Professur Nachhaltiges Bauen / Sustainable Construction

On thursday, October 30th, 12:15pm, Asst Prof. Dirk E. Hebel will give a brown bag lunch talk at the Schweizer Baumuster-Centrale on the research of alternative building materials at ETH Zürich and FCL Singapore. For more information please visit www.baumuster.ch

The Assistant Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel exhibits it`s research at architektur 0.14 in Zürich under the theme “More innovation, please!”.  For more information please visit: www.architektur-schweiz.ch

The international expert jury for the Zumtobel Group Award 2014 has rewarded  the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel in the category Applied Innovations a second place for its research on Bamboo Composite Materials. The team around Felix Heisel, Mateusz Wielopolski, Alireza Javadian, Tobias Eberwein, and Karsten Schlesier works together with REHAU under the lead of Dragan Griebel on this innovative new building material. From the jury review: “At ETH Zürich, a team of researchers is tapping into bamboo’s potential by exploring new types of composite bamboo materials. Bamboo fiber is extracted and mixed with biological based adhesives. With the help of a hot press, a new material can be produced, which can have desired shape. It is water resistant, repellent to any insect or fungi attacks and the mechanical properties such as thermal extension or ductility can be controlled. It can be used for specific applications that best take advantage of the material’s tensile strength, such as reinforcement systems in concrete or beams for ceilings and roof structures.”

For more information, please click here.

The research community at FCL shows momentarily an exhibition at the ETH Hauptgebäude to engage in their most recent work and also present a retrospective view over the past four years. The Exhibition – entitled Research, Outcomes, and Prospects – showcases the context, findings, products, and methods of the diverse research projects undertaken in FCL. The Chair of Architecture and Construction (Marta H. Wisniewska, Felix Heisel and Prof. Dirk E. Hebel) has been responsible for the curation and design of the exhibition together with the FCL management and collaborated with Tobias Klauser, who has realized and logistically organized the show over the past weeks and months in Zürich.

Photos by Marta H. Wisniewska

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel in Zürich at the “Future Cities Laboratory Exhibition and Symposium” on September 26, 2014. Resilient cities are those that are able to master a crisis and which are able to exit the state of crisis stronger than before. The crisis can be a war, natural catastrophes, economic developments, or unprecedented growth, as it occurred in Europe and North America after the industrial revolution, and as it presently occurs in the cities North and South of the equator, where at present the majority of the world’s population lives. Resilient cities have the capacity to learn, to remember, and to transform findings of the past into strategies for the future. Sustainability is a basis for resilience. Resilient cities have a high degree of recycling and turn waste into new and useful materials. Resilient cities transform urban farming, energy generation, information sensing and processing into a lifestyle. Future new cities must be planned for resilience. Existing cities can be transformed to become more sustainable and resilient.

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel in Zürich at the “Future Cities Laboratory Exhibition and Symposium” on September 25, 2014. Cities are cultural centres and drivers of local and global economies. However, in their present form they are not sustainable in either ecological or social and economic terms. Rapid population growth, increased mobility and climate change has led to urban sprawl, air and water pollution and even social conflict. Against this backdrop, ETH Zurich was invited by Singapore’s national research fund in 2010 to launch a five-year research project in Asia. The result is the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) at the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC). Now, an exhibition and symposium at the ETH main building presents the most important works from the research project. The 13 research modules present methods and results of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of architecture, urban development and planning, construction, material science, computer science and social sciences.

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel at ETH Zürich on September 16, 2014. The talk focuses on the development of different typologies for 5000 newly build housing units in Addis Ababa. The city administration of Ethiopia’s capital commissioned the chair with this task. Already in 2015, these units for no- and low-income families, which are being displaced due to on-going redevelopment strategies, shall be constructed within the inner-city context. The work has to take the existing social and cultural conditions into consideration and, where possible, utilize local materials. Additionally, they need to remain within a given budget set by the city administration. Next to the more obvious urban questions, the work will concentrate on locally available construction methods and materials and aims to develop architecture and construction strategies down to the scale of the detail.

