Leicht. denken, bauen, schweben

25 Years of the Literaturhaus.
Floating. A Change of Pace in Difficult Times
Conversation with Achim Menges, Moderated by Thomas Susanka

Lightweight construction, robotics, and computer-aided design—Achim Menges is one of the most distinguished and innovative minds in architecture, both in research and practice;
awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 2023, his career has taken him on visiting professorships throughout the U.S. and Europe. He is a professor at the University of Stuttgart and heads the Institute for Computer-Aided Design and Construction, which he founded. Thanks to Frei Otto, Stuttgart looks back on a long tradition of lightweight construction; Achim Menges takes these traditions a step further, toward a new building culture characterized by lightness, sustainability, and expansive scope: “For us, lightweight construction means not only a low weight in kilograms per square meter, but also a light ecological footprint on the planet,” says Menges. It’s time to join him for a conversation at the Literaturhaus on the occasion of his 25th birthday, focusing on the theme of “Floating.”
In collaboration with the IZKT and the Wirtschaftsclub im Literaturhaus e. V., sponsored by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation’s Literatursommer 2026