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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.
Felix Heisel, Dirk E. Hebel, Matthias Kohler, Stephen Crains, Francois Roche, Hendrik Jonkers, Marta Wisniewska, Thorsten Klooster, and Alireza Javadian at FCL Singapore on 26 November 2012
The conference ‘Concrete – Sleeping Beauty’ organized by the Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore together with TEC21 and espazium Switzerland as media partners addressed the possibilities to change the way we thing about the most used building material on the globe today. After an introduction by Dirk E. Hebel, giving an overview of concrete technology and its development over the last 2000 years, Francois Roche explained his use of the machine to build up multiple, heterogeneous and contradictory scenarios, something that rejects even the idea of a possible prediction about predetermined forms of growth or future typologies. Being extruded in space by robotic apparatuses Francois Roche showed concrete as a material in constant flux, tangled, intertwined, and forming a city, or rather a fragment of a city.
Matthias Kohler as well introduced the material use as an evolving array of interoperable tools and processes that allow the fabrication of design propositions to be increasingly complex and adaptive. In his talk, he addressed new potentials for non-standard concrete construction, which in conjunction with robotic fabrication allows for interweaving dynamic properties of the material with design and digital fabrication at full scale.
Hendrik Jonkers explained his extensive research on the suitability of very specific but otherwise harmless bacteria for their ability to repair cracks in concrete structures and thus significantly improve their durability. He stated that this new type of ‘bio-concrete’ would make costly manual repair unnecessary and would minimize the use of raw materials, as structures will last much longer.
Thorsten Klooster talked about the development of a new concrete called DiysCrete that is able to generate electricity out of solar energy. DiysCrete is based on the technical principles of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC or DYSC), using the generating means of electrochemical reactions of organic dyes absorbing sunlight. It can be produced without toxic emissions from freely available components. DiysCrete can be seen as a possible way of approaching new materials for the design process.
Dirk E. Hebel focused on the benefits of using bamboo as a construction material in conjunction with concrete technology. Its fast growth, high tensile strength, and the capacity to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are just some of the most remarkable properties it has to offer and open the chance to replace steel reinforcements in structural concrete applications.
The discussion after the input lectures was moderated by Stephen Cairns, Scientific Coordinator of FCL Singapore.
The participating students Desirée Amport, Pascal Genhart, Naomi Hanakata, Alireza Javadian, Ervine Lin, Nikolaos Theodoratos, Tobias Wullschleger and the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore will show the results of the FCL-SEC Seminar CONSTRUCTING WASTE with a vernissage on Friday, November 30 at 5pm at the 6th floor of the CREATE Tower. You are warmly invited to attend the event.
CONSTRUCTING WASTE interrogated the concept of up-cycling strategies in order to minimize the overall refuse amount in Singapore. The focus on design questions created 7 uniques product designs which have the potential to live a second life cycle in an alternated way. The exhibition showcases the pedagogical concept, the layout of lectures and text seminars as well as the final design products of the students.
Public Lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel at the international FCL Conference – Concrete Sleeping Beauty at CREATE Singapore on 26th November 2012. Bamboo has been used as a construction material for centuries around the globe. The benefits of using bamboo are enormous: its fast growth, high tensile strength, and the capacity to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are just some of the most remarkable properties it has to offer. For decades, researchers around the world have searched for methods to activate those benefits for use within the building sector and transform bamboo from a locally applied organic material into an industrialized product. However, water absorption, swelling and shrinking behavior, durability, fungi attacks as well as chemical decomposition of bamboo have limited most of the applications so far. This research demonstrates that new bamboo composite materials, developed with Woven Strand Bamboo (WSB) technology, have the possibility to overcome most of these limitations and open new application fields within the building sector, especially in the concrete industry. The research conducted under the Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore entails investigating the potential to replace steel reinforcements in structural concrete applications.
You are warmly invited to attend the international FCL conference CONCRETE – SLEEPING BEAUTY on 26 November 2012 organized by the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at ETH Zuerich/FCL Singapore together with TEC21 and espazium Switzerland as media partners. Five projects will introduce and initiate a discussion on the state of the art of a century-long unchanged material use. Can we think of new application and production methodologies? Can concrete heal itself? Can it produce power? Can concrete be computated? Are there organic reinforcement possibilities?
Five international researchers from different backgrounds will showcase their work. They aim to change the way we think about the most used building material on the globe today. The speakers will be Francois Roche of R&Sie (France and Thailand), Matthias Kohler of Gramazio/Kohler (Switzerland), Hendrik Jonkers of TU Delft (The Netherlands), Thorsten Klooster of Task Architects (Germany) and Dirk Hebel, ETHZ/FCL (Switzerland and Singapore). The event will be moderated by Stephen Cairns, Scientific Coordinator of FCL Singapore.
