Gips-Schüle-Forschungspreis 2025

The Solar Gate is a bioinspired, weather-responsive shading system that autonomously regulates indoor comfort without requiring electrical energy or external control systems. Developed through interdisciplinary collaboration between biologists, materials scientists, and architects at the University of Stuttgart and the University of Freiburg, it employs an advanced additive manufacturing technique called 4D printing to produce self-shaping, biobased elements that respond passively to changes in relative humidity. Installed on the skylight of the livMatS Biomimetic Shell in Freiburg, the shading elements open on cold and cloudy days to maximise solar heat gain and reduce heating demand, and close on warm, sunny days to protect the interior from heat loads. To our knowledge, the Solar Gate marks the first architectural-scale application of 4D printing, demonstrating how bioinspired material intelligence can create self-regulating, low-maintenance building systems that no longer rely on operational energy.