The Chair of Architecture and Construction will soon move back to Zürich to continue researching there and to start teaching a design course in the master’s programs – an exciting new task that the members are very much looking forward to. How can years of intensive research be translated into an academic approach? Marta H. Wisniewska writes about this challenge as the team aims to craft an inspiring course for their future students, and use it at the same time as another method to continue their current work. For the full article, please click here.

The CREATE Tower in Singapore sets the scene for vertical networking among its various entities. This kind of setting fosters interactions between the institutions on many levels, informally as well as professionally. Marta H. Wisniewska sees this as a strength. For the full article, please click here.

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel in New York City at the “Zurich meets New York” festival on May 20th, 2014. ‘Resilient cities are those that are able to master a crisis and which are able to exit the state of crisis stronger than before. Resilient cities have the capacity to learn, to remember, and to transform findings of the past into strategies for the future. Sustainability is a good basis for resilience. Resilient cities have a high degree of recycling and turn waste into new and useful materials. Resilient cities transform urban farming, energy generation, information sensing and processing into a lifestyle. Future new cities must be planned for resilience. Existing cities can be transformed to become more sustainable and resilient.’ Gerhard Schmitt

Keynote presentation by Dirk E. Hebel at the Salzburg Congress on Urban Planning and Development on May 16th, 2014. Imagine cities where our current concepts of waste are thrown away, and instead we envision a city’s waste as resource. In our world, where scarcity and excess define the chasm between the haves and have-nots; exploring the social, environmental and economic dimensions of waste will help us understand more deeply how we manage our Earth’s resources and how we may help to address the inequities intrinsic to this dichotomy. SCUPAD’s 2014 Congress will explore a paradigm shift where cities and regions can develop new ways of managing the planet’s resources where the concept of harvesting becomes the lifecycle of every element of our lives. Reevaluating, modifying, and altering chains of production and consumption are ways of renewing connections to our places and to each other; and practical ways to reduce and reuse waste should be  integral parts of any city’s metabolism. Although each city has its own DNA and thus may manage its resources and waste in different ways, looking at a variety of successful methods that some cities have adopted in the management of their waste streams may offer templates for replication and adaptation. Expanding our understanding of the generation of urban energies can help us realign our relationships with natural systems. SCUPAD’s 2014 Congress will frame waste as a source of creativity, equity, and sustainable development. Please join us as we question, test, and explore ways we can adopt new policies, expand community education, and share practices that inspire citizen engagement and culture change. There is no time to waste.

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel on March 27th, 2014 at the PCI, BASF Engineering Meeting in Rapperswil, Switzerland. “An der zweiten PCI BASF Ingenieurtagung möchten wir einen Ausblick in die Thematik der Umwelt wagen. Die Klimaforschung und deren Modelle zur Entwicklung von CO2 Emmisionen lassen aufhorchen und es werden Fragen gestellt, die heute noch nicht beantwortet werden können. Wir möchten mit den Beiträgen einige Lichtblicke und Lösungsansätze aus dem Baubereich aufzeigen. Mit Mut zu neuen Ansätzen können wir zu einer nachhaltigeren Umwelt beitragen.” (official program)

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel at the Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich on March 25th, 2014. Momentarely, Dirk Hebel is Assistant Professor of Architecture and Construction at the ETH Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. Prior to that, he was the founding Scientific Director of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  His research at FCL Singapore concentrates on alternative building materials such as organic fibers and waste. He will elaborate how this extended definition of resources for the building industry can find their way in our contemporary view of construction techniques in developing as well as developed territories.

