Prof. Dr. sc. ETH Mario Rinke

Mario Rinke researches and teaches on constructional and structural aspects of architecture. Trained as a civil engineer and active in the field of architecture for many years, he is particularly interested in transformation processes of technical knowledge, materials and institutions. From a cultural-historical perspective, he is concerned with recycling as well as hybrid material concepts and studies the history of early industrial materials such as reinforced concrete and industrially manufactured structural timber (Glulam or glued laminated timber). He regularly gives international Design&Build workshops in which he seeks to explore the role of craft and technology in contemporary construction.


Academic career

since 2019: Initially visiting professor, since Sept. 2019 professor of load-bearing structure and construction in architecture at the University of Antwerp
2018: Guest professor at Tor Vergata University, Rome.
2015–19: Senior assistant at the professorship of structural design, Prof. Dr. J. Schwartz, ETH Zurich
2013: PhD (Dr. sc. ETH) (dissertation topic: “Change of structural form from construct to type in the 18th and 19th centuries”)
2008–13: Research Assistant at the Chair of Structural Design, ETH Zurich
2000–06: Studies of Civil Engineering at the Bauhaus University Weimar, the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and Stanford University (USA)

Engineering activities

2015–18: Training as structural engineer in the preservation of monuments, Propstei Johannesberg, Fulda
2014/15: Dr. Lüchinger + Meyer Civil Engineers AG, Zurich
2013–19: Mario Rinke Civil Engineer
2007: Ramboll Whitbybird (now Ramboll UK), consulting engineers, London

Publications (Selection)

  • Mario Rinke, Structure as common ground. On the design entanglement between architect and engineer, 建筑师 (The Architect), June 2021
  • Mario Rinke, Haddadi, Roshanak: Industrialising timber craftsmanship – early glulam within the traditional timber construction in Switzerland, History of Construction Cultures. Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on CH 2021, Lisbon, 2021
  • Mario Rinke, Martin Krammer: Architektur fertigen. Konstruktiver Holzsystembau, Zürich: Triest. 2020
  • Mario Rinke, Das Wasserspiel in der Renaissance als Verschränkung von Baukunst und Technik, In: Barbara von Orelli-Messerli (Ed.) Ein Dialog der Künste. Reinterpretation von Architektur und deren Beschreibung in der Literatur der Frühen Neuzeit bis zur Gegenwart, Petersberg: Michael Imhof. 2020.
  • Mario Rinke: Teaching Construction Thinking in Architecture through Materiality and Craftsmanship, Proceedings of the Forth International Conference on Structures and Architecture, Lisbon, 2019
  • Mario Rinke (ed.), The Bones of Architecture. Structure and Design Practices, Zürich: Triest, 2019
  • Mario Rinke & Florian Hauswirth (eds), Formful Wood. Explorative Furniture, Berlin: Jovis. 2019
  • Mario Rinke: Sculptured Form, concealed Forces, In: Daniel Mettler & Daniel Studer (Eds.) Made of Concrete, Basel: Birkhäuser. 2018
  • Mario Rinke, From structural performance to performative structures: New narratives in footbridge design, Structural Engineering International (SEI) of IABSE, ‚Footbridges‘, November 2018
  • Mario Rinke (ed), Der entwerfende Ingenieur. Zum 60. Geburtstag von Joseph Schwartz, Berlin: Jovis, 2017
  • Mario Rinke: Vom Konstrukt zum Typus: Der Wandel der strukturellen Form von Tragwerken im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert. Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag. 2016
  • Andreas Saxer, Mario Rinke: Konstruktion und Transformation: Experimentelle Sitzmöbel aus Holz, Berlin: Jovis. 2015
  • Mario Rinke, Joseph Schwartz: Holz: Stoff oder Form. Transformation einer Konstruktionslogik, Sulgen: Niggli. 2014
  • Mario Rinke, Toni Kotnik: Der entfesselte Baustoff. Zur Rezeption des frühen Eisenbetons und seiner Konstruktionsspezifik, Beton- und Stahlbetonbau, 107 (2012), 9, 635-644
  • Mario Rinke, Joseph Schwartz: Before Steel. The Introduction of Structural Iron and Its Consequences, Sulgen: Niggli. 2010

Contact data

Prof. Dr. sc. ETH Mario Rinke

E-Mail: mario.rinke[at]uantwerpen.be
Web: www.uantwerpen.be/en/staff/mario-rinke

Universiteit Antwerpen
Faculteit Ontwerpwetenschappen
Mutsaardstraat 31
2000 Antwerpen
Belgien

More contributors