Professur Nachhaltiges Bauen / Sustainable Construction

Left to Right: Rodaina Koraa, Sandra Böhm, Elena Boerman, Han Jun Yi, Prof. Dirk E. Hebel, Fanny Amelie Hirt, Zegeye Cherenet Mamo

Master of Architecture, ETH Zurich, 1998
Master of Architecture, Princeton University, 2000

Contact: dirk.hebel@kit.edu

Professor of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe 2017-present / Dean of the Faculty of Architecture KIT 2019-present / Principal Investigator at FCL Singapore 2012-2020 / Assistant Professor of Architecture and Construction ETH Zurich 2012-2017 / Founding Scientific Director of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development EiABC 2009-2012 / Visiting Critic Cornell University 2017 / Guest Lecturer Princeton University, USA, 2008 / Guest Professor Syracuse University, USA, 2008 / Visiting Lecturer, American University of Sharjah, UAE, 2005 and 2006

Dirk E. Hebel is Professor of Sustainable Construction and the Dean of the Department of Architecture at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT, Germany. Prior to that, he was Assistant Professor of Architecture and Construction at ETH Zürich, Switzerland and a Principal Investigator at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. He was also the Founding Scientific Director of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was as well Guest Professor at Syracuse University, Guest Lecturer at Princeton University, and Hans and Roger Strauch Visiting Critic at Cornell University.

He is the author of numerous book publications, lately Sortenrein Bauen (2023, DETAIL with Ludwig Wappner et. al.), Clean Energy Transition and Digital Transformation (2023, Birkhäuser with Felix Heisel, Andreas Wagner and Moritz Dörstelmann), Circular Construction and Circular Economy (2022, Birkhäuser with Felix Heisel and Ken Webster), Urban Mining und Kreislaufgerechtes Bauen (Urban Mining and Circular Construction) (2021, Fraunhofer Verlag, with Felix Heisel), Addis Ababa: A Manifesto on African Progress (2018, Ruby Press, with Felix Heisel, Marta Wisniewska and Sophie Nash), Cultivated Building Materials (2017, Birkhäuser, with Felix Heisel), SUDU – The Sustainable Urban Dwelling Unit (2015, Ruby Press, with Melakeselam Moges and Zara Gray), Building from Waste: Recovered Materials in Architecture and Construction (2014, Birkhäuser, with Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel), and Cities of Change: Addis Ababa (2009/2016 (2nd revised edition), Birkhäuser, with Marc Angélil). In 2008, he published the book Deviations (2008, Birkhäuser, with Marc Angélil), an experiment in architectural design pedagogy and in 2005 Bathroom Unplugged (2005, Birkhäuser, with Jörg Stollmann).

Currently, Dirk E. Hebel is co-founder and partner of 2hs Architekten und Ingenieur PartGmbB Hebel Heisel Schlesier, practicing architecture with a focus on resource-respectful construction methods and materials. He was also one of the founding partners of INSTANT Architects (2002-2008). Latest building projects include the winning project of Solar Decathlon 21/22 RoofKIT (2022, 2hs (Prof. Karsten Schlesier) with KIT Faculty of Architecture), the Mehr.Wert Pavillion for the BUGA Heilbronn (2019, 2hs, Simon Sommer, Lisa Krämer, Philipp Staab, Sophie Welter und Katna Wiese); the UMAR (Urban Mining and Recycling) project in Zürich for EMPA Dübendorf (2018 ,together with Werner Sobek and Felix Heisel); MycoTree, a project for the Seoul Architecture Biennale (2017, with Felix Heisel, Karsten Schlesier, Nazanin Saeidi and Alireza Javadian in cooperation with the Block Research Group Zürich, Philippe Block, Matthias Rippmann and Juney Lee); a school house complex for 1200 students in Cambodia for the NGO Smiling Gecko (2016-2018, together with Lisa Devenoge, Lorine Grossenbacher, Franziska Matt, Elizabeth Müller, Alina Wyder, and Marcel Aubert), the New York NoWaste Vault for IDEAS CITIES (2015, with Felix Heisel, Samuel P. Smith, Nicholas Ashby, Ruben Bernegger in cooperation with the Block Research Group Zürich, Philippe Block, Tomas Mendez Echenagucia); DISCOVERIES, an exhibition for the Foundation Lindau Nobel Prize Winners with Tobias Klauser; ON_AIR, an installation for KunstWerke Berlin; the award-winning project UNITED_BOTTLE; and HausBlick Düsseldorf, all with Jörg Stollmann, INSANT Architects, all 2002-2008.

