Professur Nachhaltiges Bauen / Sustainable Construction

Against the backdrop of the climate crisis, the exhibition Critical Zones at ZKM questions the way we deal with our living space on earth. The exhibition explores new and possible forms of coexistence between all forms of life and shows ways of dealing with the current critical situation.

With the presentation of the MycoTree, the Chair of Sustainable Construction of the KIT Faculty of Architecture wants to contribute to this important discourse.

After all, future economic and ecological development worldwide is strongly linked to the question where our resources for future prosperity will come from. As our mines dry up and CO2 levels reach alarming levels, we have to radically rethink in all economic sectors. Until now, the earth’s natural resources have been extracted and disposed of in a linear process. This approach has profound consequences for our planet, which will become even worse unless a circular process is installed. Fungal research aims to establish new biological cycles in the construction industry.

HFG_BIO-DESIGN-LAB_4

HFG_BIO-DESIGN-LAB_3

HFG_BIO-DESIGN-LAB_2

HFG_BIO-DESIGN-LAB_1

Images: Arno Kohlem and the Bio Design Lab HfG Karlsruhe

View the exhibition: https://zkm.de/en/exhibition/2020/05/critical-zones

The student exercise ‘Vom Gartenhaus zum Räumling’ aimed to validate the potential of the urban mine. Using a garden shed near Karlsruhe as material depot, we carefully deconstructed the house and diligently documented each element. As a group, the students then designed a spatial installation utilizing only the harvested elements using no glue or permanent fixtures. After all, also this installation had to be designed for disassembly, providing building materials for yet another structure.

Project credits:
Mohammad Mouaz Alez, Katharina Blümke, Laura Maria Ganz, Felix Heisel, Ann-Kathrin Holmer, Hannah Hopp, Marie Kamp, Sophie Klaß, Antonia Kniep, Jan Matthies, Katrin Oldörp, Manuel Rausch, Andrea Cecilia Santos Rodríguez, Pia Antonia Thissen, Arta Topallaj, Lars-Erik de Vries

From shed to spatial object / Vom Gartenhaus zum Räumling by Felix Heisel on Vimeo.

The RoofKIT website is online. It informs about the work of the Team RoofKIT in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2021 competition and shows first results of the Wintersemester 19/20 at the KIT Faculty of Architecture.
More information at: www.roofkit.de

Model Venice Biennale 1

Model Venice Biennale 2020

Model Venice Biennale 2020

Model Venice Biennale 2020

Model Venice Biennale 2020

Model Venice Biennale 2020

Model Venice Biennale 2020

Model Venice Biennale 2020

The Professorship of Sustainable Construction at KIT Faculty of Architecture together with Marc Angelil of ETH Zürich and Bisrat Kifle of EiABC in Addis Ababa are presenting their long-standing research on Ethiopia and its capital Addis Ababa at the Venice Biennale 2020.

In Addis Ababa, the hybridization of territory comes in the form of shiny ensembles overshadowing indigenous settlements, traffic arteries disrupting the labyrinth of pedestrian paths, and agro-industries springing up next to what is left of subsistence farms, to mention just a few of the more striking spatial juxtapositions – and all this superimposed on the residue of past layers of nation-building processes. 

Woven into this already complicated spatial hybrid are mixed modes of social organization (ethnic affiliations, religious groups, agricultural cooperatives, neighborhood associations, trade unions), along with various modes of production (agricultural, industrial, microentrepreneurial, service-oriented), all coexisting in multiple forms to produce a composite economy, including those practices that are considered informal.

This is the terrain on which the coming iterations of Ethiopia will have to be articulated, rather than it being wished away in some blank-slate development venture or beautification scheme.

