 "Biological Design and Integrative Structures" at the Universities of Stuttgart, Tübingen and Freiburg. Knippers is active in various standards committees and is the author of several books and specialist publications. He also volunteers on juries, advisory boards and for various foundations.

The Academy of Arts is one of Germany's most influential cultural institutions, which has repeatedly made its voice heard on many issues of cultural and political life. It brings together prominent figures from Germany and abroad, whose opinions hold significant sway with the public. Founded in 1696, the Academy of Arts in Berlin is one of Europe's oldest cultural institutions. It currently comprises 404 members across its six sections: visual arts, architecture, music, literature, performing arts, and film and media art. The Academy of Arts is an exhibition and event venue, a meeting place for artists and art lovers and a place for public debates on art and cultural policy.