His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions worldwide, lately in Plastic: Remaking our world, Vitra Design Museum Weil am Rhein (2022), Environmental Hangover by Pedro Wirz (with Nazanin Saeidi and Alireza Javadian), Kunsthalle Basel (2022), SORGE UM DEN BESTAND, BDA, Berlin and others, (2020/21), CRITICAL ZONES, ZKM Karlsruhe (2020), FUTURIUM Berlin (2019), the Beazly-Design of the Year Exhibition (2018), The Design Museum London (2018), Fibre Fixed: Composites in Design Exhibition, Design Museum Gent (2018), ORGATEC, Köln (2018), Super Materials London (2017), UK, the Design Fair Cologne (2017), Köln, the Seoul Architecture Biennale (2017), South Korea, or the Venice Architecture Biennale (2021/2018/2016), Italy.

As Faculty Advisor (together with Prof. Andreas Wagner), he won the Solar Decathlon Competition 21/22 as part of the KIT RoofKIT team (Regina Gebauer and Nicolas Carbonare), he received the Green Solution Award 2021, one of the German Material Awards 2019, two Innovation Awards “Bauhaus 100 – Prototyping the Future” organized by the Federal German Government and German Industry in 2019, the New York Van Alen Institute Fellowship Award, the Red Dot Design Award for Best Conceptual Design, the SMART Innovation Grant Singapore, the JEC Asia Innovation Award, a ZUMTOBEL GROUP Award, the Suzanne Underwood Award for Best Design, and the LANXESS Award Singapore. He was also awarded the KIT Best Teaching Award, KIT Faculty of Architecture, 2019.

PhD,  NTU Singapore, 2013
Master of Bioengineering, NTU Singapore, 2013

Contact: nazanin.saeidi@kit.edu

Senior researcher and Head of Research at the Chair of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe and Co-Principal Investigator at the Future Cities Laboratory of Singapore-ETH Centre, 2020 – present / Post-doc researcher at the Alternative Construction Materials Group at FCL Singapore, 2017-2020 / Post-doc researcher at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at National University of Singapore NUS, 2014-2017 / Post-doc research fellow at the Singapore Membrane Technology Center, 2013-2014

Dr. Nazanin Saeidi is currently a senior researcher and Head of Research at the Chair of Sustainable Construction at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT. She is also a Co-Principal Investigator of the Urban-Biocycle Project at the Future Cities Laboratory of Singapore-ETH Centre of Sustainability in Singapore. She is focusing on upcycling plant-based waste products and turning them to ecological products with the aid of fungal mycelia as a natural binder.

In her PhD at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore she worked on “Engineering microbes to sense and eradicate a human pathogen”. Her thesis work was impressive enough to get a publication space under Molecular Systems Biology (MSB) from Nature publishing Group, 2011, it was then featured in more than 70 public and academic media.

In 2013, she was appointed as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Singapore Membrane Technology Centre where she was working on “development of improved strategies to control Biofouling of membranes in water industry”. In 2014, she joined the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at National University of Singapore to persuade a new research experience where she was focusing on “Emerging microbial contaminants of concern in tropical urban catchments” and “The effect of diverse land use on the geospatial distribution of Emerging microbial contaminants of concern in tropical environments”.

During her academic life, she has received several awards and recognition from different conferences. Her recent distinguished success is to be named as one of the 20 emerging innovators in Asia Pacific by MIT Technology Review in 2020 for her work on sustainable construction materials.

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

Contact: alireza.javadian@kit.edu

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

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

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

Dipl. Designer, Product Design, University of Art and Design Karlsruhe, 2014

Contact: sandra.boehm@kit.edu

Doctoral Student at the Chair of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe 2021 – present / Lecturer and Researcher at the Chair of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe 2017 – present / Freelance Work as Designer 2015-2020 / Designer at Fachwerk Marketing GmbH 2016-2017 / founding Sandra Böhm Produktdesign 2015 / Assistant at Jerszy Seymour Designworkshop Berlin 2013 / Assistant at Studio Judith Seng und Alex Valder Berlin 2013

Sandra Böhm is a lecturer and researcher at the Chair of Sustainable Construction at KIT Karlsruhe. She studied product design at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, where she graduated in 2014. Her diploma thesis Komposita dealt with the recycling of biogenic waste materials and was presented at numerous exhibitions and trade fairs. In her doctoral thesis at KIT, she is researching the recycling of biogenic residues within the construction industry with a focus on bio-based insulation materials. She recently presented her research in a reviewed paper and talk at the Real Corp 2023 – let it grow, let us plan, let it grow conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Together with Elena Boerman, she is responsible for the KIT Material Library and its continuous development. The KIT Material Library focuses on circular architecture, as well es on sustainable and future-oriented building materials. In addition, she organizes and holds the material lecture series in the 1st semester and regularly organizes practice-oriented research seminars for master students.

Sandra Böhm published some articles and papers, recently the reviewed paper The Potential of Bio-Based Insulation Materials for Healthy Living Spaces and Sustainable Architecture (CORP – Competence Center of Urban and Regional Planning, 2023. URL: https://conference.corp.at/archive/CORP2023_90.pdf, doi:10.48494/REALCORP2023.3090) and the book chapter Der ästhetische Reiz der urbanen Mine (Heisel, Felix, und Dirk E. Hebel (Hrsg.). Urban Mining und kreislaufgerechtes Bauen. Die Stadt als Rohstofflager. Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, 2021).

Before taking her position at the KIT, she developed her own projects dealing with furniture design and experimental work on materials and material development. During her studies at the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe she also worked as an assistant at Jerszy Seymour Design Workshop Berlin and at Studio Judith Seng und Alex Valder in Berlin.

Sandra Böhm has already presented her projects in numerous exhibitions. Especially her furniture series Prei, which is made of recycled paper, has already been attracted by a number of exhibitions, such as in Circular Thinking “Innovation of Interior” – From Upcycling to Biofabrication, interzum, KölnMesse (2017), Es war einmal…, Passagen – Interior Design Week Köln, Galerie Kunst&So (2017), Have a seat, Saarländisches Künstlerhaus Saarbrücken (2016), Eunique, Messe Karlsruhe (2015), Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Milan, kkaarrlls (2012, 2013, 2014).

M.Sc of Architecture, KIT, Karlsruhe, 2021
Contact: elena.boerman@kit.edu

Teaching Assistant and Researcher at the Chair of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe 2021 – present / Student Assistant at the Chair of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe 2020-2021 / M.Sc. Architecture, KIT, Karlsruhe 2018-2021 / AAg LoebnerSchäferWeber Freie Architekten BDA, Heidelberg, 2018-2021 / Schenk & Fleischhaker Architekten, Hamburg, 2017-2018 / B.Sc. Architecture, KIT, Karlsruhe, 2014-2017

Elena Boerman is currently working as a teaching assistant and researcher at the Chair of Sustainable Construction at KIT Karlsruhe. She holds a Master and Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT).

In her master’s thesis, she dealt with the urban spaces and architectures of post-war modernism and their contemporary and sustainable transformation. She showed both urban planning and architectural strategies for making the treatment of the existing the starting point for the architecture of tomorrow. For her master’s thesis with the title „The Value of an Architecture of Permanence – The Climate and Resource Appropriate Transformation of the Architectural Heritage of Post War Modernism“ she won recognition of the Friedrich-Weinbrenner-Prize 2021.

M.Sc ETH in Architecture, 2014
Contact: han.yi@kit.edu

Researcher and Teaching Assistant at the Chair of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe, 2024 – present / Doctoral candidate at the Architectural Association School of Architecture London, 2023 – present / Max Dudler, Berlin, 2018 – 2023 / Kleihues & Kleihues Architekten, Berlin, 2017 – 2018 / Yi Architects, Cologne, 2014 – 2017 / Master of Science ETH in Architecture, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2014

Han Jun Yi is a registered German Architect. He gathered practical experience from collaboration with distinct international design offices, including Yi Architects, Kleihues&Kleihues and Max Dudler. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Architecture from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ).

M.Sc of Architecture, KIT, Karlsruhe, 2021
Contact: fanny.hirt@kit.edu

Teaching Assistant and Researcher at the Chair of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe 2024 – present / Architect at SSP ag, Karlsruhe 2021 – present / M.Sc. Architecture, KIT, Karlsruhe 2018-2021 / rw+ Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH, Berlin 2017-2018 / B.Sc. Architecture, btu, Cottbus, 2013-2017

Fanny Amelie Hirt is currently working as a teaching assistant at the Chair of Sustainable Construction at KIT Karlsruhe. At the same time, she is employed as an Architect at SSP ag, Karlsruhe where she is working with an integral planning team on public construction projects such as a conversion of a concert hall. 

She holds a Master of Science in Architecture from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technologie (KIT) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from the Brandenburgischen Technischen Universität Cottbus. In her master’s thesis, she dealt with the transformation of a large department store in the urban context of Heidelberg. She showed material, architectural and urban planning strategies for re-integrating a monostructures in the heterogeneous urban setting. For her master’s thesis with the title „Transformation Department Store – Redefining Heidelberg City Centre “ she won recognition of the Schelling Student Prize 2021.

