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After a successful start in 2023 with 450 participants, Forum Holzbau has decided to hold the Süddeutscher Holzbau Kongress (SHK) annually. The second event has now been scheduled for July 10 and 11, 2024 in Fellbach near Stuttgart. The congress, organized by Forum Holzbau, is intended to provide a platform for a comprehensive scientific and economic exchange on all aspects of modern, future-oriented timber construction.
On July 11 at 1:50 pm, Daniela Schneider will hold a lecture on “Building Circular: Materials – Joining – Documentation”. You will find her in block B4 with the main topic “Circular Construction”.
Our module BIO – Urban Biocycles Mycelium Digitalisation brings together researchers from the Block Research Group (ETH), the chair of Digital Building Technologies (ETH), Singapore (NTU), and Karlsruhe (KIT) to develop, utilize, and assess mycelium-bound composite materials in building construction.
This event aims to inspire new conversations regarding circularity in architecture and gauge the barriers and opportunities in utilizing bio-materials, with a focus on mycelium-based materials.
Each panel proposes a mix of experts in order to provide perspective on the industry and on the challenges and opportunities in utilizing mycelium-based materials in building construction and architectural applications.
Please register now for our event – Registration, Lineup, and Schedule here: BIOFRONTIERS
The KIT Department of Architecture will be holding a symposium as part of this year’s “BAU2023 – World’s Leading Trade Fair for Architecture, Materials, Systems”, which will take place in Munich from 17 to 22 April. The event will take place on 21 April from 12.00 to 13.30 in Hall B0, a hall with the motto “Investing in the Future”.
In this event, a discourse on the current problems in the use of concrete will be stimulated, the current and future possibilities of recycling old concrete into new concrete will be discussed as well as new application concepts and production formulations for concrete. It will be held in English.
Prof. Karen Scrivener, Head of EPFL Laboratory of Construction Materials, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Dehn, Head of KIT Institute of Concrete Structures and Building Materials and Koos Schenk, founder and director of SmartCrusher BV, are invited as speakers. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel will welcome the audience and introduce the speakers. The panel discussion after the lectures will be moderated by Dr. Thomas Welter, BDA federal manager.
DOES CONCRETE // IN A SUSTAINABLE WORLD // HAVE A FUTURE ?
WELCOME Prof. Dirk E. Hebel, KIT Department of Architecture, Professor of Sustainable Construction
INTRODUCTION THEMES – PROBLEMS, LIMITATIONS, ALTERNATIVES Prof. Karen Scrivener, EPFL Laboratory of Construction Materials, Head of Laboratory
NEW CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS – RESEARCH VS. STANDARDISATION Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Dehn, KIT Institute of Concrete Structures and Building Materials, Head of Institute
CIRCULAR RESOURCE ECONOMICS – HOW TO CLOSE THE LOOP OF EXISTING STRUCTURES Koos Schenk, SmartCrusher BV, Director
DOES CONCRETE // IN A SUSTAINABLE WORLD // HAVE A FUTURE? Dr. Thomas Welter (BDA), Moderator of Panel Discussion
We are very much looking forward to meeting you there!
The event is organized by the KIT Professorship of Sustainable Construction and kindly supported by Wacker Chemie AG.
Find out more about the symposium on the Symposium Event Page of the KIT Department of Architecture or on the Website of BAU2023 Munich.
Climate change is becoming a particular challenge for our urban life: our cities heat up particularly strongly in summer, and extreme weather such as heavy rainfall pushes infrastructure to its limits. Worldwide, almost 60 percent of people live in urbanized settlements, and the number is steadily increasing. As global temperatures continue to rise, so do the challenges facing cities and the people who live in them. In Berlin on November 8th 2022, several scientists talked and elaborated on the question of how to design and adapt our cities for such challenges ahead. The parliamentary evening was organizezed by Helmholtz SynCom.
