News

8^th TensiNet Symposium 2026 & 7^th Essener Membranbau Symposium 2026 SHAPING THE PATHWAY TO FUTURE TENSIONED MEMBRANE DESIGN 30^th September – 2^nd October 2026, University of Duisburg Essen, Campus Essen (30.09 -02.10.2026)

The main topics of this 3-days symposium are 1/ Design, Modelling and simulation of structural membranes; 2/ Materials and executions and 3/ Sustainability and building physics.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS Interested to participate?!

Choose one of the topics and upload your abstract (Text only, 400 Words, 5 Keywords).

Timing: Abstract submission 31.08.2025 I Abstract acceptance 31.10.2025 I Paper submission 15.02.2026 I Paper acceptance or feedback 31.03.2026 I Revised paper submission 30.04.2026

Website: https://www.uni-due.de/iml/tensinet-ems2026.php#

We would like to see the programme of the 8th TensiNet Symposium 2026 & 7th Essener Membranbau Symposium 2026 SHAPING THE PATHWAY TO FUTURE TENSIONED MEMBRANE DESIGN also filled with a young generation who is passionate about research topics related to membrane architecture, has realised prototypes or projects, and wants to communicate their results and findings during our event. It would be nice if we could expand the range of topics and speakers!

We kindly request to contact your professional network and forward this call for abstract! 

Dear Member,

The General Assembly took place during the Frei Otto 100 symposium in Stuttgart on Friday 6^th of June.

Please find a link to the minutes , including a link to the ppt presentation (login).

During the last General Assembly meeting, TensiNet members discussed the upcoming TensiNet Symposium 2026. We would like to expand the range of topics and speakers, as well as the backgrounds of the participants.

Please pass on the symposium information and specifically the call for abstracts to your colleagues and people interested in the potential of lightweight and sustainable design. We would be very happy to welcome new faces!

It is important to raise awareness of the exciting work being done in the field of lightweight structures and to inspire the next generation! Link symposium

The call for abstracts is open: Link

The FREI OTTO 100 – THE SPIRIT OF LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION symposium, held on 5 and 6 June, featured several key presentations.

Annette Bögle spoke about rethinking lightweight construction, raising questions such as:

Have we lost the holistic approach to design?

Can we go further?

Can we explore circularity in the context of lightweight design?

We should certainly push beyond the current 'normal'.

Mariana Popescu gave a talk on Tailored Materiality.

There is so much creativity in her work. She uses knitted materials and travelled with the 'skin' of KnitCandela in her backpack.

The fact that the installation Common Thread, initially developed for the 2024 Bruges Triennial in Belgium, has been reconfigured for ILEK (circularity!) shows her strong vision for lightweight, sustainable building.

On November 3rd and 4th, over 100 international architects, engineers, scientists, and representatives of the construction industry will present new projects and developments in building envelope design at the Advanced Building Skins Conference & Expo in Bern, Switzerland. The conference is the premier international event for innovative building envelopes offering high-calibre presentations and productive networking opportunities.

Job vacancy for a research assistant (100 %, 3 years) in the field of membrane structures working in the frame of a funded research project (DFG).

See https://www.uni-due.de/karriere/stelle.php?kennziffer=185-25; https://www.uni-due.de/iml/

Online workshop: The second generation Eurocodes: key changes and benefits through design examples.
Tuesday, 3 June 2025 - Thursday, 5 June 2025

Registration is open at: https://eurocodes.jrc.ec.europa.eu/events/second-generation-eurocodes-key-changes-and-benefits-through-design-examples

Tuesday 3 June 2025 03:00 PM - 04:15 PM CEST

CEN/TS 19102 ‘Design of tensioned membrane structures’

Marijke Mollaert, Bernd Stimpfle; CEN/TC 250/WG 5

Located in the southern cemetery of Tournai (Belgium), this multi-philosophical space is designed to host respectful farewell ceremonies.

See link

TensiNet Symposium 2026 & Essener Membranbau Symposium 2026

This combined symposium Shaping the pathway to future tensioned membrane design will be held from 30th September – 2nd October 2026 at the Institute for Metal and Lightweight Structures, Campus Essen. Website link. Email tensinet-ems2026@uni-due.de

Call for ABSTRACTS: We invite you to participate and submit your abstract by 31st August 2025. The three main topics are: 1/ Design, Modelling and Simulation of Structural Membranes; 2/ Materials and Execution & 3/Sustainability and Building Physics.If these topics would not fit, it is possible to select “other”.

Call for sponsoring There is the opportunity to sponsor the symposium. There are 4 categories with corresponding benefits: Platinum sponsorship for 4000€; Gold for 3000€; Silver for 2000€ and Copper for 1000€.

See also the announcement in the TensiNews issue 48

For members (login) link, For non-members link

In this TensiNews issue you will find updates on our TensiNet Symposium in collaboration with the University Duisburg-Essen. It is a joint event being at the same time the 8th edition of our TensiNet symposium and the 7th edition of the Essen Membranbau Symposium. The title is “Shaping the pathway to future tensioned membrane design” with topics arranged around the current development within our industry. The conference website is now online and the call for abstracts just launched! https://www.uni-due.de/iml/tensinet-ems2026.php

Enjoy reading this issue containing inspiring projects and the results of a research project. You find also an invitation to celebrate TensiNet’s 25 anniversary during the Frei Otto 100 symposium which will take place at Ilek, Stuttgart.