Professur Nachhaltiges Bauen / Sustainable Construction

Heisel, Felix and Choi Mi-Ho(2016). Waste Vault ETH Zürich Pavilion, A&C Architecture and Culture Upcycling(423): 102–113.

For the IDEAS CITY Festival in New York City in May 2015, a team of ETH Zürich’s Professorships Dirk E. Hebel and Philippe Block constructed a 90m2 pavilion made from recycled beverage packaging, aiming to show the immense potential of waste for the construction sector. The article includes an interview with project architect Felix Heisel.

This year’s summer school organized by ETH Zürich’s Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel, in collaboration with the TU Delft and ETH Global kicks off today with an introductory lecture by Professor Dirk E. Hebel on “Sand: an (in)finite Resource?”.

Sand is the most used raw material for production of goods on our planet. It is found in concrete, glass, computers, detergents and even toothpaste. But sand is a finite resource: what took millions of years to come into being through erosion and sedimentation, man is mining at rivers and ocean coasts in a so-far unknown speed. In a matter of a few decades, sand will not be a resource anymore for our construction activities. But if finite resources are no longer an option to build the cities of the future, what alternatives are there? And what roles play research institutions as the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore and the ETH Zurich?

For more information on the summer school, please click here.

On 22 June, 12pm Felix Heisel speaks at the FCL Lunch Talk + Book Launch in Singapore.

Informality resembles an evolutionary process more than a simple absence of rules. In itself, informality is neither illegal, nor dysfunctional, nor indicative of poverty; in fact, its actors, skills and capital are probably our best chance to solve the world’s growing housing crisis. Thus, Lessons of Informality describes an array of planning strategies and possibly even a roadmap to a resilient city in emerging territories. The book includes a DVD of _Spaces, a series of six documentaries on informality in Addis Ababa.

For more information, please click here.

On 23rd June, Dirk E. Hebel will speak on Cultivation Urbanism as part of the Urban Nature Seminar of the FCL Singapore.

Since modernity, human progress has been measured in terms of their domination of nature, rather than the redefinition of the nature of their relationship (Dunlap and Catton, 1979). Since then, humans have suffered through their estrangement from this natural processes.

Throughout the history of urbanism, the notion of ‘urban’ and ‘nature’ often intersects. Nature has been subjugated, consumed, commodified, reproduced and also to great extent idolised, in the creation of human’s built environment. But what is nature in relation to urbanism? How can we engage the concept of urban-nature as an alternative lens to understand the process behind the development of our built environment? How do our cities reflect the way we relate to, perceive and desire to dominate and adopt nature?

Engage in a contemporary multidisciplinary discourse on the concept of urban nature in 21st century Asian Cities with distinguished speakers from diverse disciplines. for more information and the full program, please click here.

Knellwolf, Bruno (2016). Der Sandkrieg hat begonnen, in St. Galler Tagblatt: 19–20

Wider Erwarten wird Sand immer mehr zum raren Gut. Bereits spricht man vom Sandkrieg und der Sandmafia, die den Handel mit dem knapper werdenden Baustoff betreibt. Dirk E. Hebel und Felix Heisel zeigen an der Biennale in Venedig Alternativen.

«Schnittmengen»

More information here: www.jom.ch

On Thursday June 2nd, constellation.s – an exhibition by arc en reve centre of Architecture in Bordeaux, France – opened its doors with a contribution by the Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel entitled Bamboo Composite Materials. The show displays test samples from the material research, especially focusing on the interface of bamboo composites and concrete.

From the curators: “In response to the worldwide transformations that are profoundly affecting the conditions in which we live, constellation.s will present individual and collective initiatives providing perspectives on tomorrow’s challenges in terms of how the urban environment is made.
 In response to fear, inward-lookingness, and extremism, constellation.s encourages critical thinking to help us understand the world we live in. In response to a rising tide of images, words, and spectacle, constellation.s focuses on creativity and the ways ordinary people invent their daily lives. Constellation.s embraces points of view from a range of disciplines, involving researchers, writers, architects, engineers and economists reflecting upon contemporary reality. Constellation.s will present testimonials, processes, and situations from the four corners of the world: glimmers of hope pointing to new possible horizons and ways of living together in complex societies.”

For more information, please click here.
Constellations will be open to the public until 25th September.