On Monday, 7 November, Dirk E. Hebel was invited to the Bundestag by Kassem Taher Saleh, Member of the German Parliament and Chairman of the Committee on Housing, Urban Development, Construction and Municipalities, to discuss which recommendations for political action can be derived from Dirk E. Hebel’s research. Mr Saleh, a civil engineer by profession and member of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, was particularly interested in wood as a building material along the entire value chain (raw material availability and end-of-life scenarios) and strategies for a truely circular economy in the building sector.
Kassem Taher Saleh and Prof. Dirk E. Hebel, Foto: Marie Heidenreich/SynCom Helmholtz
At the expert discussion on “Innovative and Sustainable Building Materials” of the Green parliamentary group in the state parliament, to which Gudula Achterberg, member of the Heilbronn state parliament and member of the working group and committee on state development and housing, had invited on 21st October, science and practice met and identified future tasks for building and housing.
The speakers from science and research as well as from construction practice were united by the realisation that the current crises and global interdependencies can also accelerate developments in construction.
Keynote speaker Professor Werner Sobek received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in May as a thought leader for the built environment of tomorrow. The multi-award-winning engineer and architect insists on honest balancing when it comes to innovative and sustainable building materials: when it comes to the consumption of resources, be it sand, gravel, fossil fuels or precious metals. One of the other speakers advocated, for example, the introduction of a building type E for “experimental” for lighthouse projects, for which simplified standards apply in order to facilitate innovation. Dr Anne Braune from the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) advocated the use of pure, sustainable building materials and suggested as a parameter for approval: My building should emit a certain amount of CO 2 per square metre per year. She advocated looking “in the package insert” for building materials and for service life-adapted construction.
Dr Nazanin Saeidi, a researcher at the KIT Sustainable Building Professorship, presented an example of innovative building materials. Based on fungi, the award-winning material NeWood is suitable as a substitute for pressboard or for insulation. It is made from 100 per cent organic waste and is recyclable.
The event showed many developments that can and must revolutionise the way we build in the future. Nevertheless, the familiar and the tried and tested can help to overcome upcoming challenges in the construction industry.
Yesterday our symposium grow.build.repeat. took place. It was a great day with exciting and high-class lectures and interesting discussions. The Professorship of Sustainable Construction would like to thank all participants!
Many thanks to all viewers for watching, asking questions and for the great feedback.
Many thanks for the Organization: KIT Faculty for Architecture The kind support: Wacker Chemie AG Live Translation: KIT Lecture Translator, Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions – kites GmbH Social Media Support: Frank Metzger, Denis Elbl
Special thanks to our speakers: Prof. Dr. Hanaa Dahy, Prof. Eike Roswag-Klinge, Andrea Klinge, Dr. Henk Jonkers, Dr. Alireza Javadian, Prof. Dr. Marie-Pierre Laborie, Martin Rauch, Werner Schmidt, Diana Drewes, Dr. Michael Sailer, Mitchell Joachim
Many thanks to our panel discussion partners from Wacker Chemie AG: Peter Summo, Dr. Theo Mayer, Dr. Tobias Halbach, Dr. Peter Jerschow
Thank you for planning, organizing and preparing the event with us: AMP Aurora Motion Pictures, Jessica Decker, Sylvia Aust and Dr. Theo Mayer representing the whole team of Wacker Chemie AG
Due to the increasing number of infections caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we have decided to hold the symposium grow.build.repeat. online, which will take place on December 4, 2020.
The symposium grow.build.repeat. at the KIT Faculty of Architecture deals with one of the most urgent questions of our time: how can we drive forward a radical change of the existing construction industry while increasingly considering the breeding, cultivation, seeding, and harvesting of biological building materials and their system cycles? The symposium is the second in a series on the topic of sustainable construction. The first event (take.build.repeat. in autumn 2018) dealt mainly with mineral and metallic material cycles in the field of urban mining and its potential for sustainable construction. The second symposium, grow.build.repeat, now addresses the biological material cycle and presents future-oriented examples from construction practice and research. Representatives from science and industry, research, practitioners, decision-makers within our democratic society, as well as teachers and students will come together to discuss the future of construction in lectures and discussions and subsequently to actively participate in shaping it.
