ETH Zurich Pavilion – Construction Day 2
Construction Day 2 of the ETH Zurich Pavilion concluded with the first few ReWall arches go up and span over the First Street Green. Stay tuned!
ETH Zurich Pavilion – Construction Day 1
On May 22nd, construction of the ETH Zurich Pavilion started at the First Street Green in New York City. The stacking of the recycled pallets was concluded with the installation of the parametric triangular footings for arches made from reused beverage cartons. Within the next 3 days, the team from the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel and the Block Research Group will conclude a 90 m2 pavilion in time for the IDEAS CITY Festival starting on Thursday 28th May 2015.
Official IDEAS CITY Program out now!
ETH Zurich brings a cutting-edge artifact of the future to the East Village: a pavilion created from waste materials. Recasting “trash” as a valuable asset, ETH Zurich Future Garden and Pavilion will redefine the notion of waste, acknowledging its value as a resource from which new cities can rise. Read more about the events of next week here.
“In the future, there will be no waste…”
May 30th, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
First Street Garden, Houston Street and 2nd Avenue, ETH Zurich Pavilion, New York City
The American Institute of Architects NY engage ETH Zurich’s Dirk E. Hebel and Philippe Block in a conversation with NY architects David Benjamin and Mark Wasiuta, Columbia University on cultural practices that define smart cities. The panel discussion will be held underneath the ETH Zurich pavilion and is part of the IDEAS CITY Festival program.
Prefabrication of ETH Zurich Pavilion is advancing quickly
At the ETH PopUp Workshop in New York, our team is advancing quickly with the prefabrication of parts for the ETH Zurich Pavilion across the street. If you would like to take a look at the current status, we have installed a life feed, allowing you a view of the workshop and the park. Please click here.
IDEAS CITY Festival: ETH Pop-Up Workshop Open Now!
ETH Popup Workshop + Gallery
34 E 1st Street
During the month of May, ETH Zurich’s Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel and the Block Research Group together with miLES will transform the storefront at 34 E. 1st Street into a pop-up workshop and gallery for the prefabrication of the ETH Zurich Pavilion across the street at First Street Green Park. The storefront will become a workshop, showcase, and resting stop to visualize the working process behind the construction of a temporary structure by the ETH Department of Architecture. Peek into it, you may find surprises!
ARCHITECT@WORK Zürich
Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel at the architect@work event in Zürich, Switzerland. This international exhibition and symposium event takes place in ten different European countrys every year. The 2015 event in Zürich is the third of its kind in Switzerland. Special desigened exhibition layouts allow to place innovative ideas in architecture, construction and design at the forefront of discussion and exchange. Dirk E. Hebel will speak about the latest research outcomes of the team`s material and construction laboratories in Zürich and Singapore.
ETH Zurich Pavilion at the IDEAS CITY Festival in New York
Commissioned by ETH Global, the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel and the Professorship of Architecture and Structure Philippe Block will be building a pavilion at New York City’s First Street Garden as part of the New Museum’s IDEAS CITY festival, May 28 – 30th, 2015.
Using waste products as construction material, the structure aims to redefine our perception of refuse, acknowledging its capacity as a substance from which to construct new cities. Waste was seen for centuries as something specific which neither belonged to the family of natural resources nor to the one of finished products. Waste was a by-product, an (ideally) invisible part in the making and existing of our cities.
But waste could also be understood as an integral part of what we define as a resource. This metabolic thinking understands our built environment as an interim stage of material storage. The ETH Pavilion will be an example of this approach using a common waste product: beverage cartons as its construction material. The expressive pavilion is designed to allow the use of a non-standard, weak material in construction.To keep the stresses in the material low, the shape follows the flow of forces, resulting in a vaulted structure in compression. Thanks to its overall double curvature and the triangular sections of the arches, which give the structure a deeper section for the same thickness and weight, the shell is stable and safe.
Underneath and within this structure, ETH Global will curate a program following the theme of the pavilion. The exhibition ‘Building from Waste’ displays over 25 construction materials derived from waste, activating resources within our cities that have remained invisible until now. A covered area for about 30-40 people will provide space for invited guests from ETH Zurich and its partners to organize lectures and seminars for the general public. A bar will offer a variety of catering services throughout the duration of the festival.
Download detailed description of the ETH Zurich Pavilion (PDF, 4.5 MB).
Rural Housing research project in Ethiopia enters its final phase with a stakeholders forum
On Tuesday, April 28, 2015, a stakeholders forum in Butajira city to place to present and discuss further steps of the Rural Housing research project, a combined research project of EiABC and ETH Professorship Dirk E. Hebel, with representatives of Guraghe Zone Administration, City Government, Bete Guraghe Cultural Center, colleagues from Wolkite University and Wolkite Polytechnic College and other stakeholder.
