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CoReSing will be presenting its work on Fiber Composite Reinforcement Materials at the Sunday Showcase at the Marina Bay Sands ArtScience Museum.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
1:00pm – 7:00pm
ArtScience Galleries, ArtScience Museum
The Sunday Showcase aims to present transdisciplinary works and engage in conversations based on the themes of climate change, environmental futures, and contemporary Asian and future cities. The event is part of the 2013 Art/Science Residency Programme, a partnership between ArtScience Museum and National University of Singapore Arts & Creativity Laboratory, Tembusu College and Singapore-ETH Centre’s Future Cities Laboratory.
Bamboo – The New Steel
The tropical belt of our planet contains one of the most neglected building materials in the world: bamboo, which is also one of the fastest growing, affordable and locally available natural resources. Find out about this remarkable plant and how, with the right treatment, it becomes stronger than steel.
CoReSing is exhibiting the research projects SUDU and SECU as a joint effort of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development and the Bauhaus University Weimar at the AFRITECTURE exhibition of the Architekturmuseum, Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Germany. Additionally, the exhibition features the two movies “Disappearing Spaces” and “Emerging Spaces” from the cinematic research project by Felix Heisel and Bisrat Kifle.
In the accompaning catalogue, Prof. Dirk E. Hebel is featured with three articles (one with Prof. Dirk Donath of Weimar University) explaining the efforts of CoReSing on establishing alternative building materials and construction methods in Africa and how this doing could be reflected in architectural education programs.
Contemporary architectural practice in Africa is witness to many new and innovative approaches in the area of socially committed building: schools, nursery schools, marketplaces, hospitals, cultural centers, sports facilities and assembly halls. It is these public buildings and commonly used spaces in particular where signs of new utility and architectural concepts are made manifest. In many cases, future users are directly involved in the design and building processes. In addition to the use of the latest technology many of the construction projects are being developed with local materials and resume dormant building traditions.
In its exhibition »AFRITECTURE – Building Social Change« the Architekturmuseum der TU München sheds a spotlight on those projects, with a particular emphasis on those that have been initiated by architects and whose conceptualization incorporates global relationships in addition to those of local culture and individual social groups. By taking into account ecological, economic and social aspects several architects have developed sustainable approaches and solutions to some of the continent’s most pressing design challenges. The exhibition comprises twenty-eight projects from ten countries within Subsaharan Africa, including Kenya, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and South Africa. All projects have been developed since the turn of the millenium and have been planned by African as well as European and North American architects.
A first prototype out of vacuumized PET bottles was build for the “Zurich meets New York” event in May next year in New York City. CoReSing together with ETH Professor Dr. Philippe Block and Juerg Brunnschweiler from ETH Global developed an architectural concept for part of the event. From May 16-24, 2014, artists, scientists, architects, and public intellectuals from both sides of the Atlantic will converge in New York City for the multi-venue, citywide festival “Zurich Meets New York”. The festival is a joint partnership between the City of Zurich, the Consulate General of Switzerland in NY, ETH Zurich, and the University of Zurich (UZH).
Following up the highly successful Geneva Meets New York in 2012, Zurich Meets New York will celebrate visionary movements and ideas born in Zurich and their impact on American culture and today’s world. One of the festival highlights will take place at Vanderbilt Hall (Grand Central), where Assistant Professors Dirk E. Hebel and Philippe Block, ETH Zurich, and their teams will build two large architectural structures made of recycled waste material (PET and paper). The structures will host various installations and presentations, and feature a catered lounged area hosting one of the oldest vegetarian restaurants in Zurich, Haus Hiltl.
Five researchers from the Future Cities Laboratory will be giving a series of lectures and workshops in Seoul, Korea. Yonsei Symposium kicks off with FCL’s Programme Leader Prof Kees Christiaanse delivering a lecture on Open City, followed by a panel discussion with Prof Hong-Chul Rhim (Yonsei University), Prof Jae-Seung Lee (Hongik University), Prof Klaas Kresse (University of Seoul) on 24 October 2013. On 7 November 2013, FCL’s Prof Dr Gerhard Schmitt will deliver a keynote speech on Information Architecture as part of the Swiss Scales event. Architecture Tomorrow is a joint seminar featuring FCL’s Michael Budig and Marcel Bruelisauer alongside Yonsei University’s Asst Prof Ghang Lee of the Building Informatics Group and Dr Seung-Book Leigh of the Centre for Sustainable Buildings.
The Yonsei Symposium wraps up with a lecture by Prof E. Dirk Hebel of the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction on “Constructing Alternatives”. FCL’s “Innovative Technologies” display will also be shown at the Swiss Scales exhibition starting 6 November at the Korean Foundation Cultural Centre.
Public lecture by Dirk E. Hebel at Seoul’s Yonsei University on November 15th in a series called “Swiss Positions – Swiss Scales”.
Five researchers from the Future Cities Laboratory will be giving a series of lectures and workshops in Seoul, Korea. Yonsei Symposium kicks off with FCL’s Programme Leader Prof Kees Christiaanse delivering a lecture on Open City, followed by a panel discussion with Prof Hong-Chul Rhim (Yonsei University), Prof Jae-Seung Lee (Hongik University), Prof Klaas Kresse (University of Seoul) on 24 October 2013. On 7 November 2013, FCL’s Prof Dr Gerhard Schmitt will deliver a keynote speech on Information Architecture as part of the Swiss Scales event. Architecture Tomorrow is a joint seminar featuring FCL’s Michael Budig and Marcel Bruelisauer alongside Yonsei University’s Asst Prof Ghang Lee of the Building Informatics Group and Dr Seung-Book Leigh of the Centre for Sustainable Buildings.
The Yonsei Symposium wraps up with a lecture by Prof E. Dirk Hebel of the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction on “Constructing Alternatives”. FCL’s “Innovative Technologies” display will also be shown at the Swiss Scales exhibition starting 6 November at the Korean Foundation Cultural Centre.
Three public lectures by Dirk E. Hebel, Felix Heisel and Alireza Javadian on November, 12, 2013 at the Future Africa seminar at the Future Cities Laboratory Singapore. The seminar features Jonathan Ledgard, Africa correspondent for the Economist and head of the Afrotech Initiative, EPFL, and is moderated by Ian Smith, Principal Investigator at Future Cities Laboratory and Professor at EPFL. CoReSing will contribute 3 talks to the discussion on political risks and technology opportunities for Africa, titled: “Pedestrian life in African cities”, “Chereka Bet – Risks and opportunities of informal housing” and “High Performance Materials”.
Public Lecture by Dirk E. Hebel at the “Holcim Community of Practice Meeting 2013” on November 08, 2013 in Singapore. Dirk E. Hebel will introduce latest results of the research project on Advanced Fiber Composite Materials used as reinforcement systems in structural concrete.
CoReSing has recently contributed to three new publications: AFRITECTURE: Building Social Change
Where a term like “Western architecture” is likely to conjure a gamut of specific examples ranging from the Colosseum to the Empire State Building, “African architecture”-whether ancient or modern-still connotes very little for a general audience in the West. Happily, this is changing, as Africa’s recent economic boom is transforming the urban landscape across the continent, and yielding a rich new crop of architects and buildings with a range of approaches and solutions as diverse as Africa itself. This opulently illustrated volume, with informative texts by the architectural historian Andres Lepik and documentation of models and maps, examines a broad range of examples of contemporary architecture in Africa. The selection is confined to countries south of the Sahara, such as Burkina Faso, Rwanda and South Africa, where the transformation of the architectural landscape has been particularly pronounced and remarkable in recent years. Throughout, references to the hallmarks and principles of Western historical architecture are notable; but equally striking is the innovative use of local materials and often minimal resources. Very little has been published on contemporary African architecture, making this substantial volume an important and pioneering publication.
Construction Ahead – Constructing Alternatives Part II:
The Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel has been guest-editing two editions of Ethiopia’s leading construction magazine: ‘Construction Ahead’. The 80 page issues “Constructing Alternatives” propose 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.
‘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.
The School the Book the Town
The School, The Book, The Town is a biography of an experiment undertaken in Ethiopia for nearly a decade, starting with the founding of a school, setting off a series of investigations assembled in a book, and leading to the construction of a town. A timeline running all through the book reveals how logical and consistent, but in some cases also chaotic and interrupted the story evolved.
In an age of rapid urbanization, the city is everywhere. In the case of Ethiopia, as with so many other developing nations, architecture and urban design are brought face to face with a country undergoing radical, often painful transformations that put longstanding traditions to the test. The burning question here is how to modernize and yet maintain distinct cultural identities, while also trying to accommodate mass migration from rural regions to urban centers. In sum, the route followed here is one marked by a series of trials that leave nothing standing as it was.
Contributions by Marc Angélil, Philippe Block, Zegeye Chenet, Dirk Hebel, Fasil Giorghis, Sarah Graham, Franz Oswald, Cary Siress, et al.
Dirk E. Hebel, Felix Heisel, Alireza Javadian: BAMBOO: THE NEW SUPER FIBER
in: Construction Ahead, Constructing Alternatives part II, Vol. 23/12, Addis Ababa, 2013, pp. 54-57
FCL Midterm Review Exhibition, CREATE Tower Level 6 and 7, September 2013-December 2013
ADDIS 2050 combines the collective activities and collaborations within FCL and African partners over the last few years in Ethiopia, especially in its capital Addis Ababa. The three tables of the installation demonstrate different tools and methodologies in the engagement of differing scales: UNIT, CITY and NATION. The UNIT table suggests five alternative locally available housing construction materials: soil, waste, straw and bamboo. The CITY table allows a possible insight into the future of Addis Ababa following the thesis of clean energy and information abundance. The publication ‘The School, The Book, The Town’ tells the story of the research engagement with Ethiopia, starting with the founding of a school, setting off a series of investigations assembled in a book, and leading to the construction of a town. The NATION table focuses on future energy concepts for Ethiopia. An interactive map allows visitors to simulate different scenarios on alternative energy production and demonstrates how important the visionary thinking is for the future development of the country.
FCL Midterm Review Exhibition, CREATE Tower Level 6 and 7, September 2013-December 2013
Innovative Technologies shows four different innovations in the area of building constructions. The first, titled 342x, questions the fact that traditional air conditioning systems occupy up to 30% of building volumes. Water based systems, replacing air as the means for cooling, can be embedded in the building structure. The second installation explores the possibility of replacing millions of individual air conditioning units with centralized cooling towers, or heatbuses. The increased efficiency reduces electricity consumption and as a result, costs. The third installation demonstrates the possibility to replace expensive, heavy and corrosion-vulnerable steel reinforcements with an alternative, renewable, lighter, and corrosion-free substance derived out of advanced fibre composite materials. The fourth element suggests a complete new way of constructing concrete structures without using formwork and combining the application of reinforcement and concrete molding into one single process. This is achieved by a robotically controlled spatial extrusion method using tensile active material.
Dr. Mateusz Wielopolski presented the research work on composite fiber materials of CoReSing at the Composites Week in Leuven, Belgium from September 16th to 20th. The symposium covered the forefront technologies in composite material research, production and manufacturing and hosted a highly prestigious assembly of internationally acknowledged experts in this field. The scientific community included participants from well-known institutions all over the world such as for example the MIT, EPFL, Stanford University, Weizmann Institute of Science and many others. Having been chosen to present the “fresh” results of the CoReSing bamboo project in front of almost 500 hundred participants was a very inspiring and motivating experience.
On September 6th 2013, the editors Dirk E. Hebel and Stephen Cairns launched the new FCL Magazine with its first issue ‘Technology’.
The FCL Magazine is a periodical about research. It does not aim to present unquestionable research results, nor fully worked out ‘solutions’ to the myriad dilemmas that contemporary and future cities unfold. Rather, it aims to show things which are not yet fully resolved, work in progress, approaches to longer term issues. In so doing, the magazine will embrace mistakes and failures. It will celebrate questions, highlight methodologies, and revel in the shaping of research.
FCL Magazine is time limited. It will only be alive, as long as the Future Cities Laboratory is active. It draws its content and energy from the researchers inside FCL. It has a dual audience: those researchers within FCL, for whom the magazine is intended as a provocation for discussion and prompt for critical reflection on interdisciplinary approaches to the city; and colleagues who work in related fields, for whom the magazine is intended as a source of information on the work being conducted at FCL, and as an invitation to engage.
The first issue of the FCL Magazine aims to address the role of technology in FCL’s research activities. The word technology is derived from the Greek words techné, meaning art or craft, and logos, meaning word, intellectual capability, doctrine, rational or even reflection. Technology therefore suggests a mentality of “thinking” on what we are “doing”. For a laboratory setting, this seems to be an ideal point of departure and is more open than simplified definitions such as technique or machine.
Over the past two and a half years various ways of using technology in FCL’s daily work have emerged in our research community. While some claim, that architects in general show a fear of implementing technology in their designs, others try to define the term in an alternative approach by developing links between local traditions and state of the art technologies. Others are impatient to see new developments in the technological sector and claim that information technology is printing technology. Robotic drones create artificial three-dimensional maps of our immediate environment and reduce it to a thin layer of data carpets and point clouds. Technology is conventionally described in low– tech and high-tech variants. This first issue of FCL Magazine offers a platform for divergent definitions of technology, and offers suggestions, clues, and approaches on how to operate on a shifting. It gives a selected overview, no more and no less.
In 2008, the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development has donated CHF 1.5 million to ETH Zurich for the programme “Sawiris Scholarships – Science & Technology for the South”. This programme is a grant scheme providing ten doctoral scholarships of CHF 150’000 each. Over a period of five years, each year two scholarships will be granted. A grants committee selects the candidates according to specific selection criteria.
The goal of the programme is to promote the development of products or methods, which are directly relevant for improving the livelihoods of poor people in developing countries. The topics have to be of high scientific standards and at the same time aim at direct implementation of the results.
Alireza Javadian has been awarded the Sawiris Scholorship for the project “Composite Bamboo Material and its Application as Reinforcement in Structural Concrete”.
ETH Globe published in its latest issue called “The particle tamers” an article on the research of the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore called “Bamboo – rock-hard iron substitute for the tropics” by Samuel Schlaefli. “Bamboo grows quickly, is common in tropical countries, and some species have a greater tensile strength than steel. It would be an ideal alternative to imported construction steel for the rapidly growing cities of the south, which is where the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore comes in.” See also: www.ethz.ch/about/publications/globe
Movie Premiere on Friday 21st June 2013 at Goethe Institute Addis Ababa at 6:30pm.
Originating Spaces by Felix Heisel / Bisrat Kifle A part of the documentary movie series “_Spaces” on spaces appropriation in Addis Ababa. http://www.spacesmovie.com
Addis Ababa is a city of migrants. Considering that Addis Ababa’s history reaches back only a century and most of the inhabitants of the informal areas of the city are rural migrants, the spatial arrangements of the traditional tukul actually forms part of Addis Ababa’s understanding of space. Based on the claim that traditional and cultural habits, religious and social patterns and income generating mechanisms should be the basis for new developments in Ethiopia’s capital, this movie tries to understand the origin of such conditions.
The movie “Originating Spaces” is a cinematic documentary on the use of space in the rural areas of Ethiopia. Looking at one typical tukul 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.
This movie was kindly supported by the German Embassy Addis Ababa and the Goethe Institute Addis Ababa. For detailed program, please go here.
Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel presented the research work on composite fiber materials of CoReSing at the ‘Smart Cities’ Symposium at AEDES East Gallery Berlin on June 8, 2013. The panel ‘Smart Materials and Technologies’ here with Eike Roswag, Thorsten Klooster, Felix Heisel and Dirk E. Hebel moderated by Sascha Peters focused on innovative approaches on how to address local and easy available material resources and activate them in the urban creation process. Most of all, economical as well as ecological chances and possible establishments of local value chains inside developing territories such as South-East Asia were foregrounded and discussed.
Public Lecture by Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel at the ‘Smart Cities’ Symposium AEDES East Gallery Berlin, June 8, 2013. The N.P.O. AEDES East, under the direction of the curator Ulla Giesler, presents an exhibition and symposium as part of the Asia-Pacific Weeks Berlin 2013, with the title ‘Smart City’. For the first time, the regional focus will be on South-East Asia with particular emphasis on the formative up-and-coming generation. The exhibition concentrates on the search for intelligent solutions within an urban context. Next to the exhibition, a symposium will discuss innovative “smart city” projects from South-East Asia: buildings, planning, urban interventions, initiatives and visions for the future from internationally known experts as well as young architects from Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, who are making the cities more intelligent, effective and above all improving the quality of life for their citizens. Beyond that, the results of the student workshops, which Aedes initiated in Phnom Penh, Jakarta and Manila to generate the future city visions of the upcoming generation, will be shown. Particularly on a technological level, the fact that some emerging nations and developing countries are skipping certain development stages undergone by the classic industrialized nations, is reflected in form and utilization. However, the idea of an adaptable, integrated and networked ‘smart city’ holds opportunities and challenges for Europe too: old infrastructures, pre-existing networks and behavioral patterns, local services and governmental systems also need to be synchronized in order to retain future viability for them. The exhibition and symposium presents ideas that have relevance far beyond only South-East Asia and represent changed smart behavior in a globalized age.
As of May 15th, Dr. Mateusz Wielopolski as a Post-Doc researcher and Karsten Schlesier as an external advisor joined the research team of CoReSing in Singapore. Both are active in the composite bamboo research and investigate chemical, physical as well as mechanical material properties. Mateusz Wielopolski has received his PhD in Chemistry in Germany at the University of Erlangen. His background in physical chemical and materials sciences has led him through researcher positions in the UK, Japan, Germany and Switzerland. Thereby, his expertise is found in the development and analysis of new materials. In this field he has contributed to more than 20 peer-reviewed journal publications and books. Karsten Schlesier graduated in Civil Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT. As a structural engineer his research activities are focused on non-standardized and alternative construction materials, realizing various prototypical structures in Germany and Ethiopia over the last years. Also, Dr. Dragan Griebel from CoReSings research partner REHAU had his first extended research stay at the Advanced Fiber Composite Laboratory AFCL setting up first test series and establishing production standards.
Public Lecture by Felix Heisel on May, 11 2013 at the Digital Arts Week ‘A Culture of SustainAbility’ Symposium on Density and Destiny in the Marina Bay ArtScience Museum. Cities have always been dense places. With density comes diversity, stimulation, new ideas, innovation, wealth. In short, many of the good things of life. But density also brings the potential for crowding, stress, noise, ill-health, marginalization and a whole set of other urban woes. This panel offered some provocative thinking on these issues.
Felix Heisel was invited to speak on the Density and Destiny Panel on May 11th at the ‘A Culture of SustainAbility’ Symposium, a part of the DAW 2013 (Digital Arts Week Singapore) at the Marina Bay Art Science Museum. Together with Prof. Stephen Cairns, Dr Alex Erath, Derek Volmer and Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Felix discussed on the threats and promises of density in a comparative panel discussion on Singapore, Jakarta, Cairo and Addis Ababa.
Cities have always been dense places. With density comes diversity, stimulation, new ideas, innovation, wealth. In short, many of the good things of life. But density also brings the potential for crowding, stress, noise, ill-health, marginalization and a whole set of other urban woes. This panel offered some provocative thinking on these issues. A group of young scholars based in Singapore at the Future Cities Laboratory reflected on these themes from their own perspectives in transport and mobility, landscape ecology, urban heritage and territorial planning.
FCL, including the chair of Architecture and Construction, held a visit to the HDB Building Research Institute in Singapore on 22nd March 2013. Presentations, Q&A sessions and a tour through the research centre opened the floor for multiple possibilities of collaboration between the two insitutions. Main goals of HDB BRI are to introduce new technologies, and upgrade design standards and materials for the market. The visitors had an opportunity to see prototypes of new amenities, which adress safety and living standards in residential units in Singapore.
Lecture by Dirk E. Hebel on April 22, 2013 in the seminar ‘Information Architecture of Cities’ at the chair of Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schmitt, ETH Zurich. The elective course ‘Information Architecture of Cities’ opens a holistic view on existing and new cities, with focus on Asia. The goal is to better understand the city by going beyond the physical appearance and by focusing on different representations, properties and impact factors of the urban system.
Public lecture by researcher Marta Wisniewska at the CREATE Talks in Singapore on 19th April 2013. CREATE Talks is a discussion platform, bringing together interdisciplinary researchers of CREATE Tower institutions, such as ETH, MIT, TUM and BERKLEY. This time the event was hosted by TU Munich and moderated by SMART, while FCL and BEARS representatives gave their talks. The ‘Waste and Want’ presentation by Marta Wisniewska triggered a discussion of smart product design and what kind of impact it can have on the immediate surrounding as their second life cycle is activated. The talk examined exemplary refuse products as possibly one of the biggest material resource in the building industry. Some of the newest waste projects of CoreSing were also presented.
Public lecture by researcher Marta Wisniewska at the CREATE Talks in Singapore on 19th April 2013.CREATE Talks is a discussion platform, bringing together interdisciplinary researchers of CREATE Tower institutions, such as ETH, MIT, TUM and BERKLEY. This time the event will be hosted by TU Munich and moderated by SMART, while FCL and BEARS representatives will give their talks. The ‘Waste and Want’ presentation by Marta Wisniewska will introduce the idea of smart product design and what kind of impact they can have on the immediate surrounding as their second life cycle is activated. The talk will examined exemplary refuse products as possibly one of the biggest material resource in the building industry. Some of the newest waste projects of CoreSing will be also presented.
The Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore was awarded the SMART Innovation Grant in the tune of SG $250.000 on March 22, 2013. The grant supports the research of CoReSing in the area of bamboo composite reinforcemnet systems and will assist to help it reach the marketplace. The SMART Innovation Grant enables the research team to pursue new avenues of extended research and participate in programs that will help accelerate innovations toward commercialization. The funding will be used to de-risk the technology by developing prototypes or conducting proof-of-concept experiments and determine a go-to-market strategy for the products or services being developed. The end point of the grant funding would be a well defined business opportunity attractive to start-up company formation or licensing to a commercial firm.
Public lecture by researcher Marta Wisniewska at a meeting of the Future Cities Laboratory with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in CREATE Tower, on 22nd March 2013. The presentation was conducted in order to discuss on possible collaboration platforms between the two institutes. The session was attended by Prof. Tong Yen Wah, the Singapore-based Co-Director of SJTU-CREATE (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) as well as Ms. Karina Yew-Hoong GIN and Mr. Babovic Vladan, Associate Professors of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. SJTU-CREATE is researching two areas: ‘Waste management and energy recovery ‘(including studies of human behaviour) and ‘Emerging contaminants and the effect on human health and ecology’ (including pollutants in reservoirs). The talk of Marta Wisniewska focused on CoReSing’s search for an intelligent design of future refuse products and their second life cycle. The abundance of waste as future building material in cities was an essential part of the presentation.
The Tropical Town is a package of innovative technologies and blueprint plans, environmental principles, supported by capacity building techniques. The package is not a master plan or recipe, but designed to seed the development of environmentally sustainable, socially economically resilient settlements over time. At the centre of this project is an incremental housing type named Rubah, or Rumah Tambah (‘expandable house’ in Bahasa Indonesia).
The Tropical Town project was developed at the Singapore-ETH Centre’s Future Cities Laboratory (FCL), with the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Indonesia, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, the municipal planning department (BAPPEDA) in Batam, the Dutch/Indonesian architectural firm, SHAU, and the NGO KRUPUC (Knowledge for Rural and Urban Projects Under Construction). CoReSing recently joined this design team with a focus on materiality and construction.
The project was developed for the island of Batam, Indonesia. Batam functions as a laboratory where the various technical, social, ecological and design principles are explored and prototyped. The Tropical Town project is intended to be ‘scaleable’ and implemented in similar urbanizing regions throughout tropical Southeast Asia. Jakarta could be the first urban testbed for the Tropical Town Project.
“Smart City: The Next Generation”, Focus South-East Asia
How do new projects – from architecture, urban planning to urban interventions – influence the behavior of a city’s inhabitants and users? How do these projects affect the urban fabric and its functionality?
The exhibition “Smart City: The Next Generation” and associated events at the Architectural Forum Aedes am Pfefferberg, will discuss innovative “smart city” projects from South-East Asia: buildings, planning, urban interventions, initiatives and visions for the future from internationally known experts as well as young architects, planners and initiators from Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, who are making the cities more intelligent, sustainable, effective and above all improving the quality of life for their citizens. Beyond that, both the exhibition and the catalogue will showcase the results of the student workshops, which Aedes initiated in Phnom Penh, Jakarta and Manila to generate the future city visions of the upcoming generation.
The exhibition and Symposium is based on the following three questions:
1. How does your project “smarten up” the city?
2. What are the challenges that you face from your (country-specific) urban infrastructure?
3. How does your project affect the behavioral patterns of the city’s inhabitants and users?
Behavioral change on a global scale is what the team of Prof. Dirk Hebel at the Future City Labortory of the ETH Zürich in Singapore has in mind. They investigate the “smart material” qualities of bamboo in the building sector. The idea: replacing steel with bamboo. Because “bamboo concrete” could, taken in the long-term, revolutionize the entire equatorial region, and significantly improve the social value chain as well as the economic conditions of the developing countries to a large extent, and reducing CO2 emissions drastically.
Exhibition Location: Aedes am Pfefferberg, Christinenstr. 18-19, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Exhibition duration: 17 May – 4 July 2013
Smart City Symposium: 8 and 9 June 2013 as part of the APW 2013
Public lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the Princeton School of Architecture on April 3, 2013. During the academic year 2012/13 Princeton SoA will stage a series of public conversations around alternative practices in architecture through the work of 85 distinguished alumni from the last 25 years. At a moment when the profession is going through some important questions on a global scale, the series will explore the broad range of practices of recent alumni that spin from or gravitate around architecture, seeking alternatives to the established forms of architectural practice. The series will highlight Princeton’s commitment to experimental work at the edge of the discipline, and on our alumni’s engagement with a wide range of contemporary practices to outline propositions for alternative forms of practice. The lecture series intends to feature these practices as a sample of the issues that the contemporary practice of architecture has to address, to foreground relevant areas of interest and opportunity. Eight sessions will be held during the Fall ’12 term, and eight more during the Spring ’13 term, featuring different practice formats, geographies, ideologies and technologies. Dirk E. Hebel will lecture in the session: New Brave Worlds – Africa and Latin America. April 3, SoA Princeton University, Betts Auditorium, 6pm.
Public lecture by PhD candidate Alireza Javadian at the 1st Annual International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering (ACE 2013) in Singapore, on March 18th, 2013. The ACE 2013 has been organized by the Global Science and Technology Forum (GTSF) and is the first international conference dedicated to both Architecture and Civil Engineering research. The conference was the premiere forum for the presentation of new advances and research results in the fields of Architecture and Civil Engineering. The conference intended to bring together leading researchers, architects, engineers and scientists in this domain of interest from around the world. A paper on ‘Engineering Bamboo; New composite reinforcements’ by the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel of FCL Singapore was accepted by the ACE 2013 committee for presentation. Researchers of different countries who were present in the conference have shown great interest in the research described in the paper.
Public lecture by researcher Marta Wisniewska at a meeting of the Future Cities Laboratory with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in CREATE Tower, on March 22, 2013. The talk will be attended by Prof. Tong Yen Wah, the Singapore-based Co-Director of SJTU-CREATE (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), in order to elaborate on possible collaboration platform between the two institutes. SJTU–CREATE is researching two areas: Waste management and energy recovery (including studies of human behaviour) and Emerging contaminants and the effect on human health and ecology (including pollutants in reservoirs). The talk will focus on CoReSing’s approach to intelligent design of future refuse products and their second life cycle. The abundance of waste as future building material in cities will be an essential part of the presentation.
Public lecture by PhD candidate Alireza Javadian at the 1st Annual International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering (ACE 2013) in Singapore, on March 18th, 2013. The ACE 2013 has been organized by the Global Science and Technology Forum (GTSF) and is the first international conference dedicated to both Architecture and Civil Engineering research. The conference is the premiere forum for the presentation of new advances and research results in the fields of Architecture and Civil Engineering. The conference intends to bring together leading researchers, architects, engineers and scientists in this domain of interest from around the world. A paper on ‘Engineering Bamboo; New composite reinforcements’ by the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel of FCL Singapore was accepted by the ACE 2013 committee for presentation.
Felix Heisel and Alireza Javadian traveled to China this month to perform a final inspection of the machinery for the new Advanced Fiber Composite Laboratory Singapore, which will start operation in April 2013. Together with the manufacturer, they checked the functionality of each item, tested first bamboo samples and arranged for last adjustments before the laboratory will be shipped to Singapore at the end of March.
CoReSing will start production of fiber composite reinforcement materials in its own laboratory in Singapore very soon. The AFCL will be equipped with the technologies necessary to produce and test different organic fiber composite materials.
The Chair for Architecture and Construction of Assistant Professor Dirk E. Hebel at the ETH Zurich is part of the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL), the first research program of the Singapore ETH Centre for Global Environmental Sustainability (SEC). Within this context, the chair aims to investigate appropriate building materials and construction methods for future urban development. Resource limitations, heavily import-oriented construction industries, inappropriate use and unreflected application of construction materials and methods drive many economies of the so-called developing world into immense trade deficits. The chair is researching alternative approaches, looking into the appropriate use of indigenous materials in an industrial application process.
In this spirit, the chair is part of a large research project between the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) in Ethiopia, ETH Global, and the Arthur Waser Foundation, Lucerne. Professor Dr. Elias Yitbarek initiated the ‘Sustainable Rural Dwelling Unit’ (SRDU) project in 2010 as part of his work at the EiABC Chair of Housing. He was able to secure funding of the Arthur Waser Foundation for a pilot project in 2011 with full support and help of the former North-South Centre of ETH Zurich (now represented by ETH Global). Two housing units were built approximately 175km south of the capital Addis Ababa experimenting with local building materials combined with new building techniques. The huge success of this pilot project convinced the Arthur Waser Foundation to continue the engagement with the two universities and enlarge the scope of the work to questions of capacity building, academic exchange with local schools, universities and industry and the transfer of knowledge to a broad range of academic and non-academic stakeholders in Africa.
Immediately, or upon agreement, the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore is looking for a highly qualified Research Assistant with a background in applied earth masonry, alternative material research and practical training skills to work full time in this research project. As member of the SRDU team, you will assist in initiating and coordinating research in alternative building materials and their use in rural areas in Ethiopia. You will develop testing methods and standards for alternative building materials based on an empirical as well as scientific research approach. You will organize and lead training sessions with local craftsman and undergraduate students in Ethiopia. You will develop didactical concepts on how to train craftsmen and students. You will help to develop curricula for the local University and Technical Vocational Center and help to implement them in these institutions. You will establish contacts with local organizations, NGOs and training facilities in Ethiopia and integrate the SRDU activities in a broader network. Furthermore, you will assume responsibility for the production of publications about the SRDU project, the writing of technical and financial reports, as well as the preparation of possible further research proposals. Prior experience in handling financial aspects of a research project will be a plus. Administrative tasks complement your scope of duties. Based in Ethiopia (80%) and Singapore (20%), the post is provided with a competitive salary under a contract with ETH Zurich (Switzerland). You will be equipped with all necessary tools and office space at EiABC (Ethiopia) and FCL (Singapore).
You possess a technical and/or academic degree along with an established reputation in the field of earth masonry and/or applied alternative material research, as evidenced in a distinguished record of academic and/or practical experience, work, and/or research. You have experience in teaching and vocational training and have practiced in developing countries before. Knowledge in the field of architecture and engineering would also be of great advantage. You actively seek to promote excellence in interdisciplinary thinking and are able to provide exceptional motivation for your work in a team. Not least, you stand out due to your aptitude to contribute to the strategic visions of the project at large.
For further information about the position and/or your application, please contact Ass. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel by e-mail: hebel@arch.ethz.ch and visit the websites www.hebel.arch.ethz.ch as well as www.eiabc.edu.et for further information.
The Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel has been guest-editing two editions of Ethiopia’s leading construction magazine: ‘Construction Ahead’. The 80 page issues “Constructing Alternatives” propose 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, part I’ has been issued in Jan/Feb 2013, ‘Constructing Alternatives, part II’ will be published in March/April 2013.
‘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.
Public lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the ‘Advances in Cement and Concrete Technology in Africa’ (ACCTA) conference in Johannesburg, South Africa on January 28, 2013. The ACCTA 2013 is the first international conference initiated from the SPIN project (Spearhead network for innovative, clean and safe cement and concrete technologies), that is a cooperation between European and African leading research institutions from the fields of materials research. The conference aims to cross-link experts in the field of cement and concrete technology with key players from research institutions, industries, associations and policy-making bodies. The aim is to establish a sustainable and economically efficient cement and concrete technology in Africa with impact on the world-wide. A paper on ‘Bamboo Composite Reinforcements in Structural Concrete Applications’ by the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel of FCL Singapore was accepted by theACCTA peer review group for presentation.
The FCL ‘Constructing Waste’ seminar 2012 concluded in an exhibition vernissage on 30 November 2012 at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. The public event was orchestrated as the final step in the pedagogical laboratory set by Dirk E. Hebel and Marta Wisniewska of the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction.
The exhibition gave platform to seven outcomes of the ten-week research course, focusing on re-designing an everyday product in such a way, that it can have a second life cycle instead of ending as a trash item. Guests had a chance to see, feel, touch and smell the new products and to understand the concepts behind them. ‘CoBag+’, designed by Tobias Wullschleger, is an intelligent water container, which starts its second life cycle as a shelter and a water-purifying device. Naomi Hanakata presented her ‘D-Shirt’, a high-tech dust cloth, which turns into a fashionable item to wear after use. ‘Back to Bag’ is a design by Desiree Ampot, who is concerned with the amount of plastic carriers wasted every day. Thanks to this alternative version of plastic bags, they could become a luxury collection item. A similar concern encouraged Nikolaos Theodoratos to develop ‘YoBag’- a yoghurt container in a folded plastic bag.
Ervin Lim was inspired by his research in the Indonesian slums. His ‘Plant a Box’ design enhances the locals to collect paper food containers after use, fill them with soil and plant seeds inside. Thanks to an innovative connecting system, these boxes combine into retaining walls to keep river banks intact. Cell phone covers out of Tetra Pack? Pascal Genhart proofed them to be not only stylish but also convenient and very durable. In Singapore , five tons of straws are used and incinerated every day. Alireza Javadian proposes a small change in design, which would allow them to turn into a concrete reinforcement after use – ‘StrawCrete’. All seminar materials, readings, excercise instructions and background information on each lecturer are available in the booklet ‘Constructing Waste’.
‘Preparing Food. Today.’, a recipe book constructed by FCL researchers Naomi Hanakata, Felix Heisel, Martha Kolokotroni, Michaela Frances Prescott, Kashif Shaad, and Marta Wisniewska proposes a change in attitude towards the availability of food resources. Diversification in selecting and preparing food with an extended scope of various possibilities is presented as the taste of the future. The recipe book tries to be provocative by establishing a link between food security and urban structures. ‘Preparing Food. Today.’ gives an overview of recipes in the world of 2052, featuring suprising alternatives. The hypothetical project was presented to FCL community in the lunch talk series on 29 November 2012.
Hebel, Dirk E. Interview: “Vom linearen zum zirkulären Kreislaufsystem.” Interview by Sandra Hofmeister, DETAIL 11.2024, Nov. 2024.
Building with renewable materials – Nature as a resource depot
October 29, 2024
Hebel, Dirk E., Sandra Böhm, Elena Boerman, Hrsg. Vom Bauen mit erneuerbaren Materialien – Die Natur als Rohstofflager. Stuttgart: Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, 2024.
Guest contribution: ‘Thinking, designing and operating in circular ways.’
June 27, 2024
Hebel, Dirk E. “In Kreisläufen denken, entwerfen und wirtschaften.”MÄG – Mein Häfele Magazin, 2024.
Interview: ‘Mycelium power for the construction industry’
June 10, 2024
Rubel, Maike, and Patricia Leuchtenberger. Interview: “Pilzpower für die Bauindustrie.” competitionline, 7 June 2024, https://www.competitionline.com/de/news/schwerpunkt/pilzpower-fuer-die-bauindustrie-7283.html.
‘Future building materials: mushroom, hemp and algae’ in neubau kompass
May 27, 2024
Müller, Janek. “Baumaterialien der Zukunft: Pilze, Hanf und Algen.”neubau kompass – Neubauprojekte in Deutschland, May 3, 2024. https://www.neubaukompass.de/premium-magazin/.
Interview: ‘We have disposed of valuable materials’
May 7, 2024
Sören, S. Sgries. “Interview: ‘Wir haben wertvolle Materialien weggeworfen.’”Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, April 27, 2024, SÜDWEST I 28 edition, sec. Sinsheimer Nachrichten.
Built on mushroom
April 24, 2024
Schweikle, Johannes. “Auf Pilz gebaut.”Stuttgarter Zeitung, April 23, 2024, sec. Die Reportage.
Organic Architecture – Fungus mycelium and flax as materials for the ecological building transition
February 13, 2024
Klaaßen, Lars. “Organische Architektur – Pilzmyzel und Flachs als Materialien für die ökologische Bauwende.” In Deutsches Architektur Jahrbuch 2024, edited by Peter Cachola Schmal, Yorck Förster, and Christina Gräwe, 198–209. Berlin, Germany: DOM publishers, 2024.
Circular construction – Circulation instead of demolition in “BUND-Jahrbuch 2024”
Redesigned Material Library at KIT in ‘Mitteilungsblatt des VDB-Regionalverbands Südwest’
January 8, 2024
Mönnich, Michael, and Sandra Böhm. “Neu gestaltete Materialbibliothek am KIT.”Südwest-Info: Mitteilungsblatt des VDB-Regionalverbands Südwest Nr. 36 (2023), 2023.
RoofKIT Wuppertal, Germany; Interview with Prof. Dirk Hebel
November 20, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “RoofKIT Wuppertal, Germany; Interview with Prof. Dirk Hebel: The aim is clear, we must forge the path ourselves.” In Sustainable Architecture & Design 2023/ 2024, edited by Andrea Herold, Tina Kammerer, and InteriorPark., 46–55. Stuttgart, Germany: av edition GmbH, 2023.
The existing building stock is the future resource
November 16, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “Der Bestand ist die künftige Ressource – Den linearen Umgang mit Baumaterialien schnellstmöglich stoppen.”Planerin – Mitgliederfachzeitschrift für Stadt-, Regional- und Landesplanung, Oktober 2023.
Article: Investigation of mechanical, physical and thermoacoustic properties of a novel light-weight dense wall panels made of bamboo Phyllostachys Bambusides
October 30, 2023
Gholizadeh, Parham, Hamid Zarea Hosseinabadi, Dirk E. Hebel, and Alireza Javadian. “Investigation of Mechanical, Physical and Thermoacoustic Properties of a Novel Light-Weight Dense Wall Panels Made of Bamboo Phyllostachys Bambusides.”Nature Sientific Reports 13 (October 26, 2023). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-45515-3
Building Better – Less – Different: Clean Energy Transition and Digital Transformation
October 16, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E., Felix Heisel, Andreas Wagner, und Moritz Dörstelmann, Hrsg. Besser Weniger Anders Bauen – Energiewende und digitale Transformation. Besser Weniger Anders Bauen 2. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, 2023.
From hunting, breeding and harvesting future building materials
September 27, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “Vom Jagen, Züchten Und Ernten Zukünftiger Baumaterialien.”Baukultur Nordrhein Westfalen, September 2023.
Building Circular
September 21, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E., Ludwig Wappner, Katharina Blümke, Valerio Calavetta, Steffen Bytomski, Lisa Häberle, Peter Hoffmann, Paula Holtmann, Hanna Hoss, Daniel Lenz and Falk Schneemann, eds. Sortenrein Bauen – Methode Material Konstruktion.Edition DETAIL. München: DETAIL Business Information GmbH, 2023.
Fungi
September 18, 2023
Schweikle, Johannes. “Fungi.” In Earthlike, 1:70–75, 2023.
Recent Contributions in “wohnen”
September 18, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “Die Stadt als Rohstofflager.”wohnen – Zeitschrift der Wohnungswirtschaft Bayern, August 2023.
Hebel, Dirk E. “Das RoofKIT-Gebäude der KIT Fakultät für Architektur – Gewinner des Solar Decathlon 2021/22 in Wuppertal.”wohnen – Zeitschrift der Wohnungswirtschaft Bayern, August 2023.
The City as Materials Storage
July 14, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “Die Stadt Als Rohstofflager.” Aktuell – Das Magazin Der Wohnung- Und Immobilienwirtschaft in Baden-Württemberg, 2023.
Building-Circle instead of One-Way-Economy
June 30, 2023
Ellinghaus, Tanja. “Bau-Kreislauf Statt Einweg-Wirtschaft.”Transition – Das Energiewendemagazin Der Dena, 2023.
Pure construction methods – circularity-based self-conception in architecture
June 14, 2023
Hebel, Dirk E. “Sortenreines Konstruieren – Kreislaufbasiertes Selbstverständnis in der Architektur.”Baumit, 2023. https://www.calameo.com/read/0011023184a57c4715124.
Building as a Project of Circularity
June 14, 2023
Reddy, Anita. “Bauen Als Kreislaufprojekt.” Engagement Global GGmbH, October 20, 2020. https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/frankfurt/frankfurt-setzt-auf-recycling-nach-abriss-stadt-wird-baustofflager-18707619.html.
Vivid Cycles: Reopening of RoofKIT on the KIT Campus
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.