The event is organized by the Professorship of Sustainable Construction (Faculty of Architecture, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT) and is kindly supported by Wacker Chemie AG.
grow.build.repeat. Symposium on sustainable construction.
Nov/Dec 2020 / 18:00 – 20:30 h / Keynote Nov/Dec 2020 / 09:30 – 18:00 h
Department of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Egon-Eiermann Lecture Hall (HS 16) Englerstrasse 7, Building 20.40
The symposium grow.build.repeat. at the KIT Faculty of Architecture deals with one of the most urgent questions of our time: how can we drive forward a radical change of the existing construction industry while increasingly considering the breeding, cultivation, seeding, and harvesting of biological building materials and their system cycles? The symposium is the second in a series on the topic of sustainable construction. The first event (take.build.repeat. in autumn 2018) dealt mainly with mineral and metallic material cycles in the field of urban mining and its potential for sustainable construction. The second symposium, grow.build.repeat, now addresses the biological material cycle and presents future-oriented examples from construction practice and research. Representatives from science and industry, research, practitioners, decision-makers within our democratic society, as well as teachers and students will come together to discuss the future of construction in lectures and discussions and subsequently to actively participate in shaping it.
The event is organized by the Professorship of Sustainable Construction (Faculty of Architecture, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT) and is kindly supported by Wacker Chemie AG.
With 4 hours, the event is recognized as a continuing education measure of the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Architects.
Fachgebiet Nachhaltiges Bauen
KIT Karlsruher Institut für Technologie
Egon-Eiermann-Saal, Englerstr. 7, Geb. 20.40
The symposium take.build.repeat. questions the currently practiced throw-away mentality of today’s construction industry: Resources are taken, consumed and subsequently disposed of. Contrary to this linear concept of ressource destruction are ideas of closed material cycles, of newly conceived (re-)building technologies and, in particular, new business models of the circular economy. The symposium addresses the important question of how we can build our cities of the future in times of ever-growing global population and increasing resource scarcity without continuing to exploit and pollute our natural environment. The built environment must represent both a responsible present-day solution as well as the material bank for the future.
The one-day symposium will bring together representatives of science and industry, theoretical and practical approaches as well as practitioners and students to jointly shape the future of building through lectures and discussions. Speaking will be Prof. Dr. Werner Sobek (Werner Sobek Group / University Stuttgart), Prof. Dr. Walter R. Stahel (Product Life Institute), Prof. Annette Hillebrandt (University of Wuppertal), Peter van Assche (Bureau SLA), Jasper Brommet (StoneCycling), Stefan Rohrmus (Schüco) and Sabine Oberhuber-Rau (Madaster). The recently opened Urban Mining and Recycling unit (UMAR) at the Empa NEST in Switzerland by Werner Sobek with Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel will be presented in detail.
The event on 09. November 2018 is organized by Sustainable Construction at the Faculty of Architecture of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT and is recognized as Weiterbildungsmaßnahme by the Chamber of Architects Baden-Württemberg with 4 hours.
On October 16th 2018, Prof. Dirk E. Hebel is speaking at the Detail Kongress 2018 »No Waste! Ressource Bau« about the NEST Unit Urban Mining and Recycling by Werner Sobek with Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel. Located at the Oktagon of Zeche Zollverein in Essen, the congress brings together partitioners, researchers and positions aiming to promote a more respectful resource and energy use in the built environment.
On 07.07.2017, Felix Heisel held a public lecture at the conference “Kreislaufgerechtes Bauen” in Aachen, speaking about the NEST Module UMAR (Urban Mining and Recycling), which is currently under construction in Switzerland. The German magazine Recycling reported on the event with the words: “Felix Heisel vom Fachgebiet Nachhaltiges Bauen des Karlsruher Institut für Technologie forderte Architekten zum Umdenken in der Planung auf. Ein mit dem Architekturbüro Werner Sobek in der Schweiz geplantes Gebäude sei im Bau und zeige neue Möglichkeiten: Alle Bauteile sind hier dekonstruierbar und sortenrein trennbar, um eine Wiederverwendung von Materialien sicher zu stellen. Nur so können Gebäude in der Zukunft als Materiallager dienen.”
