Francesco Ranaudo

Concrete is often seen as the problem child of construction—heavy, overused, and carbon-intensive. But what if the path to a more sustainable future lies not in abandoning concrete, but in rethinking how we use it? This talk invites you to rediscover concrete as artificial stone—a material that, like masonry, finds its greatest strength in compression. By embracing the timeless logic of the Gothic cathedral and combining it with cutting-edge design and fabrication technologies, we can shape concrete in a new generation of funicular structures: materially aware, visually expressive, and sustainable. In an age of climate urgency, we must design with intelligence. This is a call to find strength through geometry, to use material where it matters, and to activate a circular economy in construction. By learning from the past and building with the tools of the future, we can reimagine concrete not as a burden—but as a catalyst for sustainable growth.

CV

Dr. Francesco Ranaudo is an architect, structural engineer, researcher, and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of VAULTED AG, an ETH Zurich spin-off dedicated to developing innovative sustainable structural solutions. Francesco holds a Doctor of Sciences from ETH Zurich, where he conducted research on digital fabrication and low-carbon concrete structures. Previously, he worked as a design engineer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in both London and San Francisco, contributing to the design and optimization of high-rise buildings across the US, Europe, China, and the Middle East.