Philipp Mueller will speak at the 12^th World Congress of Earthen Architecture in Lyon with various speakers from more than 80 countries. The international Congress brings together academics and professionals gathering around the oldest known building material. Since more than 8000 years people are using earth as a building material and it still is en vogue due to its unique properties. Especially Earth block masonry is becoming more and more common as it is the building material with the lowest consumption of primary energy. The development of product standards has led to an increase of quality in terms of load-bearing capacity. Philipp Mueller will present results from research about structural reliability of earth block masonry allowing more economic construction and showing a wide range of future application for earth as a building material.

For more information please click here.

On May 28th, Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel opened the exhibition Daring Growth at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale in the presence of ETH president Lino Guzzella.

The installation calls for a radical paradigm shift in how habitats are materialized. The mining-based mentality must move towards an ethic of cultivating, recycling, recovering, breeding, raising, farming, and even growing future building materials. Decentralized, local and renewable production strategies and methods that do not deplete the planet’s resources or energy reserves must be given priority. A shift in attitude would allow developing societies to provide themselves with the building materials required for secure and dignified shelter without forcing them into economic dependencies.

Our contribution to ‘Reporting From the Front’ takes the form of a laboratory showcasing research work produced at the ETH Zürich and the Future Cities Laboratory Singapore in collaboration with partners such as MycoWorks Inc. in San Francisco and the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at the TU Delft. The exhibition features examples of new building materials derived from mushroom mycelium, bacteria, grasses and waste. It also displays the power of an international, interdisciplinary network of researchers, academics and professionals working on commonly defined challenges.

Palazzo Mora, “Time Space Existence”
La Biennale di Venezia, 28 May – 27 November 2016

Acknowledgements
This exhibition would not have been possible without the generous and continuous support of the President of ETH Zürich, Prof. Dr Lino Guzzella, whom we would like to thank for his unrestricted encouragement, trust, and sustenance. We also would like to thank the rector of ETH Zürich Prof. Dr Sarah Springman and Vice President of research ETH Zürich Prof. Dr Detlef Günther for their reassurance and believe in our commitment and research.

We are especially indebted to Annette Spiro, Dean of Architecture at ETH Zürich, not only for her support of this exhibition, but in general creating an atmosphere of unlimited trust and backing without research and innovation would not be possible.

We deeply thank the whole team of the ETH Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, above all Peter Edwards, Stephen Cairns, Kees Christiaanse and Remo Burkhard. Within FCL, relevant research was developed over the past years in various fields, which did not only fuel this exhibition, but scholars and professionals all around the globe and especially at the ETH in Zürich.

We are extremely grateful to Prof. Dr Gerhardt Schmitt and Prof. Dr Marc Angélil for their incredible mentorship, help, and intellectual as well as physical support. Without them, our work would not be possible.

Tobias Klauser and Carlo Lienhardt, through their incredible professionalism and critical assessment of our ideas and work, made this exhibition a project in its own. We would like to acknowledge their unrestricted dedication and support as partners, friends, and advisors.

Special acknowledgements go to ETH Global, Jürg Brunschweiler, for all of his continuous help over the past years. Thanks also to ETH Foundation, Corinna Adler, for her dedication and energy. Also to Hannes Schmid, who opened eyes and doors to new intellectual terrains and professionals. Matthias Büttiger and Markus Reinhard for their encouragement, spontaneous courtesy, and incredible generosity.

We thank GAA Foundation for the possibility to exhibit our work at the 16^th Architecture Biennale in Venice. We are grateful to our partners of TU Delft, Henk Jonkers and Leon van Paassen as well as Mycoworks, Phil Ross, Sophia Wang, and Eddie Pavlu.

Special thanks to all members of our own team: Dustin Fleck, Sophie Nash, Ruben Bernegger, Manuel Fernandez, Christine Wöhner, Raphael Disler, Tobias Fuchs, Aurel von Richthofen, Alireza Javadian, Simon Lee, Philippe Müller, Marta H. Wisniewska, Patrick Chladek, Nikita Aigner, Philippe Jorisch, Amélie Fibicher, Hans Rufer.

Special thanks to Prof. Dr.Philippe Block and his team, especially Cristian Calvo Barentin for all the support and help.

Also to Uta Bogenrieder who did all graphic design works for the exhibition.

Our deepest thanks and gratitude go to all of theses individuals and organizations for their trust and the unrestricted possibilities to operate at the front of our discipline and sometimes even beyond.

Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel, Zürich, May 2016

Sponsorship
Our deepest gratitude to all sponsors and supporters of this exhibition:
ETH Zürich, ETH Global
Department of Architecture, ETH Zürich
Future Cities Laboratory Singapore
Chair of Information Architecture Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schmitt, ETH Zürich
Chair of Architecture and Design Prof. Dr. Marc Angélil, ETH Zürich
Markus Reinhard, Nomis Foundation
Matthis Büttiger

Heisel, Felix and Bisrat Kifle (eds.) (2016). Lessons of Informality: Architecture and Urban Planning for Emerging Territories – Concepts from Ethiopia.  Basel: Birkhäuser.

Never before have cities been so important. Today, cities are home to the majority of the world’s population, accommodate most of global production, and are the goal of millions of migrants around the world. Yet, increasingly, our cities are growing informally, planned and built by non-professionals. Informality resembles an evolutionary process more than a simple absence of rules. In itself, informality is neither illegal, nor dysfunctional, nor indicative of poverty; in fact, its actors, skills and capital are probably our best chance to solve the world’s growing housing crisis.

The book includes a DVD of _Spaces, a series of six documentaries on informality in Addis Ababa.

Hebel, Dirk E. and Marc M. Angelil (eds.) (2016). Cities of Change Addis Ababa, 2nd and Revised Edition. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2nd and rev. ed.

Aiming to identify sustainable strategies―rather than upholding an a priori vision of an ideal city―the publication acknowledges the heterogeneous conditions of urban territories. This revised edition highlights questions of method and procedure that can be transferred to other ‘cities of change’, and covers recent developments, such as the increasing influence of China in African countries or the chances of high-density, low-rise developments.

Hebel, Dirk E., Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel (2016). Stavění z odpadu, ERA21 03/2016 Udržitelný nerůst: 62–63.

Zahrada a pavilon budoucnosti ETH Curych na festivalu IdeasCity v New Yorku
en— Building from Waste. Future Garden and Pavilion ETH Zurich at IdeasCity, New York Dirk E. Hebel a Philippe Block / Katedra architektury ETH Curych

For the IDEAS CITY Festival in New York at the end of May, ETH Zurich constructed a 90 m² pavilion made from recycled beverage packaging. The project, led by ETH Zurich`s Assistant Professor Dirk E. Hebel and Professor Philippe Block, aims to show the immense potential of waste for the construction sector.

The Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel is exhibiting a view into the laboratory entitled “Daring Growth” at this year’s Venice Biennale. As part of the official collateral event TIME-SPACE-EXISTENCE, curated by the Global Art Affairs (GAA) Foundation at the Palazzo Mora, the exhibition will report from the front of research on the potential of cultivated materials for the building industry. Everyone is welcome to join the opening party on 26th and 27th May, 6 to 10pm at the Palazzo Mora.

“The world is changing, and the ways we live in it are changing too.
 More than ever before, architecture and planning – which provide the conditions for urban living – must be conceived in the light of what is no longer there and what is yet to come.” – arc on reve, Bordeaux

The Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel is exhibiting its bamboo research at this year’s Constellation.s, organized by arc en reve in Bordeaux. “The exhibition is intended to encourage careful thinking to render new conditions for human habitation intelligible; it focuses on initiatives that take the risk of making the future meaningful; and it shares processes of innovation capable of showing us new ways of living in the world.” The display opens on June 2nd and runs through September 25th 2016. For more information, please visit here.

PhD, ETH Zürich, 2017
Master of Civil Engineering, NTU Singapore, 2010
Master of  Civil Engineering, NUS Singapore, 2011
MBA, ARU Oxford, UK, 2012

Contact: alireza.javadian@kit.edu

Senior researcher and Head of Research at the Chair of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe and Co-Principal Investigator at the Future Cities Laboratory of Singapore-ETH Centre, 2020 – present / Post-doc researcher at the Alternative Construction Materials Group at FCL Singapore, 2012-2020 / Civil Engineer at ‘Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner’ Singapore, 2010-2012 / Researcher at NUS Singapore, 2009-2010 / A*STAR Singapore scholarship recipient at NTU Singapore, 2007-2009

Dr. Alireza Javadian is currently a senior researcher and Head of Research at the Chair of Sustainable Construction at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT. He is also a Co-Principal Investigator of the Urban-Biocycle Project at the Future Cities Laboratory of Singapore-ETH Centre of Sustainability in Singapore. Alireza Javadian is currently working on the development of sustainable building materials made from renewable resources. His work on engineered bamboo and mycelium-bound building elements explore the idea of a new class of biological driven constrution materials embeded within a true circular economy.