New-Territories unfold their protocols through the re-staging of contemporary relationships: aesthetical, machinist, computational, organics, biological and even artificial. The group works simultaneously through the architectural practice R&Sie(n), the “new-territories” research Lab and the [eIf/bt/c] scenario studio. François Roche leads independently architectural research labs such as the Advanced Studio at Colombia University-Gsapp in New York.
Abstract: Concrete Insurrection
I’ve heard about something that builds up only through multiple, heterogeneous and contradictory scenarios, something that rejects even the idea of a possible prediction about its form of growth or future typology.
Something shapeless grafted onto existing tissue, something that needs no vanishing point to justify itself but instead welcomes a quivering existence immersed in a real-time vibratory state, here and now.
Tangled, intertwined, it seems to be a city, or rather a fragment of a city.
Its inhabitants are immunized because they are both vectors and protectors of this complexity.
The multiplicity of its interwoven experiences and forms is matched by the apparent simplicity of its mechanisms.
The urban form no longer depends on the arbitrary decisions or control over its emergence exercised by a few, but rather the ensemble of its individual contingencies. It simultaneously subsumes premises, consequences and the ensemble of induced perturbations, in a ceaseless interaction. Its laws are consubstantial with the place itself, with no work of memory.
Matthias Kohler is an architect with interests ranging from computational design and robotic fabrication to material innovation. In 2000, he founded the architecture practice Gramazio & Kohler with his partner Fabio Gramazio. Founding also the world’s first architectural robotic laboratory at the ETH Zurich, his academic research concentrates on a multi-disciplinary practice between computational design, robotic fabrication and material innovation.
Abstract: Computated Concrete
At the disposal of architecture in the age of computation is an evolving array of interoperable tools and processes that allow the fabrication of design propositions to be increasingly complex and adaptive. With this approach, non-standard constructive practices become an essential part where concrete is one of the most favored and used materials since almost any shape can be achieved. However, few solutions exist providing the efficient and waste-free production of concrete structures with complex geometries. This lecture presents recent research and attempts to address new potentials for non-standard concrete construction, which in conjunction with robotic fabrication allows for interweaving dynamic properties of the material with design and digital fabrication at full scale.
Hendrik Marius Jonkers is currently a teaching scientist at Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at the Department of Materials & Environment, The Netherlands. Prior to that, he worked as a research scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany, as well as the University of Groningen, Department of Paleontology and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (MT-TNO).
Abstract: Healing Concrete
In this research project the suitability of very specific but otherwise harmless bacteria are tested for their ability to repair cracks and thus significantly improve the durability of concrete structures. Such a bacterial repair mechanism would be beneficial for the economy and the environment at the same time, as concrete is worldwide the most applied building material. This new type of ‘bio-concrete’ would make costly manual repair unnecessary and would minimize the use of raw materials, as structures will last much longer.
In nature a huge number of different varieties of bacteria occur and some of these are likely well adapted to artificial man-made environments such as concrete. From a human perspective concrete may seem an extreme environment as the material is dry and rock-solid. However, this does not apply to a specialized group of bacteria, the ‘extremophiles’, named after their habit to love extreme conditions. Some of these bacterial species are not only known to love extremely dry conditions, but also to be able to produce copious amounts of limestone. This calcium carbonate-based material, as well as other types of bio-minerals produced by bacteria, could serve to seal or heal cracks in concrete. The major goal of this research project therefore is to find the right bacteria which can, when integrated in concrete, actively repair a structure during its 50-100 years service life. This newly developed self-healing bio-concrete is expected to result in significantly reduced production-, repair-, and maintenance costs. Furthermore, this bacteria-based concrete will be much more environmental friendly as traditional concrete, as less material is needed due to the extended service life of its structures. Nowadays the production of cement, the most important ingredient of concrete, contributes for 5-10% to the world’s atmospheric CO2 emission, and as less material is needed, a wide application of bio-concrete based structures is expected to significantly lower atmospheric CO2 emissions.
Thorsten Klooster is a Berlin based architect and the editor of the book SMART SURFACES AND THEIR APPLICATION IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN. He is a former member of the Technical Science Research Group at the Fraunhofer Institute (IPK) in Berlin and a teacher for architectural design and construction at the Brandenburg University of Technology. In 2007 he founded the architectural studio TASK in Berlin.
Abstract: Electrifying Concrete
“Electrifying concrete” talks about the development of a new concrete called DiysCrete that is able to generate electricity out of solar energy. DiysCrete is based on the technical principles of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC or DYSC), using the generating means of electrochemical reactions of organic dyes absorbing sunlight. It can be produced without toxic emissions from freely available components. DiysCrete can be seen as a possible way of approaching new materialities for the design process. Starting from the BlingCrete project on a light reflecting concrete, that began as a series of experiments with light-reflecting materials and the phenomenon of retroreflection, further novel materials derived, like the solar active DiysCrete and the conductive and responsive Magnetically Patterned Concrete. At large these are attempts for high tech low budget materials, trying to create novel ambiguous polymorphic substances that could be regarded as new manifestations of concrete.