The installation Quo Addis? – Conflicts of Coexistence (in the Co-habitats section of the exhibition) includes a fictional model of the city of Addis Ababa. The model is made of multiple layers, each representing a particular political regime whose traces remain in Addis Ababa’s urban socio-spatial fabric: (a) the Age of Empire, 1889–1936; (b) the Italian occupation, 1936–1941; (c) US- and European-sponsored modernization under Haile Selassie, 1941–1974; (d) the USSR-backed socialist regime, 1974–1991; (e) European Development Assistance, 1991-2005; (f) Meles Zenawi’s grands projets, 2005-2012; and (g) contemporary mega-development ventures sponsored by foreign actors – UAE, Saudi Arabia, China, etc. (2012-today).

To this amalgam, one more layer is added – namely, one foregrounding alternative ways of how Addis Ababa might live together.

Team: Marc Angélil, Dirk Hebel, Felix Heisel, Jenny Rodenhouse, Bisrat Kifle Woldeyessus

Willy Abraham, Nikolai Babunovic, Emmanuel Bekele Fulea, Katharina Blümke, Elena Boerman, Uta Bogenrieder, Sascha Delz, Sarah Graham, Andreas Heil, Ben Hooker, Philipp Jager, Anita Knipper, Ephrem Mersha Wolde, Manfred Neubig, Manuel Rausch, Bernd Seeland, Cary Siress, Sonja Steenhoff, Marta H. Wisniewska

Luca Diefenbacher, Georg Heil, Sebastian Kreiter, Selin Onay, Rouven Ruppert, Philipp Schmider, Julius Schwartz, Clemens Urban

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.

Registration cand more information at www.arch.kit.edu/aktuelles/grow-build-repeat

Download Agenda: grow.build.repeat._Description&Programme (1,1 MB)

Michael Hosch received this honorable mention award with his semester project “MICMAC – MICRO UNITS – MACRO BENEFITS”, conceived in the 5th semester of bachelor studies at KIT under the guidance of the Professorships Sustainable Construction (Hebel, Lenz, Rausch), Building Physics (A. Wagner) , Structural Design (M. Pfeifer) and Building Economy (K. Fischer). The university initiative “Modern Expansion and Lightweight Construction” has set itself the task of working together with universities to advance teaching in this field by organizing – among other activities – this university competition.

Image © copyright by Thomas Müller

Lukas Gerling wins with his Master-Thesis “Future Fessenheim” developed under the guidance of the Professorships of Sustainable Construction Dirk E. Hebel and Landscape Design Prof. Henri Bava the KIT-Sparkassen Environmental Award 2019. His work on the future of the nuclear power plant in Fessenheim was seen by the jury as an highly impotant and socially relevant theme within the international border area of France and Germany. With extraordinary precision derived from his critical-theoretical approach, he developed a design that combines different interpretations, states of memory and fear, architectural elements from present and past, international actors and new local actions. The actual nuclear power plant transformed Lukas Gerling into an expressive “pioneer building” as a public space with offers for cultural exchange, cultural creation and meeting places. By transforming the former reactor building into a space of silence and introversion, Lukas Gerling proves his sensitivity to space and architecture in exchange with psychology and social responsibility. His work was carried out under the Dual Masters Program between the ENSAS Strasbourg and the KIT Faculty of Architecture in Kalsruhe.

Image © copyright by Karlsruher Institut für Technologie Allgemeine Services

Bei der Premiere des Preises wurden insgesamt sechs Bauwerke ausgezeichnet. Mit dabei: die Passerelle de deux Rives über den Rhein, die Kellerwirtschaft in Vogtsburg, eine Kita in Lahr und der Nachwuchspreis für die KIT Studentin. Den mit 2000 Euro dotierten Nachwuchspreis, der direkt von der Jury vergeben wurde, erhielt Anne-Caterine Greiner für Unterkünfte für Saisonarbeitskräfte in Schallstadt-Mengen, ein Semesterentwurf am Fachgebiet Nachhaltiges Bauen. Bei dem Projekt seien primär lokale Handwerker und Produkte eingesetzt worden, sagte die Architekturstudentin bei ihrer Dankesrede.