Date: 25. März 2014, 18.00 Uhr

Location: ETH Zürich, Campus Hönggerberg, Gebäude HIL, Auditorium E 4
Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, 8093 Zürich

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel in Singapoe at the SIA / SIKA workshop on February 27th, 2014 at CREATE Tower Singapore. Can we realise zero-emissions buildings in the tropics? How might robots bring innovation to the construction industry? What advantages does bamboo have over steel as a building material? These are just some of the research questions addressed by the Singapore-ETH Centre Future Cities Laboratory (SEC FCL), which is committed to addressing both the potentials and the challenges facing the contemporary city. Through a trans-disciplinary framework, SEC FCL investigates how cities might be designed, produced, managed, maintained and inhabited in a way that supports global sustainability. This presentation will give a snapshot of some of the innovative technologies being developed in the Future Cities Laboratory, ranging from green buildings to 3D city modelling and simulation.

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel at the STARS Symposium, Singapore, on February 18th, 2014. The stars symposia and related alumni activities help prepare proven “Leaders of the Next Generation” for their global leadership roles by enhancing a better understanding of the economic, scientific, political, cultural and social challenges, which will impact business and organizations in the next 5-10 years, broadening their horizons through interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue with peers and global leaders from all fields, contributing to their personal development to drive responsible and sustainable actions.

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction, and City Development EiABC, Addis Abba, Ethiopia on January 23rd, 2014. Steel-reinforced concrete is the most common building material in the world, and developing countries use close to 90 percent of the cement and 80 percent of the steel consumed by the global construction sector. However, very few developing countries have the ability or resources to produce their own steel or cement, forcing them into an exploitative import-relationship with the developed world, as the case of Ethiopia shows very clearly. Out of 54 African nations, only two are producing steel. The other 52 countries including Ethiopia all compete in the global marketplace for this ever-more-expensive, seemingly irreplaceable material. But steel is not irreplaceable. There’s a material alternative that grows in the tropical zone of our planet, an area that coincides closely with the developing world: bamboo.  Bamboo is a highly renewable and eco-friendly material. It grows much faster than wood, is usually available in great quantities, and is easy to obtain. It is also known for its unrivalled capacity to capture carbon and could therefore play an important role in reducing carbon emissions worldwide – another advantage for developing nations in light of the trade in carbon emission certificates. Simply from an economic perspective, most developing nations should be interested in the material. It could strengthen local value chains, bring jobs and trade to those countries, and lower their dependency on international markets. The research conducted under the Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore entails investigating the potential to build up a industrial production of a renewable, sustainable and local available material, which could be the start of a green industrial alternative in Ethiopia.

The move to Singapore two years ago was a 180-degree turn when coming from Ethiopia. Both countries cannot be more different, yet both could learn a lot from each other. Marta H. Wisniewska shares her rich multicultural experiences in an insightful column. For the full article, please click here.

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel at the Lombok International Bamboo Architecture Festival, Indonesia on December 7th, 2013. The event is presented by the Indonesian Institute of Architects – West Nusatenggara Region in association with Budi Pradono Architects and in collaboration with The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, The Government of West Nusa Tenggara and also The Regent of West Lombok.

More than 200 participants consisting of researchers, architects, engineers, artists, and students of architecture from around the world will discuss, exchange their knowledge and apply their skills towards the most common indigenous Indonesian material, which by today is almost forgotten as one of the strongest and most resiliant building substances in the tropics.

Dirk E. Hebel will report on the research under way at the Advanced Fiber Composite Laboratory at FCL Singapore and give insides on an industrialized product design, which upgrades bamboo from its image as a backward and outmoded building material to a high-tech, renewable and green resource for the future.

Lecture by Dirk E. Hebel on November 18, 2013 in the seminar ‘Information Architecture of Cities’ at the chair of Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schmitt, ETH Zurich. The elective course ‘Information Architecture of Cities’ opens a holistic view on existing and new cities. The goal is to better understand the city by going beyond the physical appearance and by focusing on different representations, properties and impact factors of the urban system.

