
Form Follows Beam
Architecture for a Particle Accelerator
- Documents the design and construction of the FAIR accelerator facility near Darmstadt, Germany, one of the world’s most complex structures for cutting-edge research
- FAIR enables research into matter and states that do not occur naturally on Earth
- Offers insights into the work of architects and engineers on a task beyond routines and usual rules and regulations
- Highlights the relevance of architectural thinking on the example of a highly complex project largely determined by technical requirements
- Illustrates the interplay of cutting-edge research and the architecture housing it
The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) near Darmstadt, Germany, has been under construction since 2012. One of the world’s most complex structures for cutting-edge research, it features a ring accelerator with a circumference of 1.1 km (0.68 miles) and 14 adjoining research buildings with laboratories, workshops, cooling systems, energy supply, and a high-performance computing centre. FAIR will supply matter of unprecedented density and temperature, and accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light, enabling vital research into matter and states that do not occur naturally on Earth. The architecture of this mega-project was designed by ion42, a joint venture between German architecture firms DGI Bauwerk (Berlin) and schneider+schumacher (Frankfurt am Main).
Form Follows Beam provides deep insights into the genesis and execution of this extraordinary and spectacular architectural task, lavishly illustrated with plans, drawings and sketches, visualisations, and photographs. In conversation, architects and engineers speak about the evolution facility’s shape and why careful architectural and landscape design is essential even for a facility so strongly determined by technical requirements. Supplementary essays explain how FAIR works and what is being researched in it, and what makes Darmstadt its ideal location.
- Publisher
- Park Books
- ISBN
- 9783038604525
- Publish date
- 10th Nov 2025
- Binding
- Paperback / softback
- Territory
- World excluding Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, United States, Canada, and Japan
- Size
- 310 mm x 220 mm
- Pages
- 286 Pages
- Illustrations
- 200 color, 60 b&w
Distributed by ACC Art Books
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