In the Winter Semester 2019/20, the KIT Faculty of Architecture will offer a lecture series on Sustainable Construction, organized by the chair of Sustainable Construction, Dirk E. Hebel. In total 13 lectures will address the history, state of the art, and alternative futures within the theme. Speakers are: Felix Heisel, Daniela Schneider, Prof. Daniel Fuhrhop, Prof. Andreas Wagner, Prof. Matthias Pfeifer, Prof. Markus Neppl, and Prof. Dirk E. Hebel. Please refer to the poster for actual dates. The lecture is held every Wednesday, 09:45 am in Lecture Hall 9 (HS09) at KIT Campus South, Building 20.40.

Poster Design: Uta Bogenrieder

Increasingly scarce resources and the resulting desire to turn away from today’s throw-away mentality result in the construction industry increasingly having to think about multiple use and recycling of materials as well as alternative construction methods. But what does recycling mean for the construction industry? The seminar “Bauen in der Kreislaufwirtschaft” on September 29th at the Empa NEST in Dübendorf will discuss how cycles in construction can be closed, which concepts already exist and where new solutions can be found. Felix Heisel and Sandra Böhm will provide insights into current research at KIT Karlsruhe and the construction of the Urban Mining and Recycling unit.

More information and the registration can be found here.

Dirk Hebel presented the team´s latest work at ASTOC Architects and Planners in Cologne on September 12, 2019. “Since 2016, ASTOC regularly takes time once a month to listen to colleagues who report on their projects or invited guest speakers on various topics relating to architecture and urban planning, to let us be inspired and discuss. This professional exchange helps us to share knowledge and to think outside the box.”

The Mehr.WERT.Pavillon at the BUGA Heilbronn has won a materialPREIS award 2019 in the category “Public Voting”. The award is organized by the material agency RaumPROBE Stuttgart. The pavilion design originated in the design studio Building from Waste of the Professorship of Sustainable Construction at KIT Karlsruhe (Felix Heisel, Karsten Schlesier and Prof. Dirk E. Hebel). It was further developed by KIT students Lisa Krämer, Simon Sommer, Philipp Staab, Sophie Welter, and Katna Wiese in collaboration with the Professorships Structural Design (Prof. Matthias Pfeifer / Certification engineer) and Building Technologies (Prof. Rosemarie Wagner / Structural form finding), as well as the office 2hs Architekten und Ingenieur PartGmbB. 

From the organizers: “The materialPREIS has been the only award in the architecture and design industry to focus on the development as well as the planning and use of special materials. The laureates of recent years have seen pioneering innovations, clever developments, outstanding buildings and visionary studies that stand out from the crowd. The high quality and innovative power has made the materialPREIS an appropriate seal right from the start. The submissions and, above all, the winners, are perceived very positively and considered in detail in the specialist world. The award recognizes special developments and new materials from the manufacturers as well as built projects by planners and creative people. Due to a changing, independent jury, only three awards are given in several categories.”

The international competition “beyond bauhaus – prototyping the future”, sought ground-breaking design ideas and concepts that address a socially relevant topic and provide creative answers to the pressing questions of our time. Almost 1500 projects coming from 50 countries applied for an award. The 20 award winners convinced the international jury with their ideas and concepts. The spectrum of entries reflects the challenges of our time: it ranges from food cultivation on the water to individually dosed medicine and new technologies for urban development to sustainable building materials. The Professorship of Sustainable Construction Dirk E. Hebel together with Philippe Block and Juney Lee from ETH Zürich (Mycotree) and Werner Sobek and Bernd Köhler from the Werner Sobek Group Stuttgart (UMAR) won two of the awards.