A first prototype out of vacuumized PET bottles was build for the “Zurich meets New York” event in May next year in New York City. CoReSing together with ETH Professor Dr. Philippe Block and Juerg Brunnschweiler from ETH Global developed an architectural concept for part of the event. From May 16-24, 2014, artists, scientists, architects, and public intellectuals from both sides of the Atlantic will converge in New York City for the multi-venue, citywide festival “Zurich Meets New York”. The festival is a joint partnership between the City of Zurich, the Consulate General of Switzerland in NY, ETH Zurich, and the University of Zurich (UZH).

Following up the highly successful Geneva Meets New York in 2012, Zurich Meets New York will celebrate visionary movements and ideas born in Zurich and their impact on American culture and today’s world. One of the festival highlights will take place at Vanderbilt Hall (Grand Central), where Assistant Professors Dirk E. Hebel and Philippe Block, ETH Zurich, and their teams will build two large architectural structures made of recycled waste material (PET and paper). The structures will host various installations and presentations, and feature a catered lounged area hosting one of the oldest vegetarian restaurants in Zurich, Haus Hiltl.

Five researchers from the Future Cities Laboratory will be giving a series of lectures and workshops in Seoul, Korea. Yonsei Symposium kicks off with FCL’s Programme Leader Prof Kees Christiaanse delivering a lecture on Open City, followed by a panel discussion with Prof Hong-Chul Rhim (Yonsei University), Prof Jae-Seung Lee (Hongik University), Prof Klaas Kresse (University of Seoul) on 24 October 2013. On  7 November 2013, FCL’s Prof Dr Gerhard Schmitt will deliver a keynote speech on Information Architecture as part of the Swiss Scales event. Architecture Tomorrow is a joint seminar featuring FCL’s Michael Budig and Marcel Bruelisauer alongside Yonsei University’s Asst Prof Ghang Lee of the Building Informatics Group and Dr Seung-Book Leigh of the Centre for Sustainable Buildings.

The Yonsei Symposium wraps up with a lecture by Prof E. Dirk Hebel of the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction on “Constructing Alternatives”. FCL’s “Innovative Technologies” display will also be shown at the Swiss Scales exhibition starting 6 November at the Korean Foundation Cultural Centre.

Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel at Seoul’s Yonsei University on November 15th in a series called “Swiss Positions – Swiss Scales”.

Five researchers from the Future Cities Laboratory will be giving a series of lectures and workshops in Seoul, Korea. Yonsei Symposium kicks off with FCL’s Programme Leader Prof Kees Christiaanse delivering a lecture on Open City, followed by a panel discussion with Prof Hong-Chul Rhim (Yonsei University), Prof Jae-Seung Lee (Hongik University), Prof Klaas Kresse (University of Seoul) on 24 October 2013. On  7 November 2013, FCL’s Prof Dr Gerhard Schmitt will deliver a keynote speech on Information Architecture as part of the Swiss Scales event. Architecture Tomorrow is a joint seminar featuring FCL’s Michael Budig and Marcel Bruelisauer alongside Yonsei University’s Asst Prof Ghang Lee of the Building Informatics Group and Dr Seung-Book Leigh of the Centre for Sustainable Buildings.

The Yonsei Symposium wraps up with a lecture by Prof E. Dirk Hebel of the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction on “Constructing Alternatives”. FCL’s “Innovative Technologies” display will also be shown at the Swiss Scales exhibition starting 6 November at the Korean Foundation Cultural Centre.

Public Lecture by Dirk E. Hebel at the “Holcim Community of Practice Meeting 2013” on November 08, 2013 in Singapore. Dirk E. Hebel will introduce latest results of the research project on Advanced Fiber Composite Materials used as reinforcement systems in structural concrete.