He has received the distinguished award by Singapore government for his work on development of Organic Fiber Composite Materials for Construction on the 50th anniversary of Singapore’ independence in 2015. Furthermore, he won the SMART Innovation Grant Singapore, the SAWIRIS Grant from ETH Zürich, a Swiss KTI project fund from Swiss National Research Foundation, and a ZUMTOBEL GROUP Award together with the research team in Singapore and Zürich. He has also co-founded the Spin-off company Widuz to commercialize high performance bamboo composite materials.

Felix Heisel will speak on the panel “How the Construction Business is Transforming Problems into Solutions” at the Cleantech Forum Europe on April 12th, 2016, 2pm – 3pm.

The panels description by the organizer reads as follows:
Hear from experts in the construction field on the latest solutions to creating more optimized buildings. While cement accounts for roughly 5 percent of global CO2 emissions, the industry is re-inventing itself through new and efficient processes and partnerships with innovative startups to not only reverse its environmental impact, but make improvements to the whole supply chain of building development. We will share some case studies and new possibilities in construction – whether it is a new type of binder that improves the mechanical strength of construction materials, new catalytic processes that removes pollutants from the air, or other methods that can sequester carbon while also improving the insulation and energy efficiency of buildings.

Moderated by: Gunther Walenta, Senior Climate Change Manager, LafargeHolcim
Co-Hosted by: LafargeHolcim

For more information, please click here.

Philipp Müller speaks at the Green Tech & Materials Symposium about potential and applications of Bamboo Fiber Reinforced Polymers (BFRP) in the building sector. The Symposium hosted various leading researchers and manufacturers of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymers, discussing opportunities of bio-based composites in different applications.

FRP based on natural fibers are becoming more and more interesting not only for Automotive Industry but also for the builders. The BFRP which has been developed at the Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel already is able to replace steel in reinforced concrete. Coupled with various other applications this will be presented by Philipp Müller

For more information, please click here.

Felix Heisel speaks at the 2016MIECF Macau International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition on April 1st 2016. “Disposing of waste in an environmentally-friendly manner is crucial to business, it also gives rise to a plethora of business opportunities. Thus, apart from welcoming participation from various green industries, 2016MIECF will adopt the theme ‘Green Economy – Opportunities for Waste Management’, and invite specialists and academics to share their techniques and experience in controlling waste streams.” Felix Heisel will contribute his views on waste as a building material. For more information, please click here.

Wintersemester 2023/24
URBANE MINE im Markgräfler Land

Der Umgang mit dem Bestand wird eine der wichtigsten Aufgaben der kommenden Jahre und Jahrzehnte in Deutschland und Europa sein. An diesem kleinen, realitätsbezogenen Projekt trainieren wir wichtige Techniken und Grundlagen mit der Aussicht auf Realisation Ihrer Entwurfsideen. 

Der erste Teil besteht aus einem Rückbauworkshop einer bestehenden Holzscheune in Ehrenkirchen nähe Freiburg. Gemeinsam mit anderen Helfern wird diese Struktur an einem Tag abgebaut und eingelagert. Die rückgebauten Holzteile werden vermessen und so ein digitales Materiallager aufgebaut. Dieser einfache Materialpass dient dann als Grundlage für einen neuen Entwurf.

Der zweite Teil des Stegreifs besteht darin, mit den wiedergewonnen Teilen aus dem Rückbau einen kleinen Entwurf für ein Lager- und Servicegebäude für den Sportverein Ebringen zu entwerfen. Das ursprüngliche Gebäude ist vor einigen Jahren abgebrannt, die Reste sollen aber erhalten und in den Entwurf integriert werden. 

Alle weiteren Informationen beim Vortreffen am Mittwoch, den 29.11.2023

Wintersemester 2020/21 
Lern doch, wo Du willst

Entwicklung Prototyp “Outdoor Lern- und ArbeitsRAUM”

Das KIT braucht dringend neue Lernräume! Plätze in der Bibliothek sind gemessen an der Studierendenzahl rar und meist schnell ausgebucht. Auch Arbeitsplätze, vor allem Gruppenarbeitsplätze (2-6 Personen), sind Mangelware. Das AKK  (Arbeitskreis Kultur und Kommunikation) bietet nur bedingt die Möglichkeit im Sommer draußen zu lernen – es fehlt an einer entsprechenden Infrastruktur wie z.B. Steckdosen, Blend-, und Sonnenschutz und einem Dach bei Regen.