Renewable building material for the city of tomorrow

Steel and concrete—these are the first materials that come to mind when one thinks about building. But our resources are finite, which is why construction must break new ground. Scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) with its research outpost FCL in Singapore are leading the way by researching alternatives to conventional building materials. A result of years of research is “MycoTree”, a self-supporting structure made of fungal mycelium and bamboo. Design Team: KIT: Dirk E. Hebel, Felix Heisel, Karsten Schlesier, ETHZ: Philippe Block, Juney Lee, Matthias Rippmann, Tomas Mendez Echenagucia, Andrew Liew, Noelle Paulson, Tom van Mele, SEC/FCL: Nazanin Saeidi, Alireza Javadian, Adi Reza Nugroho, Robbi Zidna Ilman, Erlambang Adjidarma, Ronaldiaz Hartantyo, Hokie Christian, Orion Tan, Sheng Yu, Kelly Cooper

Closed material cycles in civil engineering

The world’s natural resources are limited, which is why we need to rethink how we use and reuse everything — away from linear material-consumption and towards an economy of recycling. The Urban Mining and Recycling (UMAR) housing and research unit of the Swiss research institute Empa at “NEST” is demonstrating what this paradigm shift in the construction industry might look like. Architects Werner Sobek, Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel have come up with a building concept that uses entirely separable resources, either reusable or compostable: mortar-free, folding walls made of recycled demolition debris, bathroom cladding made of recycled plastic chopping-boards, or mushroom mycelium as compostable wall-insulation. UMAR is thus not only a material laboratory but also a material depot. It is also proof that responsible use of natural resources and modern architecture can go hand in hand. Design Team: Werner Sobek mit Dirk E. Hebel und Felix Heisel, Bernd Köhler, Frank Heinlein

More information here.

The research-seminar “Build up!” (“Bau auf!”) was held in cooperation with the Staatliche Majolika Manufaktur Karlsruhe and the Professorship Sustainable Construction of the Faculty of Architecture at KIT. The students got to know the material ceramics as well as its traditional production methods. The challenge in the development of a ceramic building material was the synthesis of tradition and innovation. The production based on 3D printing, had to be justified in the construction or the materiality of the product. The results of the seminar include ideas such as individually combinable shading elements for facades, structures that can be planted and which are to air-condition the interior by means of evaporation cooling, or a brick that combines all the layers of a wall structure. The opening of the exhibition will take place on 17 June 2019 at 3 p.m., together with Prof. Dirk E. Hebel and Dr. Dieter Kistner.

Exhibition from 17 June to 12 July 2019
Location: Staatliche Majolika Manufaktur Karlsruhe,
Ahaweg 6-8, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Opening hours:
Tue – Fr: 10 – 18 o’clock
Sat/Sun: 11.30 – 17 o’clock

The exhibition “Local Stone” gives an insight into the new focus “Building Materials from Local Resources of our Region” of the KIT Material Library. Stone as a natural resource seems to be endlessly available. At the same time it is the result of a process that has been going on for millions of years and it`s mining always means a drastic intervention in ecosystems. Because of that the sensitive renaturation of former mining areas and the observance of short transport routes are essential. Finally, a sustainable, efficient and recyclable use of the material in architecture or other fields of application should be ensured.

In past epochs, natural stone stood for a massive construction method that was to radiate a certain social status, prestige, durability and solidity. Today we mostly know it as a popular material for curtain facades. New processing and construction methods using digital technologies, such as robot-assisted surface processing, are increasingly replacing traditional stonemasonry. However, this also resulted in a new aesthetic of surface design and new fields of application within architecture.

In the exhibition, the natural stone is presented in the form of samples using various regional species. These include sedimentary rocks, limestone but also gravel and sand.

Duration of the exhibition: 05 June 2019 – 05 July 2019

The winners of the „Hochschulpreis Holzbau 2019“ have been announced on May 28th 2019 at the LIGNA fair in Hannover. The jury chaired by Prof. Tom Kaden evaluated a total of 62 submissions from 32 professorships at German universities.

