Professur Nachhaltiges Bauen / Sustainable Construction

Public forum discussion with Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the UN-Habitat Confrenece: The Urban Future in Naples, Italy, September 04, 2012. The overarching theme of the sixth session of the World Urban Form “The Urban Future” clearly signifies the need to anticipate, imagine and plan for the future in order to shape it in sustainable ways. The rapid pace of change from global to local levels and related complexities, uncertainties and connectivity necessitate cities to think ahead into the future and adapt their plans, policies and interventions accordingly. Promoting socially equitable, economically viable and environmentally balanced cities requires decision-makers to systematically examine and anticipate future trends, conditions and drivers of change. To become prosperous, innovative and competitive, cities need to critically examine possible and probable scenarios so as to work towards their preferred future.
The future offers enormous potential for achieving sustainable development targets in cities as it can be shaped through actions and decisions taken today.

While the term “future” bears several uncertainties, systematically analyzing the future presents an opportunity to identify alternatives that can guide today’s policies and development at the city, regional and national scales. Futuring is the methodical exploration, creation, and testing of a range of alternative futures to inform decision making, and allow better decisions to inform a better tomorrow. Thus, the objective of future analysis and visioning is not to project the “right” future or make the “right” decisions” but to make more informed decisions in relation to many possible projected scenarios.
Globally, cities have engaged in futuring processes at different scales and in various urban sectors so as to design policies and interventions that take future opportunities and risks into consideration. The results of these processes have not been without challenges, especially when it comes to being translated into action. In many other instances, cities seldom engage in foresight exercises and may be more occupied with addressing current and immediate needs and challenges, especially in developing countries. There is thus a clear need to rethink the role of futuring in urban management and governance to enable cities to better prepare for a complex, uncertain and rapidly changing global context.

UN‐Habitat has recently launched an urban futures initiative called “Futurban” to integrate futuring into urban policy and decision making processes. Futurban undertakes research to anticipate and analyze future trends, conditions and events in order to advance knowledge on the future of cities and contribute to enhanced policy and decision making. In addition, based on a rigorous analysis of alternative scenarios, Futurban assists cities to envision their preferred urban future and set realistic milestones for achieving it through innovative and visionary strategies. By building foresight in policy and decision making processes, it strengthens the ability of cities to capitalize on strategic levers to proactively shape their future.

The Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore is organizing an
FCL-SEC Fall Semester 2012 Seminar CONSTRUCTING WASTE.

Hundreds of tons of waste are produces in Singapore every day. These wastes represent an invaluable pool of resources, which could be activated by rethinking their designs. The ‘hands on the material’ seminar CONSTRUCTING WASTE will interrogate the concept of up-cycling strategies in order to minimize the overall refuse amount being produced in Singapore. The focus on design questions should create second life cycles for otherwise waste products.

The seminar will be conducted as a combination of input lectures, reading seminars and the production of full- scale up-cycling design products. Students will be asked to map the nature and flows of an everyday product through different research methods and finally to change the product design in order to influence both waste and material stock and flows in the future. 10 weeks of seminar will result in  project descriptions and an up-cycling prototype in full scale.

On a recent visit to China, CoReSing visited several factories for bamboo flooring. The so called WSB (Woven Strand Board) is commonly produced from 5-year old Moso bamboo culms, a fast and very tall growing species. After its harvest, the culms are immediately cut into approximately 2m long sections, sliced lengthwise into splits and finally processed into strands. They are then boiled and carbonized. Next, they are submerged into a pool of an adhesive agent and then left out to dry. Placed into molds, the pressing of the strands produces blocks of varying sizes. These can then be cut into boards or pieces as desired. To create WSB flooring boards, the most common application in this process, they will be sanded and coated with up to 7 layers of PV finish.

CoReSing is currently evaluating the possibility to incorporate this process into its research. During the visit, potential collaborations with manufacturers of machinery for bamboo processing as well as INBAR, the international network for bamboo and rattan have been discussed.

The Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore together with Heinrich Boell Foundation and the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development is organizing an international workshop to develope a vision for Addis Ababa in the year 2050. The African population is growing fast and urbanization will shape the coming decades. Existing cities are changing rapidly and new infrastructures and buildings are constructed at an enormous speed, ambitious plans are in place to create dozens of new cities from scratch. Currently, the focus of this development seems to be “catching up” with developed or emerging economies. In many cases, a ‘copy/paste’ mentality to urban development includes a repetition of the mistakes made elsewhere: expensive imported construction materials such as cement, glass and steel are preferred over locally available and more sustainable solutions, public spaces are diminishing, an increasing separation of working and living quarters enlarges transportation needs and traffic concepts concentrate on cars and individual rather than public transportation.

