Professur Nachhaltiges Bauen / Sustainable Construction

Prof. Dirk E. Hebel hält am 18.05.2017 auf der Designmesse INTERZUM in Köln die Key-Note “Building from Waste”. Außerdem stellt das Fachgebiet neuartige Baumaterialien aus seiner Forschungsarbeit aus.

Mit Blick auf die steigende Weltbevölkerung und eine auf den Ressourcenverbauch ausgelegte Industriekultur des 20. Jahrhunderts wird in der Circular Economy ein Idealbild für ein Wirtschaften mit den vorhandenen Werkstoffen gesehen. Der Strategieansatz verfolgt das Ziel, Stoffströme zu schließen, Materialien nach Möglichkeit in geschlossenen Kreisläufen zirkulieren zu lassen und den Wert von Produkten so lange zu erhalten, wie es wirtschaftlich sinnvoll ist und qualitativ möglich erscheint.

Die INTERZUM-Konferenz “Circular Thinking” wird am 18. Mai 2017 neben der Sonderausstellung zu gleichnamigem Thema die Potenziale des Denkens in geschlossenen Materialkreisläufen für Innovationsmanager, Designer und Architekten aufbereiten und Lösungsansätze vorstellen. Ausgewiesene Spezialisten diskutieren im Kontext von vier thematischen Schwerpunkten die Innovationspotenziale anhand herausragender Entwicklungen der letzten Jahre.

As populations and aspirations grow, so does the demand for materials and resources to support them. Although such resource demands were once satisfied by local and regional hinterlands, they are becoming increasingly global in scale and reach. This phenomenon has generated material flows that are trans-continental and planetary in scope, and has profound consequences for the sustainability, functioning, sense of ownership and identity of future cities. However, the global concentration of the construction industry on a selected few mined materials puts high pressure on our natural resources. If we talk about the future city, it becomes clear that it cannot be built with the same finite resources.

The 21st century will face a radical paradigm shift in how we produce materials for the construction of our habitat. The linear concept of “produce, use, and discard” has proven itself unsustainable in the face of scarce resources and exponentially increasing urban populations. Instead, to achieve a cycle of production, use, and re-use, we must explore alternative materials and approaches to construction. The Professorship of Sustainable Construction Dirk E. Hebel at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Block Research Group (BRG) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich are combining their knowledge in materials, construction, structures, and geometry to address the problems posed by inefficiency in the realms of current design and material use.

Utilizing the regenerative materials mycelium and bamboo and a design based on polyhedral form and force diagrams controlling the geometry of the structure’s forces, this exhibition presents a full-scale vision for how we may move beyond the mining of our construction materials to their cultivation and urban growth. It suggests ways that efficiency of digital design and engineering and alternative resources can join forces to question current practice and propose more sustainable approaches.

Mycelium is the root network of mushrooms, a fast growing matrix that can act as a natural and self-assembling glue. Digesting plant-based waste products, such as saw dust, mycelium’s dense network of hyphae binds the substrate into a structurally active material composite. The advantages of such products are significant: As mycelium follows a metabolic cycle, building elements or whole constructions may be composted after their original use. The material may be grown locally, reducing both the energy and time required with transportation. And, as they are organic matter, they act to reverse carbon emissions through the absorption of carbon.

Mycelium based materials offer significant ecologic advantages on one hand but offer a comparably low structural strength on the other. When building with such weak materials, good geometry is essential for maintaining equilibrium through compression only. Such so-called funicular geometries have the advantage that their internal stresses are very low. While current conventional development of engineered materials, such as e.g. concrete and steel, is largely focused on making materials stronger by increasing their allowable stress, achieving stability through geometry instead allows the use of weak materials, such as mushroom mycelium, in structural applications.

We believe that local, regenerative and cultivated resources in combination with informed structural design, have the potential to become a very real alternative to established materials within the building industry.

Opening: 02. September 2017
Location: Donuimun Museum Village, Seoul, South Korea

Project Team:
Sustainable Construction, Dirk E. Hebel / KIT Karlsruhe & FCL Singapore
Professorship Philippe Block, Block Research Group / ETH Zürich
Karlsruhe: Karsten Schlesier, Felix Heisel
Zürich: Matthias Rippmann, Tomás Méndez Echenagucia, Juney Lee, Alessandro Dell’Endice, Andrew Liew, Noelle Paulson, Tom Van Mele
Singapore: Nazanin Saeidi, Alireza Javadian, Adi Reza Nugroho, Robbi Zidna Ilman, Erlambang Adjidarma, Hokie Christian, Orion Tan Sheng Yu, Kelly Cooper

Production partner:
Mycotech, PT Miko Bahtera Nusantara Indonesia

With kind support of:
Department of Architecture, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
ETH Global, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) Singapore-ETH Centre, Singapore
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany

SuperMaterial is a major public exhibition by The Built Environment Trust celebrating the essential, and often hidden, elements of our surroundings. Delving into the world of academia and science, we identify the latest laboratory-based discoveries and demonstrate how they will change our world – informing the R&D departments of today and transforming the buildings of our future. The project will also explore how the historical application of raw elements and minimally processed goods – the ‘super materials’ of their time – have shaped our urban fabric.

The show exhibits bamboo composite reinforcement produced by the Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, the ETH Zürich in Switzerland. The display is on show at the Building Centre in London from February through April 2017.

View the SuperMaterial online exhibition here.

For the first time Young Academics were awarded with the DVL Lehmbaupreis at Lehm 2016 – International Conference on Building with Earth in Weimar.

The prize aims to promote the study of earth building in academic context. It recognises academic work of excellent quality that demonstrates a firm knowledge of earth building and makes a forward-looking and original contribution in the fields of design, construction, research or development.

Philipp Müller was awarded with the second prize for his Master Thesis dealing with reliability analysis of earth block masonry structures as it can be seen as a major contribution to the efforts in regard of the ongoing standardization process in earth building. For more information, please click here.

Mikkel Bøgh from Danish architecture team EFFEKT gave a presentation this week as a part of the HS16 Living Lab Zakynthos Lecture Series. In his talk Mikkel covered projects ranging from research and experimental design up to implemented realizations. One of the most recent work, called ReGen Villages, aims to construct a self sustaining community comprised of active houses adressing energy production, water management, and waste-to-resource systems.

EFFEKT received numerous awards and won several Danish and international competitions in the fields of architecture, planning, urban space and landscape projects.

In the third week of the HS16 Living Lab Zakynthos the Chair of Architecture and Construction hosted Dr. Christoph Lüthi from Aquatic Research Eawag. Christoph gave a thorough input on the newest sustainable solutions in the realm of Sanitation, Water and Waste Management for the developed and developing areas.

Every year in September, shortly after the beginning of a new semester, an Annual Exhibition takes place in the main hall of HIL Building at ETH Hönggerberg. The recent one presents the students’ work of the Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 semesters