In his opening speech, EiABC Scientific Director Joachim Dieter explained the role and importance of housing research for the development of the rural areas and the meaning of experimental and applied research in full scale for the education of Architects, Construction Manager and Urban Planner at the Institute.
Project Manager Melekeselam Moges and his team explained in their presentation the achievements of the SRDU project, the current state of research on the continuation project, improvements in it’s design and technical aspects as building materials and construction methods, while possible collaborations and partnerships with local authorities, University and Polytechnic, communities and NGO have been evaluated.
All topics of the presentation had been commented and discussed with the invited guests to reach maximum acceptance and learn from previous valuable experiences.
This research project is supported and facilitated by Switzerland’s Arthur Waser Foundation, the ETH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and ETH-Global.
The team of EiABC included both wings of the management, academic and administrative, and was represented by Scientific Director Joachim Dieter, Managing Director Dr. Beatrice Delpouve, Project Manager Melakeselam Moges and his team, Chairholder Imam Mahmoud – Chair of Housing, Head of Finance Shimeles Habtamu, and the Head of International Relations, Mr. Agus Prianto. The event was concluded with a visit of the future project site.
Design workshop at SWISSNEX San Francisco
Can design reduce waste production? How can small adjustments in the typical life cycle of everyday products drastically minimize waste flow? The search for the answers to those and other refuse-related questions were the goals of this year’s ‘Constructing from Waste’ workshop in San Francisco led by Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel. Participants with different background and experience, including students, school teachers, architects and product designers, worked on eight different proposals. Andreas Müller of Birkhäuser, publisher of the Building from Waste book, awarded the best three proposals with recent publications.
The Constructing Waste: Upcycling and Rethinking Trash workshop was organized in cooperation with Mary Ellyn Johnson of swissnex SF in the frame of a one week long event at swissnex San Francisco promoting the Building from Waste book, which has just entered the US market.
For more information click here.
Photo credits: swissnex SF/ Mayleen Hollero
`Building from Waste` exhibition at SWISSNEX San Francisco
The exhibition Building from Waste: Material Showcase accompanied the Building from Waste book promotion week, which took place at swissnex San Francisco between April 20 – 25, 2015
The Asst. Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel brought the Building from Waste: Material Showcase to swissnex San Francisco, items of loan from the Baubibliothek of the ETH-Bibliothek. Visitors had a chance to experience over 20 alternative construction materials produced from waste. The exhibited materials cover a wide range of building elements made from straw or PET bottles, fibers extracted from old newspapers, juice and milk containers, denim jeans, and many more. Additionally the exhibition included an extended display of mycelium lightweight products in different moments of growth produced by local artist and inventor Phill Ross of Mycoworks.
For more information click here.
Photo credits: swissnex SF/ Mayleen Hollero
Waste Not: `Building from Waste` panel discussion at SWISSNEX San Francisco
Waste Not Panel Discussion at swissnex San Francisco on April 21, 2015 started a week-long event organized by Mary Ellyn Johnson and the swissnex SF team around the launch of the Building from Waste book for the US market.
Future resilient cities will be constructed out of their own refuse. This hypothesis was the spark for the book, Building from Waste: Recovered Materials in Architecture and Construction by Dirk E. Hebel, Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel from ETH Zurich and the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore.
Felix Heisel and Marta H. Wisniewska gave a conceptual and practical look at materials and products that use waste as a renewable resource during their presentation and panel discussion at swissnex San Francisco. From the local experts, Philip Ross (Mycoworks), Thom Foulders (Foulders Studio) and Peter Ratto (Recology), the guests could hear how mushrooms can be a viable building material, how experiments in architecture are incorporating unique products focused on sustainability and renewal, and how San Francisco’s Recology is working towards zero waste for the city by 2020.
For more information click here.
Photo credits: swissnex SF/ Mayleen Hollero
Spring semester 2015 seminar week on local building materials in Switzerland
As part of the ongoing spring semester “Ressource Schweiz”, the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel organised a seminar week touring Switzerland with 50 participants. Visiting architects and their buildings using local available building materials such as loam, wood, or stone, the group also went to the original resource sites in clay pits or quarries and visited companies and craftsmen working with the substances.