Deswegen soll im Rahmen eines Stegreifs des Fachgebiets Nachhaltiges Bauen gemeinsam mit dem Zukunftscampus KIT ein Prototyp entworfen werden, der Lernen und Arbeiten im Freien ermöglicht. Der Prototyp kann dabei beispielhaft auf einer Freifläche des KIT geplant werden, sollte aber einer möglichen Versetzbarkeit entsprechend mitgedacht werden.Ziel ist es mit Hilfe des „Outdoor Lern- und ArbeitsRAUMS“ gut gestaltete öffentliche und soziale Räume zu schaffen, und durch neue Landmarken eine Sichtbarkeit auf dem Campus zu etablieren. 

Der Stegreif ist als Wettbewerb ausgelegt und bietet Möglichkeiten zur Realisation. 

Ausgabe Stegreif: 09.12.2020, 12:00 Uhr
ZOOM-Link: https://kit-lecture.zoom.us/j/67908695156?pwd=QW9wZnV2Szh0NDUvUDFEL0J2SDFwdz09
Meeting-ID: 679 0869 5156, Kenncode: 997771
Betreuung: 08.01.2021
Abgabe: 23.01.2021
Preisverleihung: Februar 2021

Wintersemester 2018/19 
Mitfahrbänkle

Sechs Gemeinden – ein Ziel: die nachhaltige Entwicklung des Raum Bad Bolls voranbringen, um auch in Zukunft gut leben zu können. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen haben sich die Mitgliedsgemeinden des Gemeindeverwaltungsverbands Raum Bad Boll: Aichelberg, Dürnau, Gammelshausen, Hattenhofen und Zell u. A. (alle Landkreis Göppingen am Fuße der schwäbischen Alb) zur zweiten N!-Region Baden-Württembergs zusammengeschlossen.

Einer dieser konkreten Maßnahmenvorschläge ist die Einführung des Mitfahrbänkles an verschiedenen Standorten in allen Gemeinden der N!-Region Raum Bad Boll. Das Mitfahrbänkle ist ein niederschwelliges privates Mitfahrangebot, mit dem das vorhandene ÖPNV-Angebot ergänzt werden kann.

Genauere Informationen bei der Ausgabe am 08.10.2018

Wintersemester 2017/18 
Ein Leitsystem für die Bundesgartenschau

Unter dem dramatischen Eindruck schwindender Ressourcen und der negativen Auswirkungen unseres Handelns auf die Umwelt rückt die Dringlichkeit zu einem nachhaltigen Ressourcen-umgang und einem Materialeinsatz in geschlossenen Kreisläufen immer stärker in unser Bewusstsein. Die BUGA 2019 GmbH hat als Ausrichter der kommenden Bundesgartenschau in Heilbronn ihre große Chance erkannt, diese Thematik aufzugreifen und öffentlichkeitswirksam Wege einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung aufzuzeigen. Wir wurden daher von der BUGA GmbH gebeten, ein innovatives, temporäres Leitsystem zum Thema „Building from Waste“ zu entwickeln. In diese Frage möchten wir Sie in Form dieses Stegreifs mit einbeziehen, um ein möglichst großes Spektrum möglicher Konzepte zu entwickeln. Ausgewählte Entwurfsergebnisse werden den Verantwortlichen der BUGA vorgestellt und haben somit das Potential, für die Bundesgartenschau 2019 in die Praxis umgesetzt zu werden.

Hebel, Dirk E., Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel (2015). Building from Waste, Albenaa Magazine 36 / 302 (HVAC R EXPO SAUDI): 48–79.

Waste is a result of any human action and interaction, bringing raw natural materials – understood so far as our sole form of resources – from one stage of being into another, by applying various forms of skills and energy. In this sense, waste was seen for centuries as something specific which neither belonged to the family of natural resources nor to the one of finished products. Waste was a by-product, unable to be categorized in our dialectic understanding of raw vs. configured. But waste could also be understood as an integral part of what we define as a resource. We would thereby acknowledge its capacity to figure as the required substance or matter from which to construct or configure a new product. And at the same time, the product could be seen as the supply source for other artifacts, after its first life span. This metabolic thinking understands our built environment as an interim stage of material storage, or to say it in the words of Mitchell Joachim: “The future city makes no distinction between waste and supply.”