The aim of the workshop is to demonstrate the advantages of realizing bold visions rather than a continued ‘business as usual’ by envisioning a possible alternative development path of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa over the next 30-40 years. The results will be presented at a two-day conference held in Addis Ababa in October 2012, open to both an Ethiopian and a wider African as well as intenational audience of academics, politicians, government representatives from relevant ministries and authorities and experts from continental institutions based in Ethiopia. A particular focus of this debate will be on the opportunities of constructing much of the needed infrastructure for the first time in the context of expanding cities – as opposed to cities faced with the challenge of adapting existing infrastructure to new challenges.

PhD Candidate Lara Davis of the Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at SEC/FCL Singapore held this seven day intensive workshop to introduce students of architecture and urbanism and local technical-vocational (TVET) trainees to the concepts and practical aspects of building with earth with contextual sensitivity in Ethiopia.  For each day of the workshop, one half-day was devoted to field study and practical exercises, which allowed students to develop hands-on material-based knowledge.  Afternoon lectures provided the conceptual framing for theoretical study, documentation, and reflection.

The topics covered attempted to demonstrate the link between the fundamental properties of soil, its effective use as a building material, and strategies for context and climate-responsive design in earthen masonry.  Lectures and practical sessions addressed:  sampling and selection of soils in the field, properties and behavior of soil, empirical methods of soil testing and modification, chikka plastering and adobe block production, techniques and design principles of earthen masonry, mechanical properties of earthen masonry (compression, shrinkage and shear), construction of arches and vaults, applied structural principles, and climate-responsive detailing for weather and site conditions.  Beyond the various activities, students constructed a single curved earthen vault with the Nubian vaulting technique.  The workshop was concluded with student presentations.

Public lecture by Felix Heisel on Alternative Building Materials at the Global Cross-Disciplinary Tournament on Friday 28th, 2012.

The international conference Global Cross-Disciplinary Tournament (GXT) 2012 brings together 20 delegates from four universities – NUS USP, the Australian National University, Peking University, and Oxford University – to discuss problems and propose catalysts for change related to this year’s theme, The Future of Cities. The delegates from these universities are meeting in teams over 10 days in July to propose a cross-disciplinary catalyst with the potential to change a specific issue related to the future of cities in 30 years. They will each bring their unique domain knowledge and cross-cultural experiences in generating their ideas and in giving their presentations at the final symposium during their stay in Singapore.

Public lecture by Felix Heisel on Alternative Building Materials at the Global Cross-Disciplinary Tournament on Friday July 28th, 2012.

The international conference Global Cross-Disciplinary Tournament (GXT) 2012 brings together 20 delegates from four universities – NUS USP, the Australian National University, Peking University, and Oxford University – to discuss problems and propose catalysts for change related to this year’s theme, The Future of Cities. The delegates from these universities are meeting in teams over 10 days in July to propose a cross-disciplinary catalyst with the potential to change a specific issue related to the future of cities in 30 years. They will each bring their unique domain knowledge and cross-cultural experiences in generating their ideas and in giving their presentations at the final symposium during their stay in Singapore.

The Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel is guest-editing the fall edition of Ethiopia’s leading construction magazine: ‘Construction Ahead’. The 80 page issue “Constructing Alternatives” proposes a variety of alternative modern, and sometimes transformed building materials and construction methods. Although tested in and derived from an African context, their application can also answer the rising needs of other developing territories and turn them from import-oriented systems into self-sustaining, knowledge exporting nations. As we are located in Singapore momentarily, an additional outlook “Learning from Singapore…” wants to initiate a debate on the development of a local, African architectural language, considering geographical, climatic, social and cultural characteristics without falling into a copy-paste mentality of the Dubai Fever. “Constructing Alternatives” will be issued in Oct/Nov. 2012.

‘Construction Ahead’ is a specialized bimonthly magazine for engineers, industry academics, architects, construction material manufacturers and suppliers and related service providers. ‘Construction Ahead’ delivers keen insight and analysis of key construction markets, projects, products and trends.

Preparing Food. Today.

