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2025 Gips-Schüle Research Prize for innovative shading system

The Gips-Schüle Foundation has awarded Thomas Speck (University of Freiburg) and Achim Menges (University of Stuttgart) for their ‘Solar Gate’ shading system. It can regulate the climate inside buildings without requiring an additional energy supply and is inspired by pine cones.

Dec 05, 2025

The cone as a model: Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck is studying the principles of plant mechanics on pine cones – here with the cone of a sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), the largest of all pine cones. Photo: Gips-Schüle-Stiftung

Pine cones close their scales when wet to protect their seeds and open them when dry so that the seeds can be dispersed by the wind. The biologist Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck from the University of Freiburg and the architect Prof. Achim Menges from the University of Stuttgart adopted this pine cone mechanism and used it to develop ‘Solar Gate’, an innovative shading system that regulates the climate inside buildings without requiring additional energy. The two researchers have now received the prestigious 2025 Gips-Schüle Research Prize from the Gips-Schüle Foundation in Stuttgart for their innovation. The prize is worth 50,000 euros.

‘It never ceases to fascinate and captivate me how observations of nature spark the investigation of convincing solutions for the challenges of the future. I’m delighted that we at the Gips-Schüle Foundation can support such outstanding projects in Baden-Württemberg with our prizes’, says Dr. Stefan Hofmann, director of the Gips-Schüle Foundation in Stuttgart.

The adaptive shading elements are integrated into the upper area of the livMatS Biomimetic Shell, a bioinspired research building at FIT in Freiburg. Photo: © ICD/IntCDC University of Stuttgart, Roland Halbe

Bioinspired design for lowering the CO2 emissions of buildings

‘In view of the fact that the construction sector causes around 37 of global CO2 emissions, Solar Gate is an important contribution to climate protection’, says Menges. Menges and Speck’s new shading system emulates a mechanism from pine cones. The controlled opening and closing of the cones is made possible by two layers that react differently to moisture. ‘This system is extremely robust and resilient and works well even under great disturbances’, says Speck.

To transfer the mechanism to the shading system, the researchers produced modules that also have two neighbouring layers of tissue using a 3D printer. These layers swell differently and can be made to deform quickly and in a controlled manner. As elements of the building’s shading system, the modules react to moisture. It causes the modules to open or close completely on their own within a short period of time. Solar Gate does not require any additional energy or an external control system for this. In this way, it could lower the CO2 emissions of buildings by up to 30 per cent and thus make an important contribution to climate protection in the construction sector.

From left to right: Achim Menges and Thomas Speck accept the research prize of the Gips-Schüle Foundation. Middle: Prof. Dr. Peter Frankenberg and Dr. Walter Schwenck, board members of the foundation, and the foundation’s director, Dr. Stefan Hofmann.
Picture: Gips-Schüle-Stiftung

Large-scale test with industry planned

Following initial tests in the lab, the shading elements were exposed to and tested under real weather conditions at the Biomimetic Shell, a research building at the Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies. The results demonstrated that the elements react reliably and autonomously to humidity. Despite changing weather conditions, the system did not show any mechanical damage even after two years. Now the researchers plan to develop Solar Gate further with industry partners.

Solar Gate was developed in a collaboration between the University of Stuttgart (ICD, IKT, Cluster of Excellence IntCDC) and the University of Freiburg (Plant Biomechanics Group@Botanical Garden, IMTEK, Cluster of Excellence livMatS) and was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the context of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments.

Gips-Schüle Foundation

The Gips-Schüle Foundation funds science for people and young researchers with visions in Baden-Württemberg. It focuses on the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) as well as interdisciplinary projects. Based in Stuttgart, the foundation collaborates closely with universities and research institutes in Baden-Württemberg and makes it possible to conduct pioneering research projects. It funds endowed professorships, awards scholarships, supports student ambassadors for recruiting secondary school graduates for STEM disciplines and projects for teacher education and further training, and promotes interdisciplinary political education.

Website Gips-Schüle-Stiftung

News & Press

2025 Gips-Schüle Research Prize for innovative shading system

The Gips-Schüle Foundation has awarded Thomas Speck (University of Freiburg) and Achim Menges (University of Stuttgart) for their ‘Solar Gate’ shading system. It can regulate the climate inside buildings without requiring an additional energy supply and is inspired by pine cones.

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