Jorisch, Philippe (2016). Charismatische Ökonomie; Die Geschichte als Ideenpool für neue Architektur, in: Archithese online.

We are planning 140 new apartments together with the Gemeinnützigen Bau- und Mietergenossenschaft Zürich (GBMZ) in District 4 in Zurich. We design our buildings according to the principle of „building for disassembly“ in order to allow not only their construction but also the complete dismantling and hence the genuine reusability of all materials.

For more information about the studio, please click here.
To register, please use the ETH platform (ETH students only)

We travel to Switzerland and southern Germany, in search of groundbreaking approaches in the production of buildings. It is the goal to understand technical frameworks and to experience the built reality and today’s opportunities in terms of prefabrication and energy issues.

For further information, please click here.
To register, please use the ETH platform (ETH students only).

Public lecture by Alireza Javadian, PhD researcher in the Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, on November 26^th at  ENAC | School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering at EPFL in Lausanne titled “ Bamboo, The Green Reinforcement “. This talk introduced the research on new bamboo composite materials carried out at Advanced Fiber Composite Laboratory in Singapore and Zürich, featuring high tensile capacity composites with applications for building and construction sector.

Selected exhibition pieces of the architektur0.15 Werkschau are on display at the Bauarena Volketswil from November 2015 until 15th January 2016, including the New York Waste Vault by the Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel and the Block Research Group. A public tour will be held on December 8th at 6:30 pm where the project authors will be present and explain their designs to interested visitors.

For further information, please visit www.bauarena.ch

Public Lecture by Felix Heisel as part of this years ETH Treffpunkt Science City “Rohstoff Erde” on 15th November 2015. Titled “Die Stadt der Zukunft”, the lecture will address waste as a resource for resilient future cities in the hope for a paradigm shift where we stop to distinguish between waste and supply.

The full program of the ETH Treffpunkt Science City can be found here.

Hebel, Dirk E. and Felix Heisel (2015). Constructing Alternatives – Research Projects 2012-2015, FCL Magazin Special Issue (October 2015)

The FCL Magazine Special Issue gives an overview of the research by the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel between 2012 and 2015 in Singapore at the Future Cities laboratory and the ETH Zürich.  So far underused or forgotten substances such as bamboo, sand substitutes, and waste, as well as questions on architectural and urban design strategies putting these in the center of investigation illustrate the overall aim to activate a alternative building methods and construction technologies and with it an informed understanding of “Constructing Alternatives”.

Fairs, Marcus (2015). Bamboo Fibre Is Stronger and Cheaper than Steel, Says Dirk Hebel, Dezeen Magazine (online).

Bamboo could “revolutionise the building industry” and replace steel as the dominant reinforcing material, according to a professor who is working on new applications for the grass. Speaking at WAF in Singapore today, Dirk Hebel said that bamboo fibre could be used as a more sustainable and far cheaper alternative to steel on construction sites.

The Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel and the Block Research Group Prof. Philippe Block are exhibiting the New York Waste Material Pavilion which was designed for the 2015 IDEAS CITY FESTIVAL in NYC at the architektur_0.15 exhibition in Zürich from 31. October to 03. November.

From the curator:
“Are Swiss architects only capable of designing boring buildings?” asked Felix E. Müller, editor-in-chief of the NZZ AM SONNTAG newspaper in his lead article, and went on: “The building boom is plowing up our towns. Unfortunately, the new buildings all look the same. There is no spark of originality, sensuality or experimentation.” Is that really true? We don’t think so. And so in 2014 we staged our third “architektur” exhibition in the 3,500m² Maag EventHall in Zürich, in part to prove that Felix E. Müller really had got it wrong.

The aim of the “architektur” exhibition is to provide a representative image of the many different facets of Swiss national architectural work. The “architektur” exhibition offers the largest platform for networking and exchange between architects, customers, suppliers and the general public.”

Detailed information here or on Facebook.

Hebel, Dirk E., Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel (2015). Waste Not, Want Not, in: Land Journal High flyers (October/November 2015): 18–19

The potential to reuse the world’s growing piles of waste in the circular economy is discussed by Dirk E. Hebel, Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel.

Methels, Katharina (2015). Smart nach Plan, in: WirtschaftsWoche Global Singapur: Ansichten eines Stadtstaates(1/15): 44–49.