ETH Globe published in its latest issue called “The particle tamers” an article on the research of the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore called “Bamboo – rock-hard iron substitute for the tropics” by Samuel Schlaefli. “Bamboo grows quickly, is common in tropical countries, and some species have a greater tensile strength than steel. It would be an ideal alternative to imported construction steel for the rapidly growing cities of the south, which is where the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore comes in.” See also: www.ethz.ch/about/publications/globe

Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel presented the research work on composite fiber materials of CoReSing at the ‘Smart Cities’ Symposium at AEDES East Gallery Berlin on June 8, 2013. The panel ‘Smart Materials and Technologies’ here with Eike Roswag, Thorsten Klooster, Felix Heisel and Dirk E. Hebel moderated by Sascha Peters focused on innovative approaches on how to address local and easy available material resources and activate them in the urban creation process. Most of all, economical as well as ecological chances and possible establishments of local value chains inside developing territories such as South-East Asia were foregrounded and discussed.

Public Lecture by Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel at the ‘Smart Cities’ Symposium AEDES East Gallery Berlin, June 8, 2013. The N.P.O. AEDES East, under the direction of the curator Ulla Giesler, presents an exhibition and symposium as part of the Asia-Pacific Weeks Berlin 2013, with the title ‘Smart City’. For the first time, the regional focus will be on South-East Asia with particular emphasis on the formative up-and-coming generation. The exhibition concentrates on the search for intelligent solutions within an urban context. Next to the exhibition, a symposium will discuss innovative “smart city” projects from South-East Asia: buildings, planning, urban interventions, initiatives and visions for the future from internationally known experts as well as young architects from Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, who are making the cities more intelligent, effective and above all improving the quality of life for their citizens. Beyond that, the results of the student workshops, which Aedes initiated in Phnom Penh, Jakarta and Manila to generate the future city visions of the upcoming generation, will be shown. Particularly on a technological level, the fact that some emerging nations and developing countries are skipping certain development stages undergone by the classic industrialized nations, is reflected in form and utilization. However, the idea of an adaptable, integrated and networked ‘smart city’ holds opportunities and challenges for Europe too: old infrastructures, pre-existing networks and behavioral patterns, local services and governmental systems also need to be synchronized in order to retain future viability for them. The exhibition and symposium presents ideas that have relevance far beyond only South-East Asia and represent changed smart behavior in a globalized age.

As of May 15th, Dr. Mateusz Wielopolski as a Post-Doc researcher and Karsten Schlesier as an external advisor joined the research team of CoReSing in Singapore. Both are active in the composite bamboo research and investigate chemical, physical as well as mechanical material properties. Mateusz Wielopolski has received his PhD in Chemistry in Germany at the University of Erlangen. His background in physical chemical and materials sciences has led him through researcher positions in the UK, Japan, Germany and Switzerland. Thereby, his expertise is found in the development and analysis of new materials. In this field he has contributed to more than 20 peer-reviewed journal publications and books. Karsten Schlesier graduated in Civil Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT. As a structural engineer his research activities are focused on non-standardized and alternative construction materials, realizing various prototypical structures in Germany and Ethiopia over the last years. Also, Dr. Dragan Griebel from CoReSings research partner REHAU had his first extended research stay at the Advanced Fiber Composite Laboratory AFCL setting up first test series and establishing production standards.

Photo credits: FCL Singapore

FCL, including the chair of Architecture and Construction, held a visit to the HDB Building Research Institute in Singapore on 22nd March 2013. Presentations, Q&A sessions and a tour through the research centre opened the floor for multiple possibilities of collaboration between the two insitutions. Main goals of HDB BRI are to introduce new technologies, and upgrade design standards and materials for the market. The visitors had an opportunity to see prototypes of new amenities, which adress safety and living standards in residential units in Singapore.

Lecture by Dirk E. Hebel on April 22, 2013 in the seminar ‘Information Architecture of Cities’ at the chair of Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schmitt, ETH Zurich. The elective course ‘Information Architecture of Cities’ opens a holistic view on existing and new cities, with focus on Asia. The goal is to better understand the city by going beyond the physical appearance and by focusing on different representations, properties and impact factors of the urban system.

