Philippe Block (born May 4, 1980) is a Belgian professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), structural engineer, architect, and researcher at the Block Research Group (BRG), entrepreneur and co-founder of Vaulted AG, and board member at the Holcim Group. He is known for his pioneering research and structural design of compression-only shell and vaulted structures in masonry and (unreinforced) concrete, combining computational methods and digital fabrication with material-efficient, sustainable, and circular construction methods.
Early life and education Philippe Block studied Architectural Engineering (then called Civil Engineering – Architecture) at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) from 1998 to 2003. His master’s thesis, titled “Scissor-Hinge Deployable Membrane Structures Tensioned by Pleated Pneumatic Artificial Muscles”, was produced jointly with Tom Van Mele,Block Research Group. (n.d.). Dr. Tom Van Mele. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://brg.ethz.ch/people/team/7 and supervised by Prof. Marijke Mollaert Vrije Universiteit Brussel. (n.d.). Professor Marijke Mollaert. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://www.vub.be/arch/people/marijke-mollaert (architecture) and Dr Frank Mollaert (robotics).
From 2003 to 2009, Block pursued graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) School of Architecture and Planning. In 2005, he completed a Master of Science in Architectural Studies (SMArchS) MIT Architecture. (n.d.). Graduate Programs. SMArchS. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://architecture.mit.edu/graduate-programs with a thesis titled “Equilibrium Systems: Studies in Masonry Structure”.Block, P. (2005). Equilibrium Systems: Studies in Masonry Structures. [Master dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://web.mit.edu/masonry/papers/block_SMArchS_2005.pdf. MIT. In 2009, he obtained his PhD with a dissertation titled “Thrust Network Analysis: Exploring Three-Dimensional Equilibrium”,Block , P. (2009). Thrust Network Analysis: exploring three-dimensional equilibrium. [Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/49539. MIT Libraries. Dspace@MIT. supervised by Prof. John Ochsendorf. His research introduced thrust network analysis, a novel method for assessing the safety of (historic) unreinforced masonry vaulted structures and for designing compression-only shell structures. His first year of graduate studies was supported by the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF), where he was a 2003 Fellow.The Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF). (n.d.). BAEF Belgian Fellows. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://baef.be/baef-be-fellows/
During his PhD, Block undertook research exchanges, spending four months at the Centre for Information Technology and Architecture (CITA)Royal Danish Academy, CITA – Centre for Information Technology and Architecture. (n.d.). https://royaldanishacademy.com/en/CITA of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark, supervised by the late Prof. Ture Wester, and five months at the Institute of Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK)University of Stuttgart, Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK). (n.d.). https://www.ilek.uni-stuttgart.de/en/ at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, supervised by Prof. Werner Sobek.
Career Block joined ETH Zurich in 2009 as an assistant professor (tenure track) in Building Structures at the Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA), Department of Architecture (D-ARCH),ETH Zurich. (nd.d). Prof. Dr. Philippe Block. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://ethz.ch/en/the-eth-zurich/organisation/who-is-who/arch/details.MTY2MzQ2.TGlzdC8xOTA1LC0xMzE3NTA2NzE5.html where he founded the Block Research Group (BRG), co-leading the group with Dr Tom Van Mele since 2010. He obtained tenure and was promoted to associate professor of Architecture and Structures in 2014, and became a full professor in 2017. That same year, he was appointed director of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research on Digital Fabrication (NCCR DFAB).NCCR Digital Fabrication. (n.d.). Prof. Dr. Philippe Block. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://dfab.ch/people/prof-dr-philippe-block-1 He is also associated with the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (D-BAUG).ETH Zurich. Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering. (n.d.). Prof. Dr. Philippe Block. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://baug.ethz.ch/en/department/people/professors/personen-detail.MTY2MzQ2.TGlzdC81MDc4LDE1NjE3MjkzNDM=.html He became head of ITA in 2021,ETH Zurich. The Institute of Technology in Architecture. (n.d.). Institute Leadership. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://ita.arch.ethz.ch/the-institute/leadership.html and is director of Studies at D-ARCH since 2025.Herzog, A. (2025, July 21). Change in the Executive Board. D-ARCH Magazine. https://arch.ethz.ch/en/news-und-veranstaltungen/news-kanal/2025/06/wechsel-in-der-departementsleitung.html
In parallel with his academic career, Block has been involved in several professional activities. After graduating from MIT, he co-founded the engineering firm Ochsendorf DeJong & Block (ODB)Ochsendorf DeJong & Block (ODB Engineering), [@Ochsendorf DeJong & Block (ODB Engineering)]. (n.d). About. LinkedIn. with Prof. John Ochsendorf and Prof. Matthew DeJong,UC Berkeley Civil & Environmental Engineering. (n.d.). Matthew DeJong. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://ce.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/dejong his advisor and colleague at MIT. ODB specialises in the structural assessment of historic monuments in unreinforced masonry and in the design and engineering of innovative shell structures. Block stepped down as a partner of ODB in 2021.