It is our pleasure to announce that Sonja Steenhoff received a recognition prize for her design „Tabaktheater“. The project is characterized by a respectful attitude towards an existing wooden building fabric as well as its persuasive integration of contemporary functionalities within it. Especially the revaluation of the historical structure through an convincing interior design strategy convinced the jury, especially also due to the atmospheric visualizations Sonja Steenhoff provided. The design was the outcome of a master-level studio project conducted under the professorship of Sustainable Construction Dirk E. Hebel at the Architecture faculty of KIT. Congratulations.

The first winners of the Baden Architecture Award have been announced. Last Friday, May 24th 2019, an international jury chaired by Dr. Ing. Fred Gresens all submissions spotted, reviewed and a shortlist with three nominees per category compiled. This shortlist was then presented in the Offenburg Hotel Liberty by the award initiator Jürgen Grossmann and patron Frank Scherer in the presence of all the jury members.

It is our pleasure to announce, that the “young talent award” goes to KIT student Anne-Catherine Greiner for her project “Naturgut Horner”, a pioneering idea for the accommodation of seasonal workers. The design was her 3rd year studio project conducted under the professorship of Sustainable Construction Dirk E. Hebel at the Architecture faculty of KIT. The prize is endowed with 2000 euros. Congratulations!

More information here.

At the KIT’s annual celebration, Professor Alexander Wanner, Vice President for Teaching and Academic Affairs, honored lecturers at KIT. The award winner at the Faculty of Architecture is Prof. Dirk E. Hebel with his team of the Professorship of Sustainable Construction.

With faculty teaching awards, the KIT board praises research- and application-oriented teaching modules as well as lectures and teaching teams at the KIT faculties, which are characterized by new forms of teaching and learning, interdisciplinarity and high relevance of the imparted expertise. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel and his team are also nominated by KIT for the Baden-Württemberg state teaching award 2019.

The Exhibition “Weniger.Anders.Besser!” opened on 21.05.2019 in the Architekturschaufenster Karlsruhe. Dr. Simone Kraft from Architekturschaufenster, Katharina Helleckes from Volkswohnung GmbH and Prof. Dirk E. Hebel, KIT welcomed numberous curious visitors. The Exhibition Design is a collaboration between KIT 3rd year Bachelor Students and the Professorship of Sustainable Construction Prof. Dirk E. Hebel, KIT. It was made possible due to kind support of Architekturschaufenster, Volkswohnung GmbH, Wienerberger AG and Holzhandel Kuhmann & Dill, Karlsruhe.

The Exhibition is opened until 25.05.2019. For more information see here.

The existing lack of affordable urban housing also concerns Karlsruhe. Socially acceptable densification is therefore one of the great challenges of these days.

Architecture students in their 5th semester at KIT therefore devoted themselves to the question of how good and forward-oriented living can be achieved in the future. The question was how living can be thought BETTER, so that OTHER typological models lead to a rethinking of architectural approaches in urban space, while consuming LESS land, as all designs were asked to be top-up additions to an existing structure in central Karlsruhe.

Ten of those design proposals are shown in the exhibition in Architekturschaufenster Karlsruhe, Waldstraße 8, 76133 Karlsruhe. The exhibition is a collaboration of KIT Chair of sustainable Building, Volkswohnung Karsruhe and Architekturschaufenster.

The opening takes place on Tuesday, May 21st, 19:00 h

Success for KIT master students: at the second Urban Mining Student Award cycle, students of the Master course “Glück auf am Theodorschacht” organized and taught by the Professorship of Sustainable Construction at the Faculty of Architecture were extremely sucessfull. They won the first, two 3rd and two recognition prizes.

The age of using fossil resources is coming to an end. Far away from the Ruhr area the last days are counted for the German hard coal mining. The Ibbenbüren colliery in the northernmost tip of North Rhine-Westphalia was one of the last two of its kind and was closed at the end of 2018. The surface facilities of the mine are located at various shaft locations and were asked to be re-designed and reused as a public cultural facility, understanding the existing structures and materials as a new ressource for architectural planning.