Public lecture by researcher Marta Wisniewska at the CREATE Talks in Singapore on 19th April 2013. CREATE Talks is a discussion platform, bringing together interdisciplinary researchers of CREATE Tower institutions, such as ETH, MIT, TUM and BERKLEY. This time the event was hosted by TU Munich and moderated by SMART, while FCL and BEARS representatives gave their talks. The ‘Waste and Want’ presentation by Marta Wisniewska triggered a discussion of smart product design and what kind of impact it can have on the immediate surrounding as their second life cycle is activated. The talk examined exemplary refuse products as possibly one of the biggest material resource in the building industry. Some of the newest waste projects of CoreSing were also presented.

Public lecture by researcher Marta Wisniewska at the CREATE Talks in Singapore on 19th April 2013.CREATE Talks is a discussion platform, bringing together interdisciplinary researchers of CREATE Tower institutions, such as ETH, MIT, TUM and BERKLEY. This time the event will be hosted by TU Munich and moderated by SMART, while FCL and BEARS representatives will give their talks. The ‘Waste and Want’ presentation by Marta Wisniewska will introduce the idea of smart product design and what kind of impact they can have on the immediate surrounding as their second life cycle is activated. The talk will examined exemplary refuse products as possibly one of the biggest material resource in the building industry. Some of the newest waste projects of CoreSing will be also presented.

The Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore was awarded the SMART Innovation Grant in the tune of SG $250.000 on March 22, 2013. The grant supports the research of CoReSing in the area of bamboo composite reinforcemnet systems and will assist to help it reach the marketplace. The SMART Innovation Grant enables the research team to pursue new avenues of extended research and participate in programs that will help accelerate innovations toward commercialization.  The funding will be used to de-risk the technology by developing prototypes or conducting proof-of-concept experiments and determine a go-to-market strategy for the products or services being developed.  The end point of the grant funding would be a well defined business opportunity attractive to start-up company formation or licensing to a commercial firm.

Public lecture by researcher Marta Wisniewska at a meeting of the Future Cities Laboratory with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in CREATE Tower, on 22nd March 2013. The presentation was conducted in order to discuss on possible collaboration platforms between the two institutes. The session was attended by Prof. Tong Yen Wah, the Singapore-based Co-Director of SJTU-CREATE (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) as well as Ms. Karina Yew-Hoong GIN and Mr. Babovic Vladan, Associate Professors of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. SJTU-CREATE is researching two areas: ‘Waste management and energy recovery ‘(including studies of human behaviour) and ‘Emerging contaminants and the effect on human health and ecology’ (including pollutants in reservoirs). The talk of Marta Wisniewska focused on CoReSing’s search for an intelligent design of future refuse products and their second life cycle. The abundance of waste as future building material in cities was an essential part of the presentation.

Public lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the Princeton School of Architecture on April 3, 2013. During the academic year 2012/13 Princeton SoA will stage a series of public conversations around alternative practices in architecture through the work of 85 distinguished alumni from the last 25 years. At a moment when the profession is going through some important questions on a global scale, the series will explore the broad range of practices of recent alumni that spin from or gravitate around architecture, seeking alternatives to the established forms of architectural practice. The series will highlight Princeton’s commitment to experimental work at the edge of the discipline, and on our alumni’s engagement with a wide range of contemporary practices to outline propositions for alternative forms of practice. The lecture series intends to feature these practices as a sample of the issues that the contemporary practice of architecture has to address, to foreground relevant areas of interest and opportunity. Eight sessions will be held during the Fall ’12 term, and eight more during the Spring ’13 term, featuring different practice formats, geographies, ideologies and technologies. Dirk E. Hebel will lecture in the session: New Brave Worlds – Africa and Latin America. April 3, SoA Princeton University, Betts Auditorium, 6pm.