M. Sc. of Architecture and Environment, University of Applied Sciences Wismar, 2012
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Architecture, University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart, 2008
Contact: daniela.schneider@partner.kit.edu

Researcher at the Chair of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe 2020 – present / Lecturer at University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart, 2017-2020 / Team Lead at EPEA GmbH – Part of Drees & Sommer, Stuttgart, 2019 – present / Project Partner at Drees & Sommer ABT, Stuttgart, 2016-2019 / Project Engineer, Technology Center Sustainable Construction at Ed. Züblin AG, Stuttgart, 2012-2016 / Site Manager and Project Manager at BAM Deutschland AG, Stuttgart, 2008-2012

Daniela Schneider is currently a PhD student at the Chair of Sustainable Construction at KIT Karlsruhe. Her research activities focus on the design of circular constructions and circular joining techniques. She is examining the question which impact have joining techniques on the circularity of building component designs.

She lectures at the WINGS Wismar in the study course architecture and environment with a focus on circular design, planning and construction. Between 2017 and 2020, she was a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart. Previously, she was a guest lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences in Konstanz and at the University of Stuttgart.

Currently she is a team leader of the Cradle to Cradle real estate team at EPEA GmbH in Stuttgart. She develops material and recycling concepts for circularity buildings. Her focus is on creating healthy and waste-free building structures. She practices architecture with a focus on minimalist, resource-friendly and separable building methods, materials and constructions.

Daniela Schneider is a member of the “Disassembling and Recyclability” expert group of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). As an auditor for the German Sustainable Building Council, she accompanies building certifications and serves on the advisory board for circular construction.

Daniela Schneider is co-author of the publication “Urban Mining and Circular Construction” (2020, ed. Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel). She elaborated keywords for circular construction for the Ecological Building Materials Dictionary (2018, ed. Wolfgang Linden and Iris Marquardt). A further publication is “Cradle to Cradle inspired smart cities” in the publication “Smart Cities” (2020, ed. Chirine Etezadzadeh).

Visiting Scientist at KIT since Oct. 2024. 

Assistant Professor Architecture and Urbanism – EiABC, AAU. (B.Sc, AAU-Ethiopia; M.Arch. IIT Roorkee, India, PhD. HCU Hamburg, Germany). 

>Teaching: Architectural design (studio), Architecture and Urbanism in Africa (theory) in various universities in Ethiopia and Europe. 

>Research area: Reflexivity and Responsiveness in Architecture – ‘Reflexive architecture’: basis for architectural space production in rapidly urbanizing regions (focusing on socio-spatial transformations); ‘Responsive architecture’ – Spatial design (as a strategy) to guide emerging urbanization towards goals of Sustainability (Focusing on environmental rehabilitation and livelihood production). 

>Practice: Founding partner and general manager of OADUS architecture and engineering plc – Office for architecture, design and urban studies – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (since 2009). 

>Service: Head of Emerging Cities Lab-Addis Ababa – a collaborative research lab between EiABC-AAU and Bauhaus University, Germany) focusing on guiding rapid urbanization (ECL-AA ); Head of Competence Center for Architecture and Design-EiABC-AAU; Founder and General Manager of Alliance for Building Communities (ABC) – a think-tank and a voluntary professional action group for promoting grassroots urbanization and community building.

B.Sc. of Architecture, GUC, Cairo, 2023

Master’s Student at the Chair of Sustainable Construction, KIT Karlsruhe, and the Department of Building Technology and Integrated Design, GUC Cairo, 2024-present / Researcher at the Chair of Sustainable Construction, KIT Karlsruhe, 2024-present / Teaching Assistant at the Department of Building Technology and Integrated Design, GUC Cairo, 2023-present/ B.Sc. Architecture, GUC, Cairo, 2018-2023.

Rodaina Koraa is currently a master’s student at both the Chair of Sustainable Construction at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Department of Building Technology and Integrated Design at the German University in Cairo (GUC). Alongside her academic pursuits, she serves as a researcher at the Chair of Sustainable Construction at KIT, Karlsruhe and also works as a Teaching Assistant at the GUC, Cairo. Rodaina holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from the GUC, where she completed her bachelor’s thesis project at the SI Städtebau-Institut at the Universität Stuttgart. She has gained practical experience through internships at both I-Design and Pavilion International architectural offices in Cairo, Egypt. Additionally, she is a DGNB Registered Professional, reflecting her expertise in sustainable building practices.

Bank Business Management Assistant, 1979
Contact: elke.siedentopp@kit.edu

Secretary at the Chair of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe 2017-present / Secretary at the Institute for Building Design and Technology KIT Karlsruhe 1998 – 2017

Elke Siedentopp currently works as the secretary of the Professorship of Sustainable Construction at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Previously, she has been employed by the Institute for Building Design and Technology at KIT and the former Technical University of Karlsruhe since 1998.