The award was organized by the agn Niederberghaus & Partner GmbH together with the University of Wuppertal (BUW) and the Association Urban Mining. It recognizes concepts, ideas and strategies for promoting a consistent circular economy. The reusability of the construction and the recyclability of the building materials, together with the reuse of used components and a high level of repair friendliness, are in the foreground of the considerations. Further criteria were the flexibility of the building structures as a prerequisite for reuse and reuse, low space and water consumption, the highest possible building self-sufficiency with low-tec solutions for operational and energy efficiency as well as the promotion of micro-climate and biodiversity.

Winning projects of KIT:
First prize winners: Sofie Fettig and Torben Ewaldt
3rd prize winners: Marieteres Medynska and Jasmin Amann / Ruth Meigen and Lisa-Maria Behringer
Recognition prize winners: Katharina Blümke and Paulina Hipp / Wenzel Meyer and Corinna Kernl
Sudio organization and teaching: Felix Heisel and Karsten Schlesier
Studio consolidation: Prof. Andreas Wagner

Vortrag JAN GLASMEIER – Simple.Architecture, Bangkok
Donnerstag 23.05.19, 15 Uhr, 20.40 Raum 136 Fakultätszimmer

In the fall semester of 2018/19, the Volkswohnung Karlsruhe and the Professorship of Sustainable Construction KIT Karslruhe teamed up and offered a special Bachelor Design Studio called Besser. Anders.Weniger! in order to address the existing lack of affordable urban living space in Karlsruhe. Designs for a socially acceptable redensification is one of the big challenges of these days. Architecture students in their 5th semester at KIT therefore devoted themselves to the question of how good and forward-oriented living can be achieved in the future. The question was how living can be thought BETTER, so that OTHER typological models lead to a rethinking of architectural approaches in urban space, while consuming LESS land, as all designs were asked to be top-up additions to an existing structure in central Karlsruhe. The studio was taught in cooperation with the professorships of Prof. Andreas Wagner and Prof. Matthias Pfeifer as well as Kai Fischer.

A selection of eight of these residential visions was presented at an event on April 16th 2019 at the headquarter of Volkswohnung, attended by Katharina Helleckes, Managing Director Stefan Storz and Mario Rösner.

The student designs and efforts made during the semester were rewarded by Volkswohnung Karlsruhe with a prize money of 3.500 Euro for the students.

Studio organization and teaching: Daniel Lenz and Manuel Rausch
Studio consolidation: Prof. Andreas Wagner, Prof. Matthias Pfeifer, Kai Fischer, Simon Schreiber

One of the new focal points of the KIT Material Library is “Building Materials from Local Resources of our Region”. This topic stands in addition to the reuse, recycling and cultivation of building materials, for a responsible use of resources.

Through the worldwide ruthless extraction of the most diverse raw materials and their transport across the globe, we have severely damaged our natural environment. It has been and continues to be exploited that in many countries there are insufficient or no regulations to protect nature.

In addition to research into alternative building materials, we therefore also focus on the environmentally friendly use of local resources, such as indigenous wood species. Through the KIT Materials Library, we can draw attention to this topic and provide comprehensive information. The collection of european wood species has recently been expanded. The exhibition “Local Wood” (“Heimisches Holz”) presents these new additions. Above all, the exhibition is intended to invite visitors to a haptic examination of the materials.

Duration of the exhibition:
15 April 2019 – 20 May 2019

Concept and organization: Sandra Böhm

What ideas and visions do the international generation of architects have for the use of the Multihalle as an open space for an open society in the sense of Frei Otto’s thinking? In 2018, the association Multihalle Mannheim e.V., the Association of German Architects BDA Baden-Württemberg and the IBA Heidelberg launched the international ideas competition “MULTIHALLE – DEMOCRATIC UMBRELLA” with this question. Chaired by Peter Schmal, Director of the Architekturmuseum Frankfurt and Prof. Georg Vrachliotis, architecture theorist at the Südwestdeutsche Archiv für Architektur und Ingenierbau in Karlsruhe, the jury not only agreed on the basic guidelines for the future development of the Multihalle, but also awarded three first place winners after a two-day meeting.