In 2052 there will be nine billion people living on earth, with the majority in cities. The recipe book Preparing Food. Today., and the ‘happening’ connected with its book-launch was a proposal for the Venice Biennale 2012. It introduces a change in attitude towards available recourses, as a possible solution to fill the prognosticated gap between production and demand. Diversification, here discussing the issues of ingredients and food preparation, will be an essential step towards sustainable, livable future cities.

First: To secure three healthy, nutritious, filling meals per day for all seven billion inhabitants will be the greatest challenge of our Future Cities, and especially their Hinterlands. Already in 2012, we are working feverishly to engineer crops such as rice, maize and wheat to increase yields so as to meet the growing demand. Preparing Food. Today. offers a selection of alternative ingredients to complement our existing menu to ensure food security in 2052.

Second: Our future world will certainly face determining challenges such as energy and water shortages. Since need is the mother of inventions, these issues will shape new technologies, our habits and our mindsets. Although the general way of food preparation has remained more or less the same throughout the past hundreds of years our tools, ingredients and recipes depict their times and crises. Preparing Food. Today. includes a chapter on how to cook in modern times, with less water and no fossil based fuels.

Third: Local cuisines are born out of their specific contexts. Social and cultural habits, as well as accessibility define what is on the menu. On the other hand, following latest trends, exactly these local dishes start to travel around the world. Sushi is as widely available now, as schnitzel or chicken rice. Continuing along this path, not only ingredients, but also menus and tastes will further diversify within the next 40 years. Preparing Food. Today. thus, gives an overview of recipes in the world of 2052, regardless of the region it will be used in.

Credits: Naomi Hanakata, Felix Heisel, Michaela Frances Prescott, Kashif Shaad, Martha Kolokotroni, Marta Wisniewska

Public lunch-talk by Felix Heisel at FCL Singapore on July 12, 2012. Addis Ababa, unlike many other African cities, has a history and city fabric to learn from. Even if the physical conditions of the informal settlements are very poor, the social networks, as well as spatial and cultural values developed and embedded in these areas are worth the preservation and study. Due to the current redevelopments, these parts of the city will change for good within the next years. Hence, now is the right time to document a century old way of living in Addis Ababa. We believe that its informal sector can teach important lessons about the use of architecture and its social role.

This movie is an cinematic documentary on the use of space in the informal parts of Ethiopia’s capital. Looking at one typical house for the duration of 24 hours, one can notice how a single room can serve for most daily functions. Interviews with the inhabitants and experts give further insight into the topic. “Disappearing Spaces” is the first of a series of documentaries on spatial developments in Addis Ababa.

Singapore is one of the highest populated areas in the world. Consequently, the stock and flow of waste became one of the most important challenges on the island in recent years. Understanding the flow of waste materials and mining this incredible resource is one of the interests in the research of the Chair of Architecture and Construction at FCL.

So far, Singapore is using mostly incineration plants to burn the majority of the unrecyclable waste material. Incineration reduces the volume of refuse up to 90% while the remaining 10% are later disposed off at Semakau Landfill, constantly increasing the surface area of the peninsula. This technology uses ash filled parcels in the open see. The amount of refuse production increases constantly, which leaves approximately 20 more years until Semakau Landfill runs out of space. Thus, innovative ways of waste handling have to be developed.

The Chair of Architecture and Construction at FCL initiated a design research seminar in the winter semester 2012, which focuses on design questions in order to minimize the overall refuse amount and creates second life cycles for otherwise waste products.

Felix Heisel will be holding a lecture titled Disappearing Spaces at the FCL Lunch Talk Series on July 12th – 12:00 (noon) at the Future Cities Laboratory.

Addis Ababa, unlike many other African cities, has a history and city fabric to learn from. Even if the physical conditions of the informal settlements are very poor, the social networks, as well as spatial and cultural values developed and embedded in these areas are worth the preservation and study.

Due to the current redevelopments, these parts of the city will change for good within the next years. Hence, now is the right time to document a century old way of living in Addis Ababa. We believe that its informal sector can teach important lessons about the use of architecture and its social role.

This movie is an educational documentary on the use of space in the informal parts of Ethiopia’s capital. Looking at one typical house for the duration of 24 hours, one can notice how a single room can serve for most daily functions. Interviews with the inhabitants and experts give further insight into the topic.

“Disappearing Spaces” is the first of a series of documentaries on spatial developments in Addis Ababa.

CoreSing invited Karsten Schlesier for a FCL Lunch Talk on July 5th at the Future Cities Laboratory in CREATE Tower.