Public lecture by researcher Marta Wisniewska at a meeting of the Future Cities Laboratory with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in CREATE Tower, on March 22, 2013. The talk will be attended by Prof. Tong Yen Wah, the Singapore-based Co-Director of SJTU-CREATE (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), in order to elaborate on possible collaboration platform between the two institutes. SJTU–CREATE is researching two areas: Waste management and energy recovery (including studies of human behaviour) and Emerging contaminants and the effect on human health and ecology (including pollutants in reservoirs). The talk will focus on CoReSing’s approach to intelligent design of future refuse products and their second life cycle. The abundance of waste as future building material in cities will be an essential part of the presentation.

Public lecture by PhD candidate Alireza Javadian at the 1^st Annual International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering (ACE 2013) in Singapore, on March 18th, 2013. The ACE 2013 has been organized by the Global Science and Technology Forum (GTSF) and is the first international conference dedicated to both Architecture and Civil Engineering research. The conference is the premiere forum for the presentation of new advances and research results in the fields of Architecture and Civil Engineering. The conference intends to bring together leading researchers, architects, engineers and scientists in this domain of interest from around the world.  A paper on ‘Engineering Bamboo; New composite reinforcements’ by the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel of FCL Singapore was accepted by the ACE 2013 committee for presentation.

The Chair for Architecture and Construction of Assistant Professor Dirk E. Hebel at the ETH Zurich is part of the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL), the first research program of the Singapore ETH Centre for Global Environmental Sustainability (SEC). Within this context, the chair aims to investigate appropriate building materials and construction methods for future urban development. Resource limitations, heavily import-oriented construction industries, inappropriate use and unreflected application of construction materials and methods drive many economies of the so-called developing world into immense trade deficits. The chair is researching alternative approaches, looking into the appropriate use of indigenous materials in an industrial application process.

In this spirit, the chair is part of a large research project between the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) in Ethiopia, ETH Global, and the Arthur Waser Foundation, Lucerne. Professor Dr. Elias Yitbarek initiated the ‘Sustainable Rural Dwelling Unit’ (SRDU) project in 2010 as part of his work at the EiABC Chair of Housing. He was able to secure funding of the Arthur Waser Foundation for a pilot project in 2011 with full support and help of the former North-South Centre of ETH Zurich (now represented by ETH Global). Two housing units were built approximately 175km south of the capital Addis Ababa experimenting with local building materials combined with new building techniques. The huge success of this pilot project convinced the Arthur Waser Foundation to continue the engagement with the two universities and enlarge the scope of the work to questions of capacity building, academic exchange with local schools, universities and industry and the transfer of knowledge to a broad range of academic and non-academic stakeholders in Africa.

Immediately, or upon agreement, the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore is looking for a highly qualified Research Assistant with a background in applied earth masonry, alternative material research and practical training skills to work full time in this research project. As member of the SRDU team, you will assist in initiating and coordinating research in alternative building materials and their use in rural areas in Ethiopia. You will develop testing methods and standards for alternative building materials based on an empirical as well as scientific research approach. You will organize and lead training sessions with local craftsman and undergraduate students in Ethiopia. You will develop didactical concepts on how to train craftsmen and students. You will help to develop curricula for the local University and Technical Vocational Center and help to implement them in these institutions. You will establish contacts with local organizations, NGOs and training facilities in Ethiopia and integrate the SRDU activities in a broader network. Furthermore, you will assume responsibility for the production of publications about the SRDU project, the writing of technical and financial reports, as well as the preparation of possible further research proposals. Prior experience in handling financial aspects of a research project will be a plus. Administrative tasks complement your scope of duties. Based in Ethiopia (80%) and Singapore (20%), the post is provided with a competitive salary under a contract with ETH Zurich (Switzerland). You will be equipped with all necessary tools and office space at EiABC (Ethiopia) and FCL (Singapore).