Magdalena Zabek, wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin des Fachgebiets Nachhaltiges Bauen, veranstaltet in Kooperation mit der Innovationsregion Rheinisches Revier GmbH und der Juniorprofessur Rezykliergerechtes Bauen / RWTH Aachen eine Konferenz zum Thema „Kreislaufgerechtes Bauen“ am 07.07.2017 in Aachen. Es werden Vorträge zu Bewertungsmöglichkeiten von kreislaufgerechten und ressourcenschonenden Bauten stattfinden. Felix Heisel wird seine Erfahrungen mit der Kreislaufwirtschaft in Bauwesen vorstellen. Neben den Vorträgen findet eine Ausstellung zu kreislaufgerechten und umweltschonenden Bauprodukten statt.
For the first time Young Academics were awarded with the DVL Lehmbaupreis at Lehm 2016 – International Conference on Building with Earth in Weimar.
The prize aims to promote the study of earth building in academic context. It recognises academic work of excellent quality that demonstrates a firm knowledge of earth building and makes a forward-looking and original contribution in the fields of design, construction, research or development.
Philipp Müller was awarded with the second prize for his Master Thesis dealing with reliability analysis of earth block masonry structures as it can be seen as a major contribution to the efforts in regard of the ongoing standardization process in earth building. For more information, please click here.
On Monday 29th August, PhilippMüller and Simon Lee speak at the 3rd International Conference on Bio-based Polymers and Composites. The Bamboo Fibre Composite developed at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore has a great potential as a viable and environmental friendly alternative for the construction sector. The talk will cover the newly developed manufacuring process and the mechanical properties of the material as well as give an outlook onto future challenges and opportunities for Bamboo Fibre Composites in the building industry. Bamboo-based building materials can replace steel and concrete and be a major contribution to a more sustainable development of the construction.
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.
Philipp Mueller will speak at the 12th 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.
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.
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.
Keynote speech by Asst. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the World Bamboo Congress in South Korea on September 20th, 2015. From the organizers: “In the last 20 years, the WBC as a series of Sessions & Demonstrations has grown to attract participants from more than 30 countries around the world, including world-renowned experts in bamboo design, construction, and architecture. For any professional that works with this amazing natural resource — whether a botanist, biologist, horticulturist, architect, artist, designer, businessperson, government representative, non-profit organization, or economist, the WBC has been an ideal opportunity to meet and develop collaborations in research and development, project or business development, while at the same time, advancing the social and environmental goals derived from the various applications of bamboo.”
Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel at swissnex SF
Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel at swissnex SF
Phil Ross- Mycoworks
Thom Faulders- Studio Faulders
Peter Ratto- Recology SF
Panel discussion at swissnex SF
Felix Heisel and Marta H. Wisniewska at swissnex SF
Waste NotPanel Discussion at swissnex San Francisco on April 21, 2015 started a week-long event organized by Mary Ellyn Johnson and the swissnex SF team around the launch of the Building from Waste book for the US market.
Future resilient cities will be constructed out of their own refuse. This hypothesis was the spark for the book, Building from Waste: Recovered Materials in Architecture and Constructionby Dirk E. Hebel, Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel from ETH Zurich and the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore.
Felix Heisel and Marta H. Wisniewska gave a conceptual and practical look at materials and products that use waste as a renewable resource during their presentation and panel discussion at swissnex San Francisco. From the local experts, Philip Ross (Mycoworks), Thom Foulders (Foulders Studio) and Peter Ratto (Recology), the guests could hear how mushrooms can be a viable building material, how experiments in architecture are incorporating unique products focused on sustainability and renewal, and how San Francisco’s Recology is working towards zero waste for the city by 2020.