In 2023, Block and Van Mele co-founded VAULTED AGVAULTED AG. (n.d.). Team. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://www.vaulted-floors.com/about with Dr Francesco Ranaudo, an ETH Zurich spin-offETH Zurich. ETH Entrepreneurship. (n.d.). Spin-off companies of ETH Zurich. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://entrepreneurship.ethz.ch/startup-stories/explore-startup-portraits-and-success-stories/uebersicht-eth-spin-offs.html specialising in the design, engineering, manufacturing, and distribution of the Rippmann Floor System (RFS), a low-carbon, circular, unreinforced concrete structural floor.VAULTED. (n.d.). Rippmann Floor System (RFS)®. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://www.vaulted-floors.com/system The system is named in honour of their late colleague Dr Matthias Rippmann,Block Research Group. (n.d.). Dr. Matthias Rippmann. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://brg.ethz.ch/people/team/13 who passed away in 2019. The company’s first project, CreaTower I, a ten-storey office building in Zug, Switzerland, designed by Gigon/Guyer Architects, will feature 6,500 m² of RFS.Tech Cluster Zug. (n.d.). CreaTower I. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://techclusterzug.ch/projekt/creatower-1/
Since 2020, Block has served as a board member of Holcim Group, one of the world’s largest building materials companies, and has chaired its Health, Safety, and Sustainability Committee since 2022.Holcim. (n.d.). Philippe Block. Member. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://www.holcim.com/who-we-are/governance/board-of-directors/philippe-block In this role, he applies his expertise in sustainable construction, fabrication innovation, and structural design to support efforts to decarbonise the construction industry.
Research The Block Research Group (BRG) at ETH Zurich, directed by Block and Van Mele, conducts research in structural design, computational engineering, digital fabrication and sustainable construction. The group’s guiding motto is strength through geometry, and it draws on the principles of traditional unreinforced masonry to explore efficient structural systems and resource-minimal, fully circular construction.
The BRG’s research pursues three main thrusts: 1) developing geometry-informed structural design methods that minimise material use and embodied carbon 2) creating digital design and fabrication tools that enable accurate implementation of these methods, and 3) translating those methods into built prototypes and demonstrators in both high-tech and low-tech contexts, adapting to diverse social, cultural and geographical conditions.
The BRG is known for translating its research into large-scale physical prototypes and demonstrators. Notable projects include the unreinforced stone Armadillo Vault (Venice Biennale, 2016);Block, P., Van Mele, T., Rippmann, M., Dejong, M., Ochsendorf, J., Escobedo, M., Escobedo D. (2016). Armadillo Vault – An extreme discrete stone shell. DETAIL. Roofs. 10/2016, 940–942. the thin, knitted-concrete shell KnitCandela (Mexico City, 2018);Popescu, M., Rippmann, M., Liew, A., Van Mele, T., Block P. (2019). Concrete shell built using a cable-net and knitted formwork. DETAIL. Structure. 01/2019, 10–11. the ultra thin, doubly-curved and two-layered concrete shell roof NEST HiLo (Dübendorf 2019–2020) project;Stevens, P. (November 5, 2020). ETH Zurich’s block research group completes complex, doubly-curved concrete roof. Designboom. https://www.designboom.com/architecture/eth-zurich-block-research-group-complex-doubly-curved-concrete-roof-11-05-2020/ the lightweight, low-carbon Rippmann Floor System (2016–2023);Tech Cluster Zug. (n.d.). Rippmann-Floor-System. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://techclusterzug.ch/nachhaltigkeit/nachhaltigkeit-projekte/gewoelbe-stuetzen-struktur/ and the 3D-printed masonry bridges Striatus (Venice, 2021),Pintos, P. (November 17, 2023). Striatus Bridge – Zaha Hadid Architects + Block Research Group. Archdaily. https://www.archdaily.com/965324/striatus-bridge-zaha-hadid-architects-plus-block-research-group and Phoenix (Lyon, 2023),Holcim. (December 13, 20223). Phoenix Rises from Striatus. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://www.holcim.com/who-we-are/our-stories/phoenix-bridge both unreinforced concrete structures assembled without mortar.
The BRG also contributes to the development of open-source computational tools widely used in practice and academia. These include the RhinoVAULT pluginBlock Research Group. (n.d). Rhino plugins. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://brg.ethz.ch/tools/plugins for compression-only form-finding, and the COMPAS Python frameworkBlock Research Group. (n.d). COMPAS packages. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://brg.ethz.ch/tools/packages for computational design, engineering and digital fabrication workflows. COMPAS is the world’s largest open source computational framework for research and collaboration in Architecture, Engineering, Fabrication, and construction.COMPAS. https://compas.dev/#/
Recognition and selected awards 2025 Honorary Royal Designer for Industry, The Royal Society of Arts, UK 2023 Dandelion Award, ETH Zurich, SwitzerlandDandelion Award. (2023). Winners 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://www.dandelion-award.com/winners-2023 2022 VUB Honorary Engineering Fellowship, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, BelgiumVrije Universiteit Brussel. (n.d). Engineering Fellows. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://www.vub.be/en/about-vub/partners-networks/fellowship-vrije-universiteit-brussel/vub-engineering-fellows#paragraph-73787 2022 Myron Goldsmith Memorial Fellowship, Illinois Institute of Technology, United States 2021 DigitalFUTURES Fellowship, Tongji University's College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP), Shanghai, China 2019 VUB Engineering Fellowship, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, BelgiumVrije Universiteit Brussel. (June, 2019). Philippe Block (ETH Zürich) inaugurated as VUB Engineering Fellow. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://www.vub.be/arch/post/436 2018 Rössler Prize, ETH Zurich Foundation, Switzerland