Photo by Marta H. Wisniewska
Waste not: Exploring Alternative Building Materials
Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel will be leading several events from 21st – 25th of April at Swissnex San Fransisco in order to promote the recent publication “Building from Waste” in the United States. For detailed information on the events please see here and register your attendance through the swissnex website:
21.04. – 25.04.2015: “Building from Waste” Exhibit with 25 construction products made from refuse
Engineering for Development (E4D) round table discussion
Moderated by Dr. Barbara Becker and hosted by ETH Global on March 23rd 2015, Sarah Springman, Samih Sawiris and Dirk E. Hebel discussed the challenges and opportunities of Engineering for Development (E4D), a program of the Sawiris foundation and the ETH Zürich to promote the development of products and methods which are directly relevant for improving the livelihoods of people in developing territories.
The Bamboo Revival: Green Structures
Article published at Sourceable: Bamboo is one of the world’s oldest structural materials and has been used in construction for centuries. Now new research could potentially bolster its continued resurgence and use as a material in green structures. Steel-reinforced concrete is the most common building material in the world. Developing countries use close to 90 per cent of the cement and 80 per cent of the steel consumed by the global construction sector. According to research by the chair of architecture and construction at Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) in the Singapore-ETH Centre, 70 per cent of damage in the built environment today is caused by corrosion of steel inside reinforced concrete structures. In addition, steel is also costly and energy hungry when it comes to production and transportation. Read more here.
Bamboo: The Green Reinforcement
Doctoral Researcher Alireza Javadian of the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel spoke on February 13th 2015 as part of the “Friday Talks” at the Urban Redevelopment Authority Singapore (URA) on “Bamboo: The Green Reinforcement”. His talk introduced the audience to the research of new bamboo composite materials, featuring high tensile capacity with a variety of different application possibilities.
More on the Friday Talk Series can be found here.
Bambus statt Beton
Bislang sind Häuser und Brücken aus Bambus Einzelfälle. Forscher von der ETH Zürich wollen jetzt aus dem Süßgrasgewächs einen ökologischen und günstigen Massenbaustoff für die Städte von morgen entwickeln. Ein Beitrag von Oliver Ristau im Technology Review Magazin für Innovation. (article in German only)
Spring Semester 2015 – Ressource Schweiz
Es ist das erklärte Ziel des Entwurfsstudios im Frühjahr 2015, Studierenden eine Verantwortung für den Einsatz von Materialressourcen und den daraus abgeleiteten Konstruktionsprinzipien zu vermitteln. Entwurfsentscheidungen sollen nicht aus rein ästhetischen Gründen getroffen werden, sondern Fragen aufwerfen nach der Verfügbarkeit von Materialien und Talenten, der Verantwortung eines nachhaltiges Ressourceneinsatzes, der Funktionalität und der Achtung von sozialen und kulturellen Eigenheiten und dem traditionellen Verständnis von Handwerk, Fügungsprinzipien und Verarbeitungstechniken. Die Studierenden werden ihren Entwurf diesen lokalen Bedingungen durch Feldforschung in Zusammenarbeit mit lokal ansässigen Handwerkern/Künstlern durchführen und auf Erkenntnisse mit angemessenen und würdigen architektonischen Strategien reagieren. Es ist das Ziel, Bauweisen und Details zu entwickeln, die in der Schweiz verfügbare Fähigkeiten sowie Materialien integrieren und diese in ein architektonisch und konstruktiv schlüssiges Konzept umsetzen. Ort, Material und konstruktive Prinzipien folgen einer klaren Kausalität und münden in den Entwurf eines Ateliers für die jeweiligen Handwerker.
Eine Seminarwoche zu diesem Thema wird interessierten Studierenden angeboten. Die Teilnahme wird empfohlen, ist aber nicht zwingend.
Die erstellten Entwürfe beinhalten materialspezifische, architektonische sowie konstruktive Untersuchungen, Zeichnungen und Modelle. Darüber hinaus werden 1:1 Ausschnitte des Entwurfs gemeinsam mit den entsprechenden Handwerkern erarbeitet und ausgestellt.
Die Professur bietet den Entwurf mit der integrierten Disziplin Konstruktion an. Ebenfalls bietet die Professur Philippe Block die integrierte Disziplin Tragkonstruktion an.
Spring Semester 2015 – Lectures
All Lectures in HIQ C11, ETH Hönggerberg
Everyone welcome.
‘Future Cities: Research in Action’ exhibition opened at the URA Centre Singapore
The ‘Future Cities: Research in Action’ exhibition opened on 23 Jan 2015 at the URA Centre atrium in Singapore It will run till 13 Mar 2015. Focused on cities, urbanisation, and global environmental sustainability, it presents research conducted by FCL towards the development of sustainable future cities. In this context, the Assistant Profesorship of Dirk E. Hebel (who also curated the show) exhibits their work on alternative future building materials. In general, the exhibition features the work of more than 120 FCL researchers from over 30 countries over the past four years. Integrating science, design and technology, they tackle urban challenges at multiple scales, from building materials and systems to neighbourhoods, districts, cities and their hinterlands. Click here for more information.