Fast alle Schwellenländer müssen ihre Baustoffe zu Preisen importieren, die der Westen diktiert. Bambus hingegen kostet nicht nur einen kleinen Bruchteil vom Stahlpreis, er wächst auch überall dort, wo derzeit die neuen Megacitys entstehen: Südostasien, Afrika, Südamerika.

Public lecture by Asst. Prof Dirk E. Hebel at the fifth World Sustainability Forum in Basel, Switzerland on September 7th, 2015. From the organizers: “The 5th World Sustainability Forum aims to be a platform for researchers to present and engage with research-relevant stakeholders on issues relating to sustainability. We seek to contribute to policy-relevant, change-oriented, and transdisciplinary research and collaboration from science and technology, the life sciences, and the social sciences.”

Hebel, Dirk E (2015). Technologie: Material und Technik – Dirk Hebel. in BodenSchätzeWerte, Unser Umgang mit Rohstoffen, focusTerra, 1st ed., 22–23. Zürich: ETH Zurich.

Mineralische und fossile Ressourcen sind ein endliches Gut auf unserem Planeten.
Derzeit überführt unsere lineare Ökonomie diese Ressourcen meistens in Produkte, aus welchen dann Abfall entsteht, der weder mineralisch noch fossil ist. Können wir dieses Denkmuster durch ein Modell der zirkulierenden Ökonomie ersetzen? Oder können wir uns sogar einen Paradigmenwechsel vorstellen, in dem unsere gebaute Umwelt ihre benötigten Baumaterialien unbegrenzt wachsen lässt und so Ressourcen schafft, die unendlich zur Verfügung stehen?

The E4D winter school 2016 aims to develop an integrated vision to a global challenge of today’s construction industry. The programme revolves around the so-far untapped resource desert sand and the question of how to activate its potential as an alternative building material for future cities. Invited experts from around the world will share their knowledge and give insights in their field of research. Participants will not only learn the theoretic background of this resource but experiment with current and future technologies to transform desert sand. Through three workshops (i) bio-cementation, (ii) sintering and (iii) 3D printing, the acquired knowledge will be tested and applied.

The E4D Winter School 2016 is organised in collaboration with ETH Global and the TU Berlin Campus in El Gouna, Egypt.

Further information and detailed program can be found here. Applicants please follow this link.

On August 24, focusTerra opened its new exhibition entitled “BodenSchätzeWerte” or Earth’s Treasures at the ETH Zurich NO Building. Focusing on the past and future’s use of our earth’s resources, the exhibition also features several research topics of the Assistant Professorship for Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel.

From the curator:
Mineral resources play a fundamental role in our daily lives. We take their availability for granted and their worldwide consumption is steadily on the rise. What are the long-term consequences of our increasing use of non-renewable resources? What challenges lie ahead for us?

This exhibition is about the formation, mining and use of mineral resources, and how we deal with products we no longer need. What can we do to ensure that resources are extracted in an economical, environmentally friendly and socially responsible way and that they are used and reused for as long and as efficiently as possible?

The exhibition will be on display from 25th August 2015 until 28th February 2016.
More information can be found here.

In the Fall Semester 2015, the design studio of Asst. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel will be planning a school in rural Cambodia within an existing village structure, about two hours north of the capital Phnom Penh. The school consists of several classrooms, a cafeteria, an auditorium as well as medical and infrastructural buildings.

For further information please visit here.
To inscribe into the design studio, please click here (ETH intranet).

Clay, Arthur and Felix Heisel (2015). Augmented Increments – An Interview with Felix Heisel, in On Science On Art On Society – Interviews with Innovators, eds. Arthur Clay, Monika Rut, and Timothy J. Senior, 76–79. DAW International.

Watch the ETH Zurich Pavilion being built.

El khouli, Sebastian (2015). Vermeiden, Vermindern, Verwerten, TEC21, 26-27 (Material II: Elementares Bauen).

The reduction of waste starts with design and consumption. The examples in this issue show manifold and pragmatic approaches on how to avoid a throw-away mentality in architecture. The book and exhibition ‘Building from Waste’ sets the theoretical background for the discussed projects.

The Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel welcomes its new team members for the Fall Semester 2015: Philippe Jorisch is joining the teaching team at the ETH Zürich in Switzerland, Davide Fracasso and Simon Lee will be researching at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore.