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Prof. Dirk E. Hebel

Master of Architecture, ETH Zurich, 1998
Master of Architecture, Princeton University, 2000
Location: Karlsruhe
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 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 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 Waste 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.

 
 

Dr. Nazanin Saeidi


PhD,  NTU Singapore, 2013
Master of Bioengineering, NTU Singapore, 2013
Location: Karlsruhe
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.

 
 

Dr. Alireza Javadian


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

 
 

       
 
 
 
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie
Fakultät für Architektur
Institut Entwerfen und Bautechnik

Professur Nachhaltiges Bauen
Englerstr. 11, Geb. 11.40, Raum 25
D-76131 Karlsruhe
 
Tel: +49 (0)721/608-42167
 
 
 
Recent Publications:  
 

    Vivid Cycles: Reopening of RoofKIT on the KIT Campus

    May 17, 2023

    Lux, Katharina. “Anschauliche Kreisläufe: Wiedereröffnung Des RoofKIT Auf Dem KIT Campus.” Baunetz CAMPUS(blog), May 16, 2023. https://www.baunetz-campus.de/news/anschauliche-kreislaeufe-wiedereroeffnung-des-roofkit-auf-dem-campus-8235818.

     
     

    Solar and Circular Construction

    May 15, 2023

    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.

     
     

    Interview: Will we be building houses from mycelium in the future?

    December 14, 2022

    Niederstadt, Jenny, and Dirk E. Hebel. Bauen wir künftig Häuser aus Pilz? Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft, December 12, 2022. https://www.helmholtz.de/newsroom/artikel/bauen-wir-kuenftig-haeuser-aus-pilz/.

     
     

    Where fungi become building materials

    December 14, 2022

    Blaue, Carsten. “Wo Pilze Zu Baustoffen Werden.” Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, December 6, 2022, Nr. 282 edition. https://www.rnz.de/region/metropolregion-mannheim_artikel,-karlsruher-kit-wo-pilze-zu-baustoffen-werden-_arid,1015503.html.

     
     

    RoofKIT: Award-winning vision from Karlsruhe

    November 16, 2022

    Baden-Württemberg Stiftung GmbH. “RoofKIT: Preisgekrönte Vision aus Karlsruhe.” PERSPEKTIVEN, October 2022.

     
     

    Building connects: International Cooperation at the KIT Department of Architecture

    November 2, 2022

    Justus Hartlieb, “Bauen Verbindet: Internationale Zusammenarbeit an der KIT-Fakultät für Architektur”, LookKITINTERNATIONAL, no. 03/2022 (November 2022).

     
     

    Building Stock as a Resource

    October 19, 2022

    Lenz, Daniel, Elena Boerman, and Dirk E. Hebel. 2022. “Gebäudebestand als Ressource.” nbau, no. 03/2022 (Oktober). https://www.nbau.org/2022/10/12/gebaeudebestand-als-ressource/.

     
     

    Building Better – Less – Different: Circular Construction and Circular Economy

    October 11, 2022

    Hebel, Dirk E., Felix Heisel and Ken Webster, eds. Building Better – Less – Different: Circular Construction and Circular Economy. Building Better Less Different 1. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, 2022.

     
     

    Ideas for the Future

    September 21, 2022

    Klaaßen, Lars. 2022. “Ideen Für Die Zukunft.” Süddeutsche Zeitung, September 17, 2022.

     
     

    A building material stands in the woods

    September 21, 2022

    Grossarth, Jan. 2022. “Ein Baustoff Steht Im Walde.” Welt Am Sonntag, September 11, 2022.

     
     

    RoofKIT – KIT wins Solar Decathlon 2021/22 with climate neutral roof extension

    September 16, 2022

    Lenz, Daniel, Luciana Alanis, Nicolas Carbonare, Regina Gebauer, Andreas Wagner, and Dirk E. Hebel. 2022. “RoofKIT – KIT Gewinnt Beim Solar Decathlon 2021/22 Mit Klimaneutraler Dachaufstockung.” AIT, no. 9.2022 (September): 36–40. https://ait-xia-dialog.de/ait-magazine/ausgabe-9-2022/.

     
     

    Students from Karlsruhe win Solar Decathlon Europe

    September 12, 2022

    Verein Deutscher Ingenieure e.V., (unknown). “Karlsruher gewinnen Solar Decathlon Europe” HLH, July 2022.

