Simon Bechert is a civil engineer, former research assistant at the Institute for Load-bearing Structures and Structural Design (itke) at the University of Stuttgart and a doctoral student in the IntCDC Cluster of Excellence. In June 2025, Simon Bechert submitted his dissertation "Structural development of segmented timber shell systems", which he will defend in November 2025.

After completing his Master of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Stuttgart in 2013, he joined itke in 2015 and has been working as a project engineer in steel, timber and concrete construction ever since. His research focuses on the development of construction systems, connection concepts and integrative methods for the structural design of segmented timber shells. He was responsible for the integration of innovative lightweight construction systems in implementation projects that test computer-based design strategies for resource-efficient and robot-supported construction methods.

Based on this research, he led the structural design of pioneering lightweight construction projects such as the wooden pavilion for the 2019 Federal Garden Show in Heilbronn and its reconstruction at the 2023 Federal Garden Show in Mannheim, the Urbach Tower for the 2019 Remstal Garden Show and the livMatS Biomimetic Shell in Freiburg.

Simon Bechert has been a partner and project engineer at the engineering firm bechert + partner since 2023. Among other things, he is responsible for the planning of the IntCDC Building at the University of Stuttgart, where his research on segmented wooden shells is being implemented in large-scale architectural applications for the first time. From May 2025, he will also take over the management of the structural design division within the general planning of this project.

He has published in international journals and conference proceedings and presented his research at numerous conferences in the field of architecture and construction. He has also led several seminars and studios at the University of Stuttgart.

His teaching philosophy is based on the conviction that a deeper understanding of structures and building systems is most effectively achieved through the interaction of design, structural logic and fabrication. In interdisciplinary contexts, he encourages students to combine architectural design processes with structural principles and digital technologies. In addition to teaching methodological basics in parametric design, static simulation and optimization, it promotes experimental working methods that extend from conceptual design to the realized research demonstrator. In this way, students acquire the ability to master the complexity of today's construction tasks creatively, critically and responsibly and to develop sustainable solutions for the architecture of the future.

Urbach tower for the Remstal Garden Show 2019

BUGA Wood Pavilion, 2019

BUGA WOOD PAVILION 2019, Heilbronn
ICD/ITKE, University of Stuttgart

URBACH TOWER, Remstal Garden Show 2019
ICD/ITKE, University of Stuttgart

BUGA WOOD PAVILION 2023, Mannheim
ICD/ITKE, University of Stuttgart

livMatS BIOMIMETIC SHELL, Freiburg
ICD/ITKE, University of Stuttgart

IntCDC BUILDING 2027, Stuttgart
IntCDC Planungs GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinrich Bechert + Partner, Stuttgart, Germany
ICD/ITKE, University of Stuttgart

Awards

2021 DigitalFUTURES project award from Tongji University in China for the Urbach Tower

2021 Material Award 2021 from raumPROBE in the "Material Application" category for the Urbach Tower

2021 Nomination for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Prize of the European Commission for the Urbach Tower

2020German Design Award 2020 from the German Design Council in the "Excellent Architecture" category for the BUGA wooden pavilion

2019 Iconic Awards 2019: Innovative Materials, Best of Best from the German Design Council in the "Excellent Architecture" category for the BUGA wooden pavilion

2019 German Sustainability Award for "Digitalization" in the "Architecture" category for the BUGA Wood Pavilion

Publications

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simon-Bechert

Website

https://simonbechert.de/