Proto-Typologies: bottles and bubbles

Starting the design by the chosen material urges to think about structural principles and details matching the properties and being customized to the scale of design. Projects from the structural design education show solutions to a material oriented design approach of alternative construction materials. These prototype structures define typologies with a potential for further development.

Public lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the Design Research Society Biennial International Conference in Bangkok on July 04, 2012.

As urban populations grow so does the demand for materials and resources to support them. Where such resource demands were once satisfied by local and regional hinterlands, they are increasingly global in scale and reach. This phenomenon has generated materials flows that are trans-continental and planetary in scope, and has profound consequences for the sustainability, functioning, sense of ownership and identity of future cities. Seen from this perspective, the project for urban sustainability must be global in ambition, but cannot be a matter of applying a universal set of rules. Rather, sustainability requires a decentralised approach that both acknowledges the global dimension and is sensitive to the social, cultural, aesthetic, economic, and ecological capacities of particular places to thrive and endure.

Urban sustainability is therefore the capacity of densely populated conglomerates for a social, economic and ecological endurance. In this sense, the urban has to be understood as an open dynamic system with changing parameters characterizing long-lasting measures to achieve a sustainable behavior. In past decades, a phenomena of global “best construction practice” traveled through universities and building industries worldwide. Handbooks of sustainable construction, no matter in which location or context they were produced, were applied in a global scale, leading to a misunderstanding that sustainability could be measured as a universal standard. Sustainable construction methods must acknowledge their specific context und cultural setting, including the skills of local workers. Availability and origin of materials as well as their connection and economic as well as ecological value need to be taken into consideration, before deciding on certain construction methods. The context of a certain construction application includes the cultural space (history, religion, language, etc), the ecological space (which materials and products are produced locally with how much energy and other input sources), the ethical space (who produced the materials and products where and at which costs), as well as the economical space (which materials and products generated a local value chain and which are imported).

Public lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the Asia Green Youth Challenge in Singapore on July 2nd, 2012, a conference held as part of the WasteMET Asia Conference 2012 at Marina Bay Sands.

The Asian Green Youth Challenge (AGYC) is an environmental initiative by youth for youth to imagine and realise sustainable and innovative projects. Having recognised the mounting environmental challenges that Asia faces, AGYC seeks to promote ground-up innovation that is financially and environmentally sustainable.

The Embassy of Switzerland in Ethiopia with the Swiss Agency for Developmemnt and Cooperation under the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs invited Prof. Dirk E. Hebel as an representative of ETH Zuerich for a symposium on the future Swiss Ethiopian Research & Scientific Cooperation for Development held on July 28, 2012 in Addis Ababa. The forum will focus on Ethiopian experience and implementation of partnerships in Research & Science and on future fields, scope and modalities of Research & Science cooperation for development.

Public lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the Design Research Society Biennial International Conference in Bangkok on July 04, 2012. The conference hosts 500 world’s leading design academics and professionals for five days of discussion and debate with a special emphasis on the role of design in sustainable development. The conference will provide a platform for educationalists and practitioners in all design fields to share their experiences and develop plans for the future.

Public lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the Asia Green Youth Challenge in Singapore on July 2nd, 2012, a conference held as part of the WasteMET Asia Conference 2012 at Marina bay Sands. The Asian Green Youth Challenge (AGYC) is an environmental initiative by youth for youth to imagine and realise sustainable and innovative projects. Having recognised the mounting environmental challenges that Asia faces, AGYC seeks to promote ground-up innovation that is financially and environmentally sustainable.

Public lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at TU Delft on May 31, 2012. The modernist ‘proto-type’ followed the idea of one ‘ideal’ model configuration, applied in a serial way, while the ‘proto-typology’ defines a flexible and heterogenous form of organization, which can be changed and readjusted instantly and serve different cultural as well as contextual conditions. It is a process rather than a product. The lecture will show different case studies of prototypologies errected in the last years at the Urban Laboratory ETHiopia.

Addis Ababa/Singapore/Zuerich April 2012

The EiABC together with the Bauhaus University Weimar and the Chair of Architecture and Construction at FCL Singapore completed successfully the first construction of a double storey dwelling unit out of straw panels world wide. The so-called Sustainable Emerging City Unit (SECU) workshop arose immense interest from nation wide media and the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction. During the workshop, State Minister Heilemeskel Tefera announced to support the project to make the technology available for mass housing projects in Ethiopia. In near future, building codes need to be established, further research has to be conducted and production facilities need to be erected. The Chair of Architecture and Construction at FCL Singapore commited itself to be a strong partner of EiABC in the years to come to achieve these goals. We want to thank all partners for their immense energy and work, especially to all students who attended the workshop from EiABC, Bauhaus University Weimar and ETH Zuerich.