Dirk Hebel is holding the position of Assistant Professor of Architecture and Construction at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore / ETH Zurich. Prior to that, he was the founding Scientific Director of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His research concentrates on alternative building materials and construction techniques and their application in developing territories.
Abstract: Bamboofying Concrete
Bamboo has been used as a construction material for centuries around the globe. The benefits of using bamboo are enormous: its fast growth, high tensile strength, and the capacity to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are just some of the most remarkable properties it has to offer. For decades, researchers around the world have searched for methods to activate those benefits for use within the building sector and transform bamboo from a locally applied organic material into an industrialized product. However, water absorption, swelling and shrinking behavior, durability, fungi attacks as well as chemical decomposition of bamboo have limited most of the applications so far. This research demonstrates that new bamboo composite materials, developed with Woven Strand Bamboo (WSB) technology, have the possibility to overcome most of these limitations and open new application fields within the building sector, especially in the concrete industry. The research conducted under the Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore entails investigating the potential to replace steel reinforcements in structural concrete applications.
You are warmly invited to attend the international FCL conference CONCRETE – SLEEPING BEAUTY on 26 November 2012 organized by the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at ETH Zuerich/FCL Singapore together with TEC21 and espazium Switzerland as media partners. Five projects will introduce and initiate a discussion on the state of the art of a century-long unchanged material use. Can we think of new application and production methodologies? Can concrete heal itself? Can it produce power? Can concrete be computated? Are there organic reinforcement possibilities?
Five international researchers from different backgrounds will showcase their work. They aim to change the way we think about the most used building material on the globe today. The speakers will be Francois Roche of New Territories (France and Thailand), Matthias Kohler of Gramazio & Kohler (Switzerland), Hendrik Jonkers of TU Delft (The Netherlands), Thorsten Klooster of Task Architects (Germany) and Dirk Hebel, ETHZ/FCL (Switzerland and Singapore). The event will be moderated by Stephen Cairns, Scientific Coordinator of FCL Singapore.
The last talk of the Constructing Waste Seminar was led by Dr Chen Chia-Lung on 15 November 2012. Dr. Chen Chia- Lung is a Research Fellow and Centre Manager at Residues and Resource Reclamation Centre (R3C) Nanyang Technological University, NTU Singapore.
There are around 1 billion different types of bacteria in the world. Out of those, less than 1% is known or described scientifically. Within this huge spectrum, different bacterias are known to have specific qualities and properties. While many cause damage and deceases, others help to produce electricity, heal building materials, reduce waste or even ‘eat’ hazardous chemicals . This weeks’ talk focussed on the positive effects and possibilities of bacterias in various sectors.
At the 5th International Congress Bauhaus.SOLAR 2012 in Erfurt on November 13, the Bauhaus.SOLAR AWARD was awarded to the project “Solar Forest Tempelhof” by Felix Heisel and Jonas Klock from Berlin. Felix Heisel is a current working at FCL Singapore as a Researcher at the Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel.
This prize for young scientists is being offered by SolarInput e.V. and Solarvalley Mitteldeutschland e.V. all over Europe and is aimed at students and young graduates. It honours outstanding architecture and design projects showing innovative dealings with renewable energies, using solar energy.
According to Michael Frielinghaus, Head of the Jury and President of the BDA Association of German Architects, the winning project offers an important contribution to the debate on how to deal with historically important sites like the former airport Tempelhof in Berlin. “The project translates the history of its location in an exemplary and emblematic way.”
A public park, surrounded by a dense urban ring emerges on the area of the former airport Berlin Tempelhof. Forming a “Solar Forrest”, this open space is planted with trees, partly natural, mostly however artificial “solar trees”. Together, they comprise an innovative power plant, which also spends shade to Berlin’s inhabitants for their recreational activities on the field. The main element of the tree design is its “crown”, a solar balloon using the sun’s energy for buoyancy. Solar cells on its transparent shell and black PVC-Foils on the inside produce electricity and heat. The layout guarantees productivity, regardless of the behavior of the balloon. These solar trees not only produce energy and offer shade to the users of the park, but also work as charging stations for electronic devices and act as individual light sources in the evening hours.
The central interest of the Bauhaus Solar Award 2012 was to put the design and functional demands made of architecture, urban construction, landscape planning and product design into line with the ecological and energetic necessities. Interdisciplinary cooperation and experimental dealings with materials and technical possibilities are to lead to the development of new visionary ideas and the creation of innovations combining new technologies gentle on resources with modern design.