You possess a technical and/or academic degree along with an established reputation in the field of earth masonry and/or applied alternative material research, as evidenced in a distinguished record of academic and/or practical experience, work, and/or research. You have experience in teaching and vocational training and have practiced in developing countries before. Knowledge in the field of architecture and engineering would also be of great advantage. You actively seek to promote excellence in interdisciplinary thinking and are able to provide exceptional motivation for your work in a team. Not least, you stand out due to your aptitude to contribute to the strategic visions of the project at large.

For further information about the position and/or your application, please contact Ass. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel by e-mail: hebel@arch.ethz.ch and visit the websites www.hebel.arch.ethz.ch as well as www.eiabc.edu.et for further information.

Public lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the ‘Advances in Cement and Concrete Technology in Africa’ (ACCTA) conference in Johannesburg, South Africa on January 28, 2013. The ACCTA 2013 is the first international conference initiated from the SPIN project (Spearhead network for innovative, clean and safe cement and concrete technologies), that is a cooperation between European and African leading research institutions from the fields of materials research. The conference aims to cross-link experts in the field of cement and concrete technology with key players from research institutions, industries, associations and policy-making bodies. The aim is to establish a sustainable and economically efficient cement and concrete technology in Africa with impact on the world-wide. A paper on ‘Bamboo Composite Reinforcements in Structural Concrete Applications’ by the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel of FCL Singapore was accepted by theACCTA peer review group for presentation.

The FCL ‘Constructing Waste’ seminar 2012 concluded in an exhibition vernissage on 30 November 2012 at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. The public event was orchestrated as the final step in the pedagogical laboratory set by Dirk E. Hebel and Marta Wisniewska of the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction.

The exhibition gave platform to seven outcomes of the ten-week research course, focusing on re-designing an everyday product in such a way, that it can have a second life cycle instead of ending as a trash item. Guests had a chance to see, feel, touch and smell the new products and to understand the concepts behind them. ‘CoBag+’, designed by Tobias Wullschleger, is an intelligent water container, which starts its second life cycle as a shelter and a water-purifying device. Naomi Hanakata presented her ‘D-Shirt’, a high-tech dust cloth, which turns into a fashionable item to wear after use. ‘Back to Bag’ is a design by Desiree Ampot, who is concerned with the amount of plastic carriers wasted every day. Thanks to this alternative version of plastic bags, they could become a luxury collection item. A similar concern encouraged Nikolaos Theodoratos to develop ‘YoBag’- a yoghurt container in a folded plastic bag.

Ervin Lim was inspired by his research in the Indonesian slums. His ‘Plant a Box’ design enhances the locals to collect paper food containers after use, fill them with soil and plant seeds inside. Thanks to an innovative connecting system, these boxes combine into retaining walls to keep river banks intact. Cell phone covers out of Tetra Pack? Pascal Genhart proofed them to be not only stylish but also convenient and very durable. In Singapore , five tons of straws are used and incinerated every day. Alireza Javadian proposes a small change in design, which would allow them to turn into a concrete reinforcement after use – ‘StrawCrete’. All seminar materials, readings, excercise instructions and background information on each lecturer are available in the booklet ‘Constructing Waste’.

Photo credits: Marta Wisniewska.

‘Preparing Food. Today.’, a recipe book constructed by FCL researchers Naomi Hanakata, Felix Heisel, Martha Kolokotroni, Michaela Frances Prescott, Kashif Shaad, and Marta Wisniewska proposes a change in attitude towards the availability of food resources. Diversification in selecting and preparing food with an extended scope of various possibilities is presented as the taste of the future. The recipe book tries to be provocative by establishing a link between food security and urban structures. ‘Preparing Food. Today.’ gives an overview of recipes in the world of 2052, featuring suprising alternatives. The hypothetical project was presented to FCL community in the lunch talk series on 29 November 2012.