The SL Rasch GmbH Special and Lightweight Structures, based in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, specializes in special and lightweight structures integrating

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

and

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

. The company was founded by

Mahmoud Bodo Rasch Mahmoud Bodo Rasch (born 12 May 1943) is a German architect who specializes in the construction of large convertible umbrellas and lightweight structures. He is founder and owner of SL Rasch GmbH Special and Lightweight Structures with branches i ...

. The company has branches in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Jeddah, Mecca and Medina. Among the most famous projects are the large retractable umbrellas in front of the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina and the Makkah Clock Tower, the tallest clock tower in the world.

History

In 1980

founded the architecture firm Rasch and Associates and then, in 1991, the special and lightweight construction firm SL GmbH. In 1998 Rasch's long-standing chief architect Jürgen Bradatsch became a partner in the architectural office Rasch und Bradatsch. Since 1998 the company has been trading as SL Rasch GmbH Special and Lightweight Structures.

Profile

The founder Mahmoud Bodo Rasch studied with

Frei Otto Frei Paul Otto (; 31 May 1925 – 9 March 2015) was a German architect and structural engineer noted for his use of lightweight structures, in particular tensile and membrane structures, including the roof of the Olympic Stadium in Munich for ...

, worked in the Frei Otto Warmbronn studio and at the Institute for Lightweight Structures at the University of Stuttgart. An interdisciplinary team of professionals composed of

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

structural A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such ...

and

mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

engineers,

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

specialists and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

s works together under one roof. SL Rasch pursues Frei Otto'sNerdinger, Winfried: ''Frei Otto. Das Gesamtwerk: Leicht Bauen Natürlich Gestalten'', 2005, principles of lightweight construction on the basis of scientific research and brings the minimalistic forms together in harmony with the ornamentation of sacred buildings. SL Rasch is specialised in the development and construction of special and lightweight structures such as large umbrellas and convertible roofs. The foundation of the work is

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

and the development of specific

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

. The firm works with a

High Performance Computing Cluster HPCC (High-Performance Computing Cluster), also known as DAS (Data Analytics Supercomputer), is an open source, data-intensive computing system platform developed by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The HPCC platform incorporates a software architect ...

High-Tech-Sonnenschutz in der Wüste SL Rasch setzt auf SGI LÖsungen
/ref> and employs about 30 people.

References

External links

SL Rasch GmbH Homepage

The Makkah Clock Film

A Forest of Umbrellas Keeps Medina Pilgrims Cool

{{DEFAULTSORT:SL Rasch GmbH Special and Lightweight Structures Architecture firms of Germany Companies established in 1980 Research in Germany