EiABC: Prof. Dr. Dirk Donath, Helawi Sewnet, Belay Getachew, Denamo Addissie, Ingo Oexmann, Jakob Mettler, Peter Dissel, Karsten Schlesier, Sami Tsegu, Fahmi Girma, Melakeselam Moges, Nejmia Ali, Mintesinot Tekle, Samrawit Tazezew, Henok Teshome, Habtamu Regassa, Aknaw Yohannes, Seyume Weldeyesuse, Estifanos Kiflu, Mohammed Jemal, Seife Abdulsemed, Nejat Hassen, Peniel Tekle, Regbe Hagos, Fruta Haddish, Samia Ibrahim

Bauhaus University Weimar: Prof. Dr. Bernd Rudolf, Stephan Schuetz, Timo Riechert, Michael Baer, Carolina Kolodziej, Nadine Wolz, Tereza Spindlerová, Paul Eikemeier, Mona Volkmann, Amelie Wegner, Johannes Martin, Victoria Goldmann, Anna Rodermund, Sebastian Linder

FCL/ETHZ: Asst. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel, Marta Wisniewska, Felix Heisel, Martin Kugelmeier, Sarah Sassi, Tanja Studer, Christian Schwizer and Nike Himmels

Special thanks: Chair of Building Construction EiABC Prof. Dirk Donath, BAM – Federal Material Testing Institute Berlin, AAiT, ICEAddis, D-Arch BUWeimar, D-Arch ETH Zuerich, ETH Sustainability, ETH Global, FCL Singapore, Chair of Information Architecture ETHZ Prof. Gerhard Schmitt, Strawtec Group AG Berlin Eckhardt Dauck and Dirk Niehaus, Frank Wildenhayn, Dr. Karola Hahn, Joachim Dieter, Fasil Giorghis, Prof. Elias Yitbarek, Bisrat Kifle, Teddy Kifle, Binyam Kifle, Prof. Dirk Donath and his energetic and highly motivated EiABC team

see also www.eiabc.edu.et/secu-project

National Media, Prof. Dirk E. Hebel, State Minister Hailemeskel Tefera, Prof. Dirk Donath, advisors to the State Minister

Photo credits: Marta Wisniewska.

Addis Ababa/Singapore/Zuerich April 2012

In collaboration with the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) and the Bauhaus University in Weimar, the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk Hebel at the Future Cities Laboratory Singapore, ETHZ is conducting a one-week workshop to construct a full-scale double-story building out of straw panels in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Five students of the Department of Architecture of ETH Zürich were offered the opportunity to join this international workshop, which concentrates on testing a building material, produced completely out of straw. New settlements are emerging in developing territories like Ethiopia almost every day, growing fast into urban conglomerates. One of the biggest problems in emerging cities is next to infrastructure measurements, available and affordable building materials and techniques for shelter production. The SECU (Sustainable Emerging Cities Unit) research project is focusing on the development of innovative and low-weight construction materials for emerging cities in developing territories, based on agricultural “waste” products like straw.

The company STRAWTEC© in Berlin developed over the last years a production system for pressed straw panels. Through heat, the natural starch in the straw is activated and functions as natural glue without any other chemical additions. So far, the panels are only used as non-bearing structural elements. The workshop will investigate possibilities to further develop the product and test construction methods for load bearing applications.

Puplic lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel on March 29, 2012 at the Goethe Institute Bangalore, India, organized by MoD Institute Berlin/Bangalore in the series ‘Talk of the Town’. The lectures series, under the banner of the year of Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities, is organized around the themes of ‘SEE’, ‘ACT’ and ‘BUILD’ respectively, to critically address various issues related to urban transformation in India in applied and innovative ways. The first lecture began with Richard Saul Wurman’s famous call for ‘making the city observable’ to interrogate different practices of seeing the city through cartography and other visual means and how those shape our everyday urban experiences and decisions. The second lecture ‘ACT’ will gather urban practitioners and actors to discuss and compare various strategies and tactics undertaken by them to intervene in city processes. The discussion will focus on how specific ways of ‘acting’ or ‘intervening’ in the city can create or dismantle urban hierarchies, and also what examples of ‘acting’ in the city can be found in the urban discourse in India.