Moderated by Dr. Barbara Becker and hosted by ETH Global on March 23rd 2015, Sarah Springman, Samih Sawiris and Dirk E. Hebel discussed the challenges and opportunities of Engineering for Development (E4D), a program of the Sawiris foundation and the ETH Zürich to promote the development of products and methods which are directly relevant for improving the livelihoods of people in developing territories.
At this years World Sustainable Building Conference, the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel presented two papers. In Session 48, Felix Heisel talked about “Bamboo Reinforcement – a Sustainable Alternative to Steel”, while Marta H. Wisniewska presented “Waste – a Resource for Sustainable and Resilient Future Cities” in Session 90.
You are warmly invited to attend the international FCL conference CONCRETE – SLEEPING BEAUTY on 26 November 2012 organized by the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at ETH Zuerich/FCL Singapore together with TEC21 and espazium Switzerland as media partners. Five projects will introduce and initiate a discussion on the state of the art of a century-long unchanged material use. Can we think of new application and production methodologies? Can concrete heal itself? Can it produce power? Can concrete be computated? Are there organic reinforcement possibilities?
Five international researchers from different backgrounds will showcase their work. They aim to change the way we think about the most used building material on the globe today. The speakers will be Francois Roche of R&Sie (France and Thailand), Matthias Kohler of Gramazio/Kohler (Switzerland), Hendrik Jonkers of TU Delft (The Netherlands), Thorsten Klooster of Task Architects (Germany) and Dirk Hebel, ETHZ/FCL (Switzerland and Singapore). The event will be moderated by Stephen Cairns, Scientific Coordinator of FCL Singapore.
New-Territories unfold their protocols through the re-staging of contemporary relationships: aesthetical, machinist, computational, organics, biological and even artificial. The group works simultaneously through the architectural practice R&Sie(n), the “new-territories” research Lab and the [eIf/bt/c] scenario studio. François Roche leads independently architectural research labs such as the Advanced Studio at Colombia University-Gsapp in New York.
Abstract: Concrete Insurrection
I’ve heard about something that builds up only through multiple, heterogeneous and contradictory scenarios, something that rejects even the idea of a possible prediction about its form of growth or future typology.
Something shapeless grafted onto existing tissue, something that needs no vanishing point to justify itself but instead welcomes a quivering existence immersed in a real-time vibratory state, here and now.
Tangled, intertwined, it seems to be a city, or rather a fragment of a city.
Its inhabitants are immunized because they are both vectors and protectors of this complexity.
The multiplicity of its interwoven experiences and forms is matched by the apparent simplicity of its mechanisms.
The urban form no longer depends on the arbitrary decisions or control over its emergence exercised by a few, but rather the ensemble of its individual contingencies. It simultaneously subsumes premises, consequences and the ensemble of induced perturbations, in a ceaseless interaction. Its laws are consubstantial with the place itself, with no work of memory.
Matthias Kohler is an architect with interests ranging from computational design and robotic fabrication to material innovation. In 2000, he founded the architecture practice Gramazio & Kohler with his partner Fabio Gramazio. Founding also the world’s first architectural robotic laboratory at the ETH Zurich, his academic research concentrates on a multi-disciplinary practice between computational design, robotic fabrication and material innovation.
Abstract: Computated Concrete
At the disposal of architecture in the age of computation is an evolving array of interoperable tools and processes that allow the fabrication of design propositions to be increasingly complex and adaptive. With this approach, non-standard constructive practices become an essential part where concrete is one of the most favored and used materials since almost any shape can be achieved. However, few solutions exist providing the efficient and waste-free production of concrete structures with complex geometries. This lecture presents recent research and attempts to address new potentials for non-standard concrete construction, which in conjunction with robotic fabrication allows for interweaving dynamic properties of the material with design and digital fabrication at full scale.
Hendrik Marius Jonkers is currently a teaching scientist at Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at the Department of Materials & Environment, The Netherlands. Prior to that, he worked as a research scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany, as well as the University of Groningen, Department of Paleontology and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (MT-TNO).
