Architect Achim Menges wins a 2023 Leibniz Prize for his computational design research

University of Stuttgart professor Achim Menges has been named among the winners of the 2023 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for his interdisciplinary research into computational design and the application of robotic manufacturing methods in construction that have both helped propel the industry toward a resource-efficient and sustainable future.

Now in its 37th year, the award is considered by many the most prestigious research prize in Germany and, with an endowment of up to €2.5 million, stands as one of the highest total stipends in academia worldwide.

Menges is the influential founder of the renowned Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) at the University of Stuttgart. His work there ranks him as the second most cited researcher in architecture globally, according to a 2019 Stanford University/Elsevier survey, and has been advanced through influential public exhibitions, pavilion demonstrations, and collaborations with the industry’s leading designers that have garnered further recognition in the form of several other international awards.

“We warmly congratulate Professor Menges on the prestigious Leibniz Prize and are quite proud to have such an outstanding pioneer of architecture at our university,” his colleague, Prof. Wolfram Ressel, said in a statement. "With his work, Achim Menges exemplifies our vision of ‘Intelligent Systems for a Sustainable Society’ in architecture and construction. He takes an interdisciplinary approach to researching novel and sustainable construction methods and has established numerous bridges to other departments. These are bundled in our Cluster of Excellence ‘Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture’ (IntCDC). Without Achim Menges, IntCDC would not exist.”

Menges is the only architecture professor to earn the prestigious honor. An archive of past winners can be found here.