It was not an isolated artwork. It emerged from a close collaboration between Aibuild and Zaha Hadid Architects and that collaboration is present in every part of the piece.
Thallus feels like something caught in the middle of becoming. It doesn’t present itself as a finished, static object. There’s a sense of motion, as if it has been shaped by forces that are still active, still unfolding. That quality gives it a kind of presence that is difficult to ignore.
What deepens that feeling is the way it was developed. The project came out of Zaha Hadid Architects’ ongoing research into computational design and robotic fabrication, where geometry is generated through simulation rather than drawn directly. Aibuild’s role sits right inside that process, translating those complex geometries into something physically possible through robotic additive manufacturing. The sculpture becomes a shared outcome rather than a single authored object.
The continuity of the form is not just aesthetic. It is literal. The entire structure is made from a single continuous strip, extending to around 7 kilometres in length, looping and reconnecting with itself to form the final volume. That idea of one uninterrupted line feels central. It mirrors the way Aibuild approaches fabrication, where a toolpath is not broken into fragments but flows continuously, shaping material in one evolving motion. You can sense that continuity when standing in front of the piece. It feels less assembled and more grown.
The collaboration also pushed the limits of fabrication. The sculpture was produced using robotic 3D printing combined with hot-wire cutting to create its base mould, bringing together multiple advanced processes into a single workflow. There is a kind of precision in that, but also risk. The geometry is complex, and the process demands constant negotiation between design intent and machine behaviour. That tension gives the piece its character.
When it was unveiled in Milan, it formed part of the White in the City exhibition, installed within the Accademia di Brera. The setting matters. Surrounded by historic architecture, the sculpture felt almost out of time, something emerging into a context that was never designed for it. The white surface amplified that presence, catching light and shadow in a way that made the form feel even more fluid and unstable.
The geometry itself comes from a single “seed” curve that expands and diffuses through computational rules, shaping the final structure through growth-like behaviour rather than direct composition. That idea sits very close to Aibuild’s thinking. Design is not fixed at the beginning. It evolves through interaction between parameters, material, and fabrication logic. The final form holds traces of all those influences.
There is something emotional in that process. The sculpture carries the imprint of collaboration, of systems working together rather than being controlled from one point. You can feel the dialogue between Zaha Hadid Architects’ computational thinking and Aibuild’s robotic execution. It is not clean or overly resolved. It feels alive.
Standing with Thallus, there is a sense that you are looking at more than a sculpture. You are looking at a moment where architecture, computation, and manufacturing begin to merge into one continuous act. The unveiling in Milan was not just a presentation. It was a glimpse of how things might be made differently, where design does not stop at drawing and fabrication does not simply follow, but both exist as part of the same unfolding process