Abstract: Healing Concrete
In this research project the suitability of very specific but otherwise harmless bacteria are tested for their ability to repair cracks and thus significantly improve the durability of concrete structures. Such a bacterial repair mechanism would be beneficial for the economy and the environment at the same time, as concrete is worldwide the most applied building material. This new type of ‘bio-concrete’ would make costly manual repair unnecessary and would minimize the use of raw materials, as structures will last much longer.
In nature a huge number of different varieties of bacteria occur and some of these are likely well adapted to artificial man-made environments such as concrete. From a human perspective concrete may seem an extreme environment as the material is dry and rock-solid. However, this does not apply to a specialized group of bacteria, the ‘extremophiles’, named after their habit to love extreme conditions. Some of these bacterial species are not only known to love extremely dry conditions, but also to be able to produce copious amounts of limestone. This calcium carbonate-based material, as well as other types of bio-minerals produced by bacteria, could serve to seal or heal cracks in concrete. The major goal of this research project therefore is to find the right bacteria which can, when integrated in concrete, actively repair a structure during its 50-100 years service life. This newly developed self-healing bio-concrete is expected to result in significantly reduced production-, repair-, and maintenance costs. Furthermore, this bacteria-based concrete will be much more environmental friendly as traditional concrete, as less material is needed due to the extended service life of its structures. Nowadays the production of cement, the most important ingredient of concrete, contributes for 5-10% to the world’s atmospheric CO2 emission, and as less material is needed, a wide application of bio-concrete based structures is expected to significantly lower atmospheric CO2 emissions.
Thorsten Klooster is a Berlin based architect and the editor of the book SMART SURFACES AND THEIR APPLICATION IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN. He is a former member of the Technical Science Research Group at the Fraunhofer Institute (IPK) in Berlin and a teacher for architectural design and construction at the Brandenburg University of Technology. In 2007 he founded the architectural studio TASK in Berlin.
Abstract: Electrifying Concrete
“Electrifying concrete” talks about the development of a new concrete called DiysCrete that is able to generate electricity out of solar energy. DiysCrete is based on the technical principles of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC or DYSC), using the generating means of electrochemical reactions of organic dyes absorbing sunlight. It can be produced without toxic emissions from freely available components. DiysCrete can be seen as a possible way of approaching new materialities for the design process. Starting from the BlingCrete project on a light reflecting concrete, that began as a series of experiments with light-reflecting materials and the phenomenon of retroreflection, further novel materials derived, like the solar active DiysCrete and the conductive and responsive Magnetically Patterned Concrete. At large these are attempts for high tech low budget materials, trying to create novel ambiguous polymorphic substances that could be regarded as new manifestations of concrete.
Dirk Hebel is holding the position of Assistant Professor of Architecture and Construction at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore / ETH Zurich. 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 concentrates on alternative building materials and construction techniques and their application in developing territories.
Abstract: Bamboofying Concrete
Bamboo has been used as a construction material for centuries around the globe. The benefits of using bamboo are enormous: its fast growth, high tensile strength, and the capacity to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are just some of the most remarkable properties it has to offer. For decades, researchers around the world have searched for methods to activate those benefits for use within the building sector and transform bamboo from a locally applied organic material into an industrialized product. However, water absorption, swelling and shrinking behavior, durability, fungi attacks as well as chemical decomposition of bamboo have limited most of the applications so far. This research demonstrates that new bamboo composite materials, developed with Woven Strand Bamboo (WSB) technology, have the possibility to overcome most of these limitations and open new application fields within the building sector, especially in the concrete industry. The research conducted under the Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore entails investigating the potential to replace steel reinforcements in structural concrete applications.
Hebel, Dirk E. Interview: “Vom linearen zum zirkulären Kreislaufsystem.” Interview by Sandra Hofmeister, DETAIL 11.2024, Nov. 2024.
Building with renewable materials – Nature as a resource depot
October 29, 2024
Hebel, Dirk E., Sandra Böhm, Elena Boerman, Hrsg. Vom Bauen mit erneuerbaren Materialien – Die Natur als Rohstofflager. Stuttgart: Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, 2024.