See here the link to the promoter’s website.

Karsten Schlesier was appointed as Professor for Structural Design at Hafen City University HCU in Hamburg, Germany. Before accepting his new position, he worked as a researcher at the Professorship of Sustainable Construction at KIT Karlsruhe and was a Visiting Professor for Structural Design at the GUtech Oman from 2014 till 2017. Between 2008 and 2011 Karsten Schlesier joined Addis Ababa University as a Visiting Professor, holding the Chair of Structural Design together with his Ethiopian counterpart Wondimu Kassa at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development. He graduated in Civil Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (previously TH Karlsruhe) in 1999. Working for different renowned engineering offices, he specialized in the fields of lightweight, membrane and glass structures.

His research activities are focusing on non-standardized and alternative construction materials. During his academic career, he realized various prototypical structures from waste products and cultivated building materials, lately MycoTree, an experimental structure from mycelium for the Seoul Architecture Biennale 2017 and the “Mehr.Wert Pavillon” for the Federal German Garden Exhibition 2019 in Heilbronn. He is partner of 2hs Architects and Engineer together with Felix Heisel and Dirk Hebel.

For a long time, ceramics were mostly used for pragmatic construction solutions. Today, a number of innovative technologies have given it a new significance within architecture. These innovations can be found in the material development, in manufacturing processes or in individual application scenarios. Generative technologies offer high potential in terms of resource-efficient production. This is because the layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process only makes material necessary where it is required due to aesthetic criteria and mechanical stress.

In the research seminar “Build up!” students dealt with the development of innovative building materials using ceramic 3D printing. The seminar was held by the Professorship Sustainable Construction in cooperation with the Majolika Ceramics Manufactory in Karlsruhe. The exhibition in the Material Library uses posters, material experiments and printed objects to illustrate the course of the project and further ideas of the group work.

Exhibition duration and location:
20 February to early April 2019
Material Library (Bld. 20.40, R 141)

Dirk E. Hebel speaks at the BAU Munich 2019 on the conference “Renewable, Rediscovered and Recycled – Materials for Sustainable Construction”. The public debate on the energy balance of construction increasingly focuses on the gray energy of buildings. This refers to the total balance of energy consumed in the manufacture, transportation, processing, use and disposal of building materials. Wood and other renewable building materials and resources are experiencing a comeback, especially in environmentally conscious sectors. The conference “Renewable, Rediscovered and Recycled – Materials for Sustainable Construction” addresses materials in and on buildings that are reusable, biodegradable or renewable, thus ensuring a better climate balance in the construction sector as low-CO2 building materials.

See the full program here.

Dirk E. Hebel speaks at the BAU Messe Munich on the question how serial and modular building systems can be a fundamental part of the circular construction economy.

See the full program here.

take. build. repeat. Symposium für ressourcengerechtes Bauen.
09.11.2018 / 9:30 – 18:00 Uhr

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.

Registrations at http://www.arch.kit.edu/aktuelles/take_build_repeat.php

More information at www.nest-umar.net

19 .11. 2 018
Eva Pfannes & Sylvain Hartenberg, Rotterdam in conversation with DIRK HEBEL

SESSION ON TERRITORY is a series of public debates on the political economy of architecture and territory. Focusing on how the epoch of the Anthropocene reframesbour conceptions of the urban and shapes new ecologies,mthe seminar’s objective is to unravel contemporary forces at work in the formation of the built and natural environment, and, as importantly, to spur debates that challenge the status quo. Every intervention by a guest speaker is followed by a panel discussion with invited respondents.

In his capacity as 2018 Harvard GSD Guest Lecturer, Felix Heisel is presenting a lecture titled ‘Resource-Adequate Construction’ on 26th September 2018 at Gund Hall, Cambridge, USA within the reCyclo Design Studio by Visiting Associate Professor in Architecture Caroline O’Donnell. For more information please click here.

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. 

Registration at detail.de/detailkongress

On 3rd Juli, Dirk E. Hebel will be speaking at the SFB1244 lecture series “Adaptivität als Utopie” at Stuttgart University. Titled “Material Architektur”, the lecture will start at 7pm at the ILEK, Pfaffenwaldring 14. For more information, please click here.

On 03. Juli, Felix Heisel is speaking at the Re-Cycle, Re-Use conference in Cologne about “innovative building concepts for the 21st century”. The full program and a link for registration can be found here.

 
Im Zuge der Industrialisierung hat sich unsere Bauindustrie verstärkt auf mineralische, endliche Materialquellen konzentriert, die aufgrund des intensiv betriebenen Abbaus unweigerlich zur Neige gehen. Das 21. Jahrhundert ermöglicht nun einen Paradigmenwechsel: Eine Umorientierung vom Abbau zum Anbau zukünftiger Ressourcen. Cultivated Building Materials stellt industrialisierte Wachstumsmethoden und innovative, kultivierte Baumaterialien vor, wie z. B. Zement aus Bakterien, Ziegel aus Pilzmycel oder Bambusfasern als Betonverstärkung. Mit dem Ziel, eine Brücke von der wissenschaftlichen Forschung zur Produktentwicklung und -anwendung zu schlagen, beschreibt das Buch den Beitrag einer breiten Palette von Fachleuten und Innovatoren.

Dienstag 12.06.2018, 17:00 Fakultätsbibliothek Architektur, Englerstraße 7, 1. OG, Geb. 20.40

We are pleased to invite you to the opening of the exhibition MaterialArchitektur in the foyer of the KIT Library at Campus Süd on 12th April 2018 at 3:30pm.

The KIT Library, the Library of Architecture, the Materials Library of Architecture and the Department of Sustainable Construction have jointly conceived an exhibition that is intended to raise awareness of the topic of materials in architecture. A selection of relevant publications from the last 167 years is shown. Selected material samples represent the subject matter of the books.

In addition to the treatment of established building materials, this exhibition also deals with the search for alternative building materials. There are books presented that show solutions and provide an overview of the current state of research.

Prof. Dirk E. Hebel will speak a few introductory words at the opening of the exhibition.
If the weather is fine, we offer a refreshment outside after the opening (in the rondel between the KIT library and the canteen).

Prof. Dr. Werner Sobek, Government councillor of the Canton of Zurich Markus Kägi, NEST Innovation Manager Enrico Marchesi, Prof. Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel (Photo Empa)

On February 8th 2018, Werner Sobek, Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel officially opened Urban Mining and Recycling UMAR, the newest addition to the Empa NEST. The project is underpinned by the proposition that all the resources required to construct a building must be fully reusable, recyclable or compostable. This places life-cycle thinking at the forefront of the design: Instead of merely using and subsequently disposing of resources, they are borrowed from their technical and biological cycles for a certain amount of time before being put back into circulation once again. Such an approach makes reusing and repurposing materials just as important as recycling and upcycling them (both at a systemic and a molecular/biological level, e.g. via melting or composting). This conceptual emphasis means that UMAR functions simultaneously as a material laboratory and a temporary material storage.

Felix Heisel, Empa CEO Prof. Dr. Gian-Luca Bona and Prof. Dirk E. Hebel (Photo Empa)

Visitors were very interested in the materials used in UMAR, in this case the mycelium wall insulation MycoFoam (Photo Empa)

Invited by Haute Innovation and Dr. Sascha Peters, KIT’s Sustainable Construction and ETH Zürich’s Block Research Group are exhibiting their recent MycoTree at the ELMIA Subcontractor fair ‘Material Revolution’ from 11. to 14. November in Jönköping, Sweden. MycoTree is a spatial branching structure made out of load-bearing mycelium components. Its geometry was designed using 3D graphic statics, keeping the weak material in compression only. Its complex nodes were grown in digitally fabricated moulds.