IMS BAUHAUS® Symposium 2024
IMS BAUHAUS® Symposium 2024
The building industry faces the challenge of finding innovative, sustainable and efficient solutions to meet the increasing demands placed on cities and buildings. In this context, the IMS BAUHAUS® Archineer® Institute plays a decisive role as a link between theory and practice in lightweight textile structures. As a professional training institute, we see it as our responsibility to train qualified specialists to meet the ever-growing challenges of the current and future construction industry.
The IMS has set itself the goal of overcoming the limits of conventional construction methods and exploring innovative approaches. The focus is on membranes and other lightweight elements as structural components that not only enable aesthetic diversity, but also emphasise the principles of sustainability. Membranes and shells, for example, are regarded as building blocks for the future of architecture. Membrane structures made of textile materials enable lightweight and flexible building envelopes, while shells open up new design freedom thanks to their natural stability. These construction methods are not only technologically advanced, they also conserve resources as they use less material and can be optimally adapted to different environments.
The institute's vision extends to the creation of environmentally friendly, energy-efficient and architecturally appealing buildings.
Our founder and long-time director of the IMS BAUHAUS® Archineer® Institutes already had this vision when the institute was founded 25 years ago.
The main institute, the IMS - Institute for Membrane and Shell Technology, was founded in 1999 in Bobingen near Augsburg by Mr Robert Off, Udo Bader and Alexander Furche.
In 2005, Dr Robert Off began working as a professor of property management at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences. This laid the foundation for the cooperation between Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and the IMS and his vision of creating an international Master's degree programme in "Membrane Structures" could become a reality, as the IMS e.V. became an affiliated institute of Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Dessau-Roßlau.
In March 2006, the world's first Master's degree programme in "Membrane Structures" started with 21 students from all over the world on the Bauhaus Campus of Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Dessau-Roßlau. Since then, more than 300 students from over 64 nations have been trained on this unique Master's programme.
In September 2018, the institute was renamed IMS Bauhaus® Archineer® Institutes e.V. in order to clearly anchor the Bauhaus idea in our teaching.
In addition to training architects and engineers, the institute supports various research and construction projects in the field of textile, tensile and cushion constructions, lightweight membranes and architectural fabrics.
In the year 2024, we now say goodbye to the degree programme Master of Engineering in Membrane Structures at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and the founder of the IMS, Robert Off, on his well-deserved retirement. Therefore we sincerely invite all friends, employees, contributors, lecturers, former and current students to celebrate a big farewell event with us.
In addition to the pleasant conversations with dear friends and colleagues, we want to engage in a professional exchange and inform you about the current successful status of the IMS BAUHAUS® and debate the future of membrane construction with you in discussion rounds.
After packed days of knowledge exchange, we also want to make sure that networking and pleasant conversations receive their proper attention.