Guest contribution: ‘Thinking, designing and operating in circular ways.’
June 27, 2024
Hebel, Dirk E. “In Kreisläufen denken, entwerfen und wirtschaften.”MÄG – Mein Häfele Magazin, 2024.
Interview: ‘Mycelium power for the construction industry’
June 10, 2024
Rubel, Maike, and Patricia Leuchtenberger. Interview: “Pilzpower für die Bauindustrie.” competitionline, 7 June 2024, https://www.competitionline.com/de/news/schwerpunkt/pilzpower-fuer-die-bauindustrie-7283.html.
‘Future building materials: mushroom, hemp and algae’ in neubau kompass
May 27, 2024
Müller, Janek. “Baumaterialien der Zukunft: Pilze, Hanf und Algen.”neubau kompass – Neubauprojekte in Deutschland, May 3, 2024. https://www.neubaukompass.de/premium-magazin/.
Interview: ‘We have disposed of valuable materials’
May 7, 2024
Sören, S. Sgries. “Interview: ‘Wir haben wertvolle Materialien weggeworfen.’”Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, April 27, 2024, SÜDWEST I 28 edition, sec. Sinsheimer Nachrichten.
Built on mushroom
April 24, 2024
Schweikle, Johannes. “Auf Pilz gebaut.”Stuttgarter Zeitung, April 23, 2024, sec. Die Reportage.
Organic Architecture – Fungus mycelium and flax as materials for the ecological building transition
February 13, 2024
Klaaßen, Lars. “Organische Architektur – Pilzmyzel und Flachs als Materialien für die ökologische Bauwende.” In Deutsches Architektur Jahrbuch 2024, edited by Peter Cachola Schmal, Yorck Förster, and Christina Gräwe, 198–209. Berlin, Germany: DOM publishers, 2024.
Circular construction – Circulation instead of demolition in “BUND-Jahrbuch 2024”
Redesigned Material Library at KIT in ‘Mitteilungsblatt des VDB-Regionalverbands Südwest’
January 8, 2024
Mönnich, Michael, and Sandra Böhm. “Neu gestaltete Materialbibliothek am KIT.”Südwest-Info: Mitteilungsblatt des VDB-Regionalverbands Südwest Nr. 36 (2023), 2023.
RoofKIT Wuppertal, Germany; Interview with Prof. Dirk Hebel
November 20, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “RoofKIT Wuppertal, Germany; Interview with Prof. Dirk Hebel: The aim is clear, we must forge the path ourselves.” In Sustainable Architecture & Design 2023/ 2024, edited by Andrea Herold, Tina Kammerer, and InteriorPark., 46–55. Stuttgart, Germany: av edition GmbH, 2023.
The existing building stock is the future resource
November 16, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “Der Bestand ist die künftige Ressource – Den linearen Umgang mit Baumaterialien schnellstmöglich stoppen.”Planerin – Mitgliederfachzeitschrift für Stadt-, Regional- und Landesplanung, Oktober 2023.
Article: Investigation of mechanical, physical and thermoacoustic properties of a novel light-weight dense wall panels made of bamboo Phyllostachys Bambusides
October 30, 2023
Gholizadeh, Parham, Hamid Zarea Hosseinabadi, Dirk E. Hebel, and Alireza Javadian. “Investigation of Mechanical, Physical and Thermoacoustic Properties of a Novel Light-Weight Dense Wall Panels Made of Bamboo Phyllostachys Bambusides.”Nature Sientific Reports 13 (October 26, 2023). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-45515-3
Building Better – Less – Different: Clean Energy Transition and Digital Transformation
October 16, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E., Felix Heisel, Andreas Wagner, und Moritz Dörstelmann, Hrsg. Besser Weniger Anders Bauen – Energiewende und digitale Transformation. Besser Weniger Anders Bauen 2. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, 2023.