Fall Semester 2014 – 5.000 housing units for Addis Ababa
In the fall 2014, the design studio of the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel focused on the development of 5.000 social housing units in Ethiopia`s capital Addis Ababa. The professorship partnered up with the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC), which was commissioned by the Addis Ababa City Administration with this task. Units for no- and low-income families, which are being displaced due to on-going redevelopment strategies, shall be constructed within the inner-city context based on the students’ design proposals. The typologies have to take the existing social and cultural conditions into consideration and, where possible, utilize local materials. Additionally, they need to remain within a given budget set by the city administration. Next to important urban questions adressing densities and the construction of neighborhoods, the studio concentrated on locally available construction methods and materials and aimed to develop architecture and construction strategies down to the scale of the detail.
Wundermaterial mit Langzeitfolgen
270.000 tons of plastic waste particles are floating in our oceans. Asst. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel is writing on garbage swirls and plastic materials in the ETH Zukunftsblog (article in German only). Click here to read the article.
Ministry of Education (MOE) Singapore Innovation Fund Grant
The Ministry of Education in Singapore has awarded the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel together with the Republic Polytechnic Singapore 320.000 Singapore Dollars within the framework of the “Translational R&D and Innovation Fund Grant” for the jointly submitted project: “Maximize bonding between Sustainable Bamboo Composite Reinforcement and Concrete”. The project is set for two years and lead by Dr. Leong Wen Shing in collaboration with the group of Prof. Hebel in Singapore. The award acknowledges the successful collaboration between the Republic Polytechnic and the Future Cities Laboratory which started in 2013.
Exhibition at the Republic Polytechnic Open House
The bamboo composite research collaboration between the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel in Singapore and the Republic Polytechnic Singapore (Dr Wen Shing) was highlighted again this year from Jan 8th to Jan 10th at the Republic Polytechnic Open House 2015 Event.
The Bamboo-Alchemist in Swiss Newspaper Tagesanzeiger
Swiss daily newspaper Tagesanzeiger recently published a report in the research activities of the Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel at the ETH Zürich and the FCL Singapore. You can read the full article here in German.
Spring Semester 2015 Seminar Week – Tour de Suisse
Seminarwoche März 2015
Wir bereisen die Schweiz und besuchen Bauten, deren Konzept getragen wird von einem lokal gewonnenen Baumaterial. Es ist das Ziel, die Materialien der Schweiz, die damit verbundenen Orte und Verarbeitungstechniken und die Leute dahinter besser kennen zu lernen.
In Laufen besichtigen wir mit dem Ricola Kräuterzentrum von Herzog de Meuron nicht nur den grössten Lehmbau Europas, sondern auch die Lehmgrube, wo das Material gewonnen wurde. Wir besuchen die Holzbaufirma RUWA und werden sehen, wie aus einem Baum ein Haus wird. Auf der neuesten Baustelle von Shigeru Ban zeigt uns der Holzbauingenieur Hermann Blumer wie komplex bearbeitete Leimholzträger aufgerichtet werden. Im Gegensatz dazu schauen wir uns in Graubünden Strickholzbauten von Peter Zumthor an, bei denen er zeigt, wie mit der traditionellen Bautechnik auch eine offene Raumgestaltung erreicht werden kann. Und in Illanz führt uns Gordian Blumenthal durch das Stampflehmkino – wo wir uns anschliessend einen Film anschauen, und vieles mehr…
Daten: Montag 16. März bis Freitag 20. März 2015
Kostenkategorie: B
Architecture de crise – Seminaire théorique
Public lecture of Asst. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel on December 02, 2014 at HEPIA, Geneva, Switzerland. The seminar investigates the potential of crises or emergency situatiuons and their impact on the transformation process of our environment, architectural culture, or art to build.
Building from Waste exhibition at Baumuster Centrale
A selection of twenty alternative construction materials produced from waste will be on display at the Baumuster Centrale Zürich until January 15th 2015, to be experienced hands-on. The material samples are part of the recent publication “Building from Waste – Recovered Materials in Architecture and Construction” by Dirk E. Hebel, Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel.
Neue Werkstoffe
Public lecture by Asst. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the Technical University Munich (TUM) on Thursday, November 27, 2014, focusing on alternative materials and their application in architecture and construction. Next to the well-known concept of recycling, the talk will focus on other aspects of material cycles. Densifying, reconfiguring, transforming, designing, and cultivating are some of the areas, the research of the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel is concentrating on.
AUFGERÄUMT «Bauen aus Müll»
Public lecture “Building from Waste” by Felix Heisel and Marta H. Wisniewska on Thursday November 27, 2014 at the Baumuster Centrale in Zürich, Switzerland. The event, combining a talk and a small exhibition of selected waste materials, explains the approach of the Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel to understand waste as a possible resource for the construction of future cities. “The city of the future does not distiguinsh any more between waste and resource”. Quote by Mitchell Joachim
Bamboo Composite at Gewerbemuseum Winterthur
The Chair of Architecture and Construction is exhibiting its bamboo composite material in the exhibition “Magie des Einfachen” (The Magic of the Simple) at the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur from 16th November 2014 to 29th March 2015. Featuring the Brazilian Alvaro Abreu and the German Hans Hansen, the exhibition shows a variety of bamboo applications in the fields of art and construction. More information directly from the museum here and below:
Magie des Einfachen
Der Brasilianer Alvaro Abreu schnitzt Löffel aus Bambus, Hunderte, Tausende, seit vielen Jahren. Erst in einer späten Lebensphase hat er damit angefangen. Jeden Tag einen Löffel, immer aus einem einzigen Stück Bambus, keiner ist wie der andere. Der renommierte deutsche Fotograf Hans Hansen hat sich in seiner fotografischen Arbeit eingehend mit dem Werk von Alvaro Abreu beschäftigt und hat unzählige Bambuslöffel sortiert, geordnet und in einen Rhythmus gebracht, mal in strenger Balance, dann wieder in chaotischer Zufälligkeit. Das Gewerbemuseum Winterthur holt Alvaro Abreus Reich der Bambuslöffel gemeinsam mit den fotografischen Arbeiten von Hans Hansen als Schweizer Premiere nach Winterthur.
Fall Semester 2014 – Latex Concrete Prototype in Addis Ababa
The Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel and the BLOCK Research group have built a Latex Concrete Roof Prototype in Addis Ababa at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development as part of an ETH Zürich Seminar Week in October 2014. The video shows a time lapse of the construction within 2 afternoons, utilizing a bamboo frame sub-structure, local fabrics and latex concrete.
Bamboo Composite with Haute Innovation in Cologne and Jönköping
In collaboration with Haute Innovation, the Chair of Architecture and Construction exhibited its bamboo composite material at two recent international material fairs: from 21st to 23rd October at the Orgatec 2014 in Cologne, Germany as part of the Smart Office Materials exhibition, and between 11th and 14th November at the Subcontractor 2014 in Jönköping, Sweden.
EiABC and Assistant Professorship for Architecture and Construction present alternative housing concepts to the Addis Ababa Housing and Construction Development Board
On October 20th 2014, Bisrat Kifle, Fasil Giorghis and Dirk E. Hebel presented alternative housing concepts to the Addis Ababa Housing and Construction Development Board as part of the ongoing research project ADDIS 2050 The aim of the project is the construction of 5`000 low cost housing units to shelter relocated citizens within the inner city of Ethiopia’s capital, preserving existing social and economic networks. The presented typologies resulted in an overwhelming feedback for EiABC and the ETH, featured in the national evening news on the Ethiopian Broadcasting Network EBC. The short clip can be seen below in Amharic.
EBC Evening News from Architecture and Construction on Vimeo.
Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel presented at World Sustainable Building Conference
At this years World Sustainable Building Conference, the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel presented two papers. In Session 48, Felix Heisel talked about “Bamboo Reinforcement – a Sustainable Alternative to Steel”, while Marta H. Wisniewska presented “Waste – a Resource for Sustainable and Resilient Future Cities” in Session 90.
Brown Bag Lunch Talk of Asst. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at Schweizer Baumuster-Centrale Zürich
On thursday, October 30th, 12:15pm, Asst Prof. Dirk E. Hebel will give a brown bag lunch talk at the Schweizer Baumuster-Centrale on the research of alternative building materials at ETH Zürich and FCL Singapore. For more information please visit www.baumuster.ch
Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel exhibits at architektur_0.14
The Assistant Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel exhibits it`s research at architektur 0.14 in Zürich under the theme “More innovation, please!”. For more information please visit: www.architektur-schweiz.ch
Building from Waste Book Vernissage and Exhibition
Building from Waste has been successfully launched and is now available online and in book stores. Together with the book vernissage, also the exhibition Building from Waste was opened on October 8th 2014 at the Baubibliothek at ETH Hönggerberg.