‘Recycling Spaces’ is a short documentary on waste and recycling in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, presented by one of the authors, Felix Heisel. The movie led into a discussion on the financial aspect of waste, which is the topic of this week’s Constructing Waste session.
Together with Bisrat Kifle, Felix Heisel initiated the EiABC Movie Series on space appropriation, starting in 2011.The series so far consists out of 4 movies: Disappearing Spaces, Emerging Spaces, Supporting Spaces and Recycling Spaces.
Felix Heisel is working as a Researcher in the Chair of Architecture and Construction at the Future Cities Laboratory Singapore, a collaboration of ETH Zurich and NRF Singapore.
Public Lunch Talk by Alireza Javadian at the FCL Future Cities Laboratory Singapore on 1st November 2012. Bamboo has been used as a construction material for centuries around the globe. The benefits of using bamboo are enormous: its fast growth, high tensile strength, and the capacity to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are just some of the most remarkable properties it has to offer. For decades, researchers around the world have searched for methods to activate those benefits for use within the building sector and transform bamboo from a locally applied organic material into an industrialized product. However, water absorption, swelling and shrinking behavior, durability, fungi attacks as well as chemical decomposition of bamboo have limited most of the applications so far. This research demonstrates that new bamboo composite materials, developed with Woven Strand Bamboo (WSB) technology, have the possibility to overcome most of these limitations and open new application fields within the building sector, especially in the concrete industry. The research conducted under the Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore entails investigating the potential to replace steel reinforcements in structural concrete applications.
Public Lunch-Talk by Alireza Javadian at the FCL Future Cities Laboratory Singapore on 1st November 2012. Bamboo has been used as a construction material for centuries around the globe. The benefits of using bamboo are enormous: its fast growth, high tensile strength, and the capacity to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are just some of the most remarkable properties it has to offer. For decades, researchers around the world have searched for methods to activate those benefits for use within the building sector and transform bamboo from a locally applied organic material into an industrialized product. However, water absorption, swelling and shrinking behavior, durability, fungi attacks as well as chemical decomposition of bamboo have limited most of the applications so far. This research demonstrates that new bamboo composite materials, developed with Woven Strand Bamboo (WSB) technology, have the possibility to overcome most of these limitations and open new application fields within the building sector, especially in the concrete industry. The research conducted under the Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore entails investigating the potential to replace steel reinforcements in structural concrete applications.
The 7th week’s session of Constructing Waste was opened with a presentation ‘Waste and Want’ by Marta Wisniewska.
The talk raises the everlasting question of aesthetic perception on the example of waste. Questions of necessity and luxury were raised, as waste in architecture evokes very extreme and contradictory reactions in both developing territories and developed countries. Cultural and aesthetic goals as well as differences were discussed on the example of MULU, a container housing project developed by Marta Wisniewska and Felix Heisel in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
Marta Wisniewska is a researcher at the Future Cities Laboratory at the Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel. Prior to that, she was working as a lecturer and architectural program coordinator at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development in Addis Ababa.
Building Ethiopia, published in October 2012 by Helawi Sewnet and Zegeye Cherenet, represents a documentation of research activities at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) between 2009 and 2011. More than 40 articles and authors set as their objective a sustainable urban as well as rural development of Ethiopia. Bridging between teaching, practice and research, all contributions represent an open system of alternative approaches to tackle Ethiopia’s most pressing challenge: how to supply the building infrastructure for one of the fastest growing and developing territories in the world.
The research was undertaken at EiABC in the context of a large higher education reform process and under the leadership of EiABC’s founding Scientific Director Dirk E. Hebel. Being an Assistant Professor for Architecture and Construction at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore by now, several contributions of him and his research partners Felix Heisel, Marta Wisniewska, and Lara Davis can be found in the publication:
The ‘Environmental Session’ of the Constructing Waste Seminar of the Chair of Architecture and Construction at FCL was led by Prof. Rainer Stegmann on 25 October 2012.
Prof. Dr.-Ing Rainer Stegmann is Professor Emeritus of the University of Technology in Hamburg, Germany. As Head of the Institute of Waste Resource Management, he continues doing research in the field of solid waste management and co-owns two patents with his colleagues. Prof. Stegmann is currently a Visiting Professor at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore and Director of the Residues and Resource Reclamation Centre (R3C) at NTU.
Felix Heisel and Bisrat Kilfe recently filmed two new episodes of their documentary Movie Series on Space Appropriation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The material is currently being edited into the final movies titled “Materializing Spaces” and “Initiating Spaces”, which will hopefully be premiered in December 2012. For the generous support, the authors would like to thank the German Embassy in Addis Ababa and CoReSing FCL Singapore.
Materializing Spaces – a night in Addis Ababa’s periphery
Informal housing construction in Addis Ababa features a very specific, illegal but common typology, the “chereka bet”. Whole suburbs are being constructed in such a way illegally around Ethiopia’s capital. Piece by piece, local farmers sell their land to migrants in search of a place to live. Gradually, these homes grow into settlements, with churches, schools and wells; all half-legal and self-organized.
The Amharic name “chereka bet” translates into moon-shine house and describes the fact that these houses are build over night, in the light of the moon. Unseen or tolerated from police and kebele, neighbors and specialists organize themselves to construct housing and shops within limited hours in the night and on weekends.
As part of the documentary series ‘…Spaces’ we do not want to legitimate this process, however we feel the necessity to document it as a part of the housing provision in Addis Ababa. Interestingly, many chereka bets afterwards receive a title deed, in the hope to tackle Ethiopia’s housing shortage. This rises the question if self-building could not be a legitimate housing provision for certain social groups?
A legitimate process within rules and regulations might be a solution to deal with some of the major problems caused by the chereka bets; one of them for example deforestation. The environmental effect of building and fire wood harvestation in these formerly green farmlands is certainly immense and almost irreversible.
This documentary shows the construction of such a chereka bet in a time lapse. Additional interviews with the future inhabitant, a carpenter, as well as his friends and neighbors shed light on the reasons for the chereka bet construction as well as the building process. Experts on architectural history, social aspects and the kebele structure enhance the arguments from their external viewpoints.
Initiating Spaces – a day in Addis Ababa’s hinterland
Traditional and cultural habits, religious and social patterns and income generating mechanisms should be the basis for new developments in Ethiopia’s capital. Considering that Addis Ababa’s history reaches back only one century and most inhabitants of the informal areas are rural migrants, the spatial arrangements of the traditional tukul actually form part of Addis Ababa’s understanding of space.
In comparison with the kebele house, this documentary shows the daily life in a traditional tukul on the example of a farmer’s family living in Wenchi. This movie considers questions such as (1) why does rural to urban migration contribute so heavily to Addis Ababa’s growth and (2) which habits or traditions have been imported to the city, respectively, which behaviors developed in an urban context.
Employing the same technique as Disappearing Spaces, the film documents one day in the life of a representative family, including food preparation, work in the fields, the way to school or the necessary social networks in the neighborhood. Interviews talk about the relationship of countryside and city and motivations for migration. Expert opinions give additional information on the context.
The 5th week’s CONSTRUCTING WASTE talk was led by Mr. Ong Seng Eng, former Director of Waste and Resource Management Department of National Environment Agency Singapore.
Mr. Ong is a chemical engineer and responsible for solid waste management in Singapore. His duties include the promotion of the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle), regulatory control on waste collection and management of waste disposal facilities such as waste-to-energy incineration plants and the Semakau Landfill.
Assoc. Prof. Wang Jing-Yuan gave an introductory talk of the 4th Week’s CONSTRUCTING WASTE seminar.
Prof. Wang is an Associate Professor of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and is currently Director of the Residues and Resource Reclamation Centre of NTU.
Public lecture by Prof. Dirk E. Hebel, Felix Heisel, Bisrat Kifle, Addis alem Fekele, Tewedaj Eshetu, Yosef Teferri, and Eyob Wedesu at the Green Forum ADDIS 2050 Conference in Addis Ababa on October 09, 2012. Addis Ababa belongs to the fastest growing urban centers in the world. Migration from the rural areas as well as a massive redevelopment strategies of the City Government put the African capital under enormous pressure. Infrastructural deficiencies, water and energy shortages, environmental hazards and mobility challenges question the current modus operandi in place. Alternative pathways will be presented in this lecture which is a result of a workshop collaboration between the Green Forum Ethiopia, FCL Singapore and EiABC Addis Ababa.
Team FCL Singapore: Dirk Hebel, Felix Heisel, Marta Wisniewska, Alireza Javadian, Gerhard Schmitt, Stephen Cairns, Remo Burkhard, Eva-Maria Friedrich, Matthias Berger, Stefan Mueller Arisona, Ludger Hovestadt, Jorge Orozco, Alex Erath, Max Hirsh, Sonja Berthold, Ying Zhou, Edda Ostertag, Naomi Hanakata, Lindsey Ann Sawyer, Cheryl Song, Noor Faizah Binte Othman, Kevin Lim, Amanda Tan
Team EiABC: Joachim Dieter, Bisrat Kifle, Addis alem Fekele, Tewedaj Eshetu, Yosef Teferri, Eyob Wedesu
Team Green Forum/Heinrich Boell Foundation: Patrick Berg, Ayele Kebede, Jonas
The conference ADDIS 2050 – an alternative pathway into Ethiopia’s future – was held on October 9th and 10th 2012 at the campus of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development EiABC in Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa belongs to the fastest growing urban centers in the world. Migration from the rural areas as well as massive redevelopment strategies of the City Government put the African capital under enormous pressure. Infrastructural deficiencies, water and energy shortages, environmental hazards and mobility challenges question the current modus operandi in place.
The Green Forum Ethiopia under the leadership of Heinrich Boell Foundation in Addis Ababa commissioned the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore in collaboration with the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development EiABC to invent an alternative “green” scenario for the city of Addis Ababa in the year 2050. The conference concentrated on the issues of Energy, Mobility, Cultural and Social Space, Housing and Information. The event was visited by more than 500 people and arose immense interest from the media as well as the City Administration. As guest of honor, the Swiss Ambassador H.E. Dominik Langenbacher attended the conference as well as delegates from several federal ministries and the UN-Habitat. In the meantime, the Department of Masterplanning and Vision of the City Adeministration invited the speakers to present the work in their offices.
Team FCL Singapore:Dirk Hebel, Felix Heisel, Marta Wisniewska, Alireza Javadian, Gerhard Schmitt, Stephen Cairns, Remo Burkhard, Eva-Maria Friedrich, Matthias Berger, Stefan Mueller Arisona, Ludger Hovestadt, Jorge Orozco, Alex Erath, Max Hirsh, Sonja Berthold, Ying Zhou, Edda Ostertag, Naomi Hanakata, Lindsey Ann Sawyer, Cheryl Song, Noor Faizah Binte Othman, Kevin Lim, Amanda Tan
Team EiABC: Joachim Dieter, Bisrat Kifle, Addis alem Fekele, Tewedaj Eshetu, Yosef Teferri, Eyob Wedesu
Team Green Forum/Heinrich Boell Foundation: Patrick Berg, Ayele Kebede, Jonas
The conference ADDIS 2050 – an alternative pathway into Ethiopia’s future – was held on October 9th and 10th 2012 at the campus of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development EiABC in Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa belongs to the fastest growing urban centers in the world. Migration from the rural areas as well as massive redevelopment strategies of the City Government put the African capital under enormous pressure. Infrastructural deficiencies, water and energy shortages, environmental hazards and mobility challenges question the current modus operandi in place.
The Green Forum Ethiopia under the leadership of Heinrich Boell Foundation in Addis Ababa commissioned the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at FCL Singapore in collaboration with the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development EiABC to invent an alternative “green” scenario for the city of Addis Ababa in the year 2050. The conference concentrated on the issues of Energy, Mobility, Cultural and Social Space, Housing and Information. The event was visited by more than 500 people and arose immense interest from the media as well as the City Administration. As guest of honor, the Swiss Ambassador H.E. Dominik Langenbacher attended the conference as well as delegates from several federal ministries and the UN-Habitat. In the meantime, the Department of Masterplanning and Vision of the City Adeministration invited the speakers to present the work in their offices.
Team FCL Singapore:Dirk Hebel, Felix Heisel, Marta Wisniewska, Alireza Javadian, Gerhard Schmitt, Stephen Cairns, Remo Burkhard, Eva-Maria Friedrich, Matthias Berger, Stefan Mueller Arisona, Ludger Hovestadt, Jorge Orozco, Alex Erath, Max Hirsh, Sonja Berthold, Ying Zhou, Edda Ostertag, Naomi Hanakata, Lindsey Ann Sawyer, Cheryl Song, Noor Faizah Binte Othman, Kevin Lim, Amanda Tan
Team EiABC: Joachim Dieter, Bisrat Kifle, Addis alem Fekele, Tewedaj Eshetu, Yosef Teferri, Eyob Wedesu
Team Green Forum/Heinrich Boell Foundation: Patrick Berg, Ayele Kebede, Jonas
Today, in 2012, over 70 million Ethiopians live without electricity. This is more than 80% of the population without access to the electricity grid. As a result, 90% of Ethiopian households use firewood for cooking, resulting in the deforestation of almost 1500 km2 every year.
Research by Ludger Hovestadt and Jorge Orozco
Developed by Eva-Maria Friedrich, Matthias Berger and Stefan Mueller-Arisona
Energy 2050 – An Alternative
Tomorrow, in the year 2050, Ethiopia produces more renewable energy than it consumes.
Every home is electrified, every citizen, regardless of his or her location, his or her religion, his or her income or his or her ethnic origin has access to electrical energy. No firewood is needed any more for cooking; forests are growing again in Ethiopia, protecting our soil for agricultural production to feed our people. Water is pumped with solar energy to every household and every square meter of farmland. No toxic exhausts are threatening us anymore, because we live in a zero emission society.
In the year 2014, the Ethiopian government handed over solar panels in the value of 200 USD for every family of Ethiopia including a battery storage system. Like that, every family was able to produce 100 Watt of electrical energy per hour, which, at that time, was enough to supply their homes with light during the evening hours, to run a radio or small refrigerator and to charge their cell phones and other small battery systems. In order to do so, only half of one year’s foreign aid going into Ethiopian was needed.
Solar panels became over the years cheaper and cheaper and the cooperative started to add capacities to their small networks until bigger systems were able to support urban areas with their energy. With their cell phones, the farmers started to sell their energy on locally installed energy stock markets. They decided when and how much of their energy was sold to customers.
Here, the farmers could actually store energy, inside their plants, vegetable and cattle. But also other systems became very attractive. Production of Butane gas for example. With easy machines, water and CO2 out of the air, many farmers became bio-gas producers, filling thousands of Butane bottles per day.
This Butane gas became by now the most used cooking energy in Ethiopia. Women did not have to find firewood all day long, covering thousands of kilometers every year. The gas did not harm their health any longer, because burning it, did not create any black carbon particles, of which so many died every year before.
But also producing hydrogen with the abundant energy produced became a very lucrative business. The cooperative started around 2030 to install hydrogen separators as a tertiary energy source to be sold to the cities. Hydrogen buses, trucks and even airplanes were introduced to Ethiopia step by step, because the fuel was there and it was cheap.
By 2045, electricity export increased by around 70% every two years. Like that, Ethiopia became the first sub-Saharan country to support the DESERTEC network built in the Sahara desert, supporting an international effort to build a global sustainable energy market, where farmers in the rural areas of Ethiopia play and important role.
Ethiopia’s slogan ‘13 month of sunshine’ became well-known in a globalized energy market.
Public lecture by Felix Heisel at the Green Forum ADDIS 2050 Conference in Addis Ababa on October 09, 2012. Out of Singapore’s breathtaking development over the past 50 years, the lecture focuses on two mayor characteristics of urban planning: the incredible success story of the Housing & Developing Board (HDB) as well as the concept of a “City in the Garden”. Today, more than 85% of Singapore’s 5.3 million inhabitants are home owners, due to an inventive strategy implemented already in the 1960ies. Identification of the home owners with the nation-state is almost guaranteed, since almost everybody is owning a share of Singapore, whereby national economic growth enhances the value of private property. Also during the last 50 years, even so the built mass in Singapore grew constantly, the green area did as well and is covering today more than 50% of the island, making Singapore one of the greenest cities world-wide. The lecture will introduce the necessary decisions that were taken over the last five decades in order to achieve such high standards.
Tomorrow, in 2050, Addis Ababa is the first African city that reached its goal of establishing a ‘Zero Emission’ society.
Through a collective effort in the past 40 years, Ethiopia achieved something remarkable – the decoupling of economic growth and mobility from burning fossil energy carriers. As a result, the capital Addis Ababa, this year received the title of “most livable city in Africa” for the second time in a row. This is mainly due to reasons connected with the management of emissions, social space initiatives, public transport concepts, education possibilities, ecological driven industries and safety concepts in the city combined with a long term strategy of economic growth through ecological strategies put in place by the city government.
It all started in 2015, when rural farmers received an Energy Harvesting Kit, consisting out of a solar panel and a battery. Gradually, Ethiopia developed a new approach towards energy generation, based on individuals and small-scale grids. Already just after a few years, electrical energy in rural and urban Ethiopia was available for everybody. Consequently, the country experienced a paradigm shift on how to produce and use energy.
While such developments rapidly urbanized the countryside, it took a few years to affect the cities. A key development might have been the opening of the first Electrical Mobility Manufacturing EMM near Addis Ababa in 2020. Individuals with an entrepreneurial understanding had been following the energy development in Ethiopia closely and understood the potential of the country. As energy costs started to drop because of the tremendous amount that was produced by energy farmers in the countryside, production costs also dropped tremendously. But even more important, this energy was available for everybody and therefore people started to drive vehicles that could be charged at home. No expensive petroleum, diesel or benzin was necessary any more. With this, a mobility revolution started in Ethiopia.
It was very fortunate that mayor Amanuel Takele realized a common fact: more car lanes also produce more car traffic. Reversing the trend, he used the already existing asphalt for a more diverse functional mix – pedestrian walk ways, bike lanes, public transport and individual traffic shared now what was originally planned just for fossil fuel driven cars. This was possible, because the electrical vehicles did nit harm anyone anymore through heat, noise and exhausts. The days of black exhaust clouds were over, people could start to breath again in public space.
Considering the mind-blowing shift in mobility, the public transport system needed a quick renewal. Hitchhiking on the already existing movement towards renewable energy driven vehicles, the Administration declared the ‘Green Public Transport Act’ in early 2026. Public bus lines, the extension of the already existing electrical tramway and the transformation of the taxi system were the most important steps on the agenda.