From hunting, breeding and harvesting future building materials
September 27, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “Vom Jagen, Züchten Und Ernten Zukünftiger Baumaterialien.”Baukultur Nordrhein Westfalen, September 2023.
Building Circular
September 21, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E., Ludwig Wappner, Katharina Blümke, Valerio Calavetta, Steffen Bytomski, Lisa Häberle, Peter Hoffmann, Paula Holtmann, Hanna Hoss, Daniel Lenz and Falk Schneemann, eds. Sortenrein Bauen – Methode Material Konstruktion.Edition DETAIL. München: DETAIL Business Information GmbH, 2023.
Fungi
September 18, 2023
Schweikle, Johannes. “Fungi.” In Earthlike, 1:70–75, 2023.
Recent Contributions in “wohnen”
September 18, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “Die Stadt als Rohstofflager.”wohnen – Zeitschrift der Wohnungswirtschaft Bayern, August 2023.
Hebel, Dirk E. “Das RoofKIT-Gebäude der KIT Fakultät für Architektur – Gewinner des Solar Decathlon 2021/22 in Wuppertal.”wohnen – Zeitschrift der Wohnungswirtschaft Bayern, August 2023.
The City as Materials Storage
July 14, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “Die Stadt Als Rohstofflager.” Aktuell – Das Magazin Der Wohnung- Und Immobilienwirtschaft in Baden-Württemberg, 2023.
Building-Circle instead of One-Way-Economy
June 30, 2023
Ellinghaus, Tanja. “Bau-Kreislauf Statt Einweg-Wirtschaft.”Transition – Das Energiewendemagazin Der Dena, 2023.
Pure construction methods – circularity-based self-conception in architecture
June 14, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “Sortenreines Konstruieren – Kreislaufbasiertes Selbstverständnis in der Architektur.”Baumit, 2023. https://www.calameo.com/read/0011023184a57c4715124.
Building as a Project of Circularity
June 14, 2023
Reddy, Anita. “Bauen Als Kreislaufprojekt.” Engagement Global GGmbH, October 20, 2020. https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/frankfurt/frankfurt-setzt-auf-recycling-nach-abriss-stadt-wird-baustofflager-18707619.html.
Vivid Cycles: Reopening of RoofKIT on the KIT Campus
Wagner, Prof. Andreas, Nicolás Carbonare, Regina Gebauer, Prof. Dirk E. Hebel, Katharina Knoop, and Michelle Montnacher, eds. “RoofKIT.” In Solares und kreislaufgerechtes Bauen, 186–213. Wuppertal: PinguinDruck, 2023.
The built environment as a Resource
April 5, 2023
Blümke, Katharina, Elena Boerman, Daniel Lenz, and Riklef Rambow. “Die gebaute Umwelt als Ressource – Mit RoofKIT vom linearen zum zirkulären Verständnis des Bauens.”ASF Journal, March 28, 2023.
Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22
March 29, 2023
Voss, Karsten, and Katharina Simon, editors. Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22: Competition Source Book. 2023.
Mushrooms as a promising building material of the future
February 1, 2023
Wenk, Holger. “Pilze Als Vielversprechender Baustoff Der Zukunft.”BG Bau Aktuell – Arbeitsschutz Für Unternehmen, vol. 04/22, no. Rohbau, Sept. 2022, pp. 12–13.
Go into the mushrooms
December 20, 2022
Jeroch, Theresa. “In Die Pilze Gehen.”Die Architekt, November 2022.
How we build in the future
December 15, 2022
Niederstadt, Jenny. “Wie Wir in Zukunft Bauen.” Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft, December 12, 2022. https://www.helmholtz.de/newsroom/artikel/wie-wir-in-zukunft-bauen/.
The RoofKIT project as a demonstrator of solutions for today and tomorrow
December 15, 2022
RoofKIT, Karlsruhe. “Le Projet RoofKIT Comme Démonstrateur de Solutions Pour Aujourd’hui et Demain.” Translated by Régis Bigot. NEOMAG, December 2022.