     
     

    University Competition Solar Decathlon Europe: Team RoofKIT from KIT Karlsruhe wins with circular constructed top-up strategy

    July 4, 2022

    db online, (unknown). 2022. “Hochschulwettbewerb »Solar Decathlon Europe«: Team Aus Karlsruhe Gewinnt Mit Kreislauffähiger Aufstockung.” Deutsche Bauzeitung Online. July 1, 2022. URL: https://www.db-bauzeitung.de/news/team-aus-karlsruhe-gewinnt-mit-kreislauffaehiger-aufstockung/.

     
     

    Solar Decathlon goes to Karlsruhe

    July 4, 2022

    Schoof, Jakob. 2022. “Solar Decathlon Geht Nach Karlsruhe.” DETAIL Online. June 30, 2022. URL: https://www.detail.de/de/de_de/solar-decathlon-geht-nach-karlsruhe.

     
     

    Circularity? 100 per cent! Team RoofKIT from Karlsruhe wins the Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22

    June 27, 2022

    BauNetz. „Kreislauffähigkeit? 100 Prozent! Karlsruher Team gewinnt Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22“. BauNetz, 27. Juni 2022. URL: https://www.baunetz.de/meldungen/Meldungen-Karlsruher_Team_gewinnt_Solar_Decathlon_Europe_21-22_7966259.html.

     
     

    RoofKIT – How do we build in the future?

    June 13, 2022

    Lenz, Daniel, Regina Gebauer, Dirk E. Hebel, and Vanessa Falletta. 2022. “ROOFKIT: WIE BAUEN WIR IN ZUKUNFT?” Polis Online. June 10, 2022. https://polis-magazin.com/2022/06/roofkit-wie-bauen-wir-in-zukunft/.

     
     

    The Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22 in the Mirker Quartier is open to visitors

    June 13, 2022

    Christoph, Johanna, and Marvin Rosenhoff. 2022. “Der Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22 im Mirker Quartier ist für Besucher geöffnet.” Westdeutsche Zeitung. June 10, 2022. https://www.wz.de/nrw/wuppertal/wuppertal-solar-decathlon-europe-21-22-ist-fuer-besucher-geoeffnet_aid-71171755.

     
     

    What about recycling?

    June 8, 2022

    Kries, Mateo, Jochen Eisenbrand, and Mea Hoffmann, eds. 2022. “Wie steht’s mit dem Recyceln?” In Plastik. Die Welt neu denken, 190–95. Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.

     
     

    Event: Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22

    May 3, 2022

    Team RoofKIT (2022), “Veranstaltung: Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22”, in: polis – Urban Development, January 2022, p. 85

     
     

    Wood-Veneer-Reinforced Mycelium Composites for Sustainable Building Components

    April 11, 2022

    Özdemir, Eda, Nazanin Saeidi, Alireza Javadian, Andrea Rossi, Nadja Nolte, Shibo Ren, Albert Dwan, Ivan Acosta, Dirk E. Hebel, Jan Wurm, and Philipp Eversmann (2022), “Wood-Veneer-Reinforced Mycelium Composites for Sustainable Building Components”, in: Biomimetics 7, no. 2: 39, March 2022, https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics7020039, URL: https://www.zukunftbau.de/projekte/forschungsfoerderung

     
     

    Interview: 3 questions to Dirk Hebel

    March 21, 2022

    Müller, Judith, and Dirk E. Hebel (2022), Drei Fragen an Dirk Hebel, in: KIT-Zentrum Mensch und Technik, March 2022, URL: https://www.mensch-und-technik.kit.edu/dreifragenanhebel.php

     
     

    Becoming recyclable. The city as a regenerative resource

    March 19, 2022

    Hebel, Dirk E. (2022), Kreislauffähig werden. Die Stadt als regenerative Ressourcein: Bauwelt, Re-Use, ed. 6.2022, 15 March 2022, p. 16-19, URL: https://bauwelt.de/rubriken/betrifft/Kreislauffaehig-werden.-Die-Stadt-als-regenerative-Ressource-3744598.html

     
     

    Plant-based data centers

    March 15, 2022

    Judge, Peter (2022), Plant-based data centers, in: Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 17 March 2022, URL: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/plant-based-buildings/

     
     

    Stone on stone, mycelium or wood?

    March 10, 2022

    Schneeweiß, Ulrike (2022), Stein auf Stein, Pilz oder Holz?, in: Helmholtz Klima-Initiative, 03 January 2022, URL: https://www.helmholtz-klima.de/aktuelles/stein-auf-stein-pilz-oder-holz