In 2042, Ethiopian Airlines – as the first airline in Africa and the third worldwide – changed his whole carrier fleet towards a hydrogen fuel system. Like that, Ethiopian Airlines uses a sustainable, environmentally friendly and most of all renewable energy source, harvested mostly by small energy farmers in the country-side.
Combined with the incredible fascinating developments in the housing sector, it also changed our understanding of building and living in a city. Cities are now seen as multiple dense clusters of local networks: Kebeles harvest energy, organize sewage systems or even build roads within a bigger plan. More important however is the social layer within our new Addis Ababa. The closeness and mixture of functions in a low-rise, dense, heterogeneous megapolis also decreased our need for mobility. Friends, family, work and shopping are usually within walking distance. The air we are breathing is not polluted by carbon or dioxin particles any more, noise is not disturbing our daily activities any longer, bicycling on the new dedicated lanes is fast and fun. And for longer distances, public transport is installed to be fast and reliable. Out of this, car ownership in recent years has been on a constant decline.
We changed our mobility and in return it changed our lifes.
Tomorrow, in 2050, life in Addis Ababa is vibrant, diverse, public and secure. We enjoy our social heritage, our cities as cultural centers and our public spaces as an expression of an open, active, inventive, green, and responsible society.
At the end of the 20th century, housing shortages, energy blackouts, old and outdated mobility concepts, and inefficient or not existing infrastructures challenged the future of our nation. Additionally, health risks resulting from high levels of air pollution and other environmental hazards made the capital difficult to enjoy.
But combining economic growth and our own life prosperity with an alternative renewable energy concept for Ethiopia changed the way we lived. Migration slowed down, identity was strengthened, local habits and traditions could survive in the regions and Ethiopia therefore was able to protect its incredible rich culture and history.
Instead of following trends and fashions from the outside, the society developed into a trendsetter itself for other nations. Today, we are a role model for so many other countries, delegations come from all over the world to learn about our culture and how technology is used to strengthen local identities instead of destroying them. We harvest the energy we have, sun, water and wind, and we build small towns and cities of close proximities, where the Ethiopian social culture of closeness, tradition, family sense andcharity are expressed and enhanced.
And even existing cities were changed. In Addis Ababa, a new educational mile was introduced ranging from Arat Kilo to Addis Ababa University, where cars are
banned, trees are planted and extremely attractive spaces were designed by our young architects. The National Museum, the Ethnographical Museum, the Ethiopian History Museum, the new Central Library and other cultural institutions like the Goethe Institute, the Alliance Francais, and Addis Ababa University with its many institutions along the way are now accessible through a common public space which became a garden of knowledge and exchange.
Scholars are meeting and discussing here, tourists come and exchange their knowledge with us, friendships are build and research collaborations are negotiated. It became the urban think tank for our industry and economy. This spatial interaction favors again the humans and NOT the cars, it favors knowledge production over pure apllication, it favors exchange and openness over retraction and close mindedness.
The National Museum, the Commercial Bank, the Ministry of Defense, all of those were reopened and revitalized as public buildings around the area, which had an immense effect on the immediate surroundings as a public space of interaction. Restaurants opened their doors, traffic is re-routed in the evening hours and the National Theater opened an outside stage, which strengthened the role of the building as a magnet for social activities in the midst of the city.
The area is known as the “Cultural Mile” of Addis Ababa. It’s strategic location in the heart of the City makes it a popular space for all generations, small businesses, restaurants, artists and students are to be found, shaded by trees and a densified urban layout to create a real ‘Piazza’ for the people.
Another heritage building, the old station at the lower end of Churchill Road, sparked an additional social and economic important corridor in the city. The “Rail Line Project” started in 2032, connecting “La Gare” with Bole Airport following the old rail tracks of the Addis-Djibouti line.
The artificial topography of the project offers a contemporary and transformative breeding ground for small production and retail stores, spaces for entrepreneur companies, pockets for various markets, test grounds for new technologies, niches for cafes and restaurants, shops and small fabrication places for craftsmen and artists, all enhancing the economic base of the neighborhood. One finds also spaces for religious celebrations, very small open-air cinemas and all kinds of performances along with traditional festivals.
The ‘Kebena River Nature Park’ offers today a remote and piece full place in midst of a vibrant and environmental successful city. The Ethiopian rural history and culture can be combined with an urban future, as long as the urban does not destroy the biggest treasure we have: tradition, history, and our incredible nature.
Merkert-Andreas, Carolin. “Pilze Sind Vielseitig.”Wohnglück, January 2025.
“RoofKIT – Carbon storage and Material storage”
January 9, 2025
Boerman, Elena, and Dirk E. Hebel. “RoofKIT – Kohlenstoffspeicher Und Materiallager.”Architektur.Aktuell, vol. 12.2024, no. Tradition und Innovation, Dezember 2024, pp. 98–109
Interview: “From a Linear to a Circular System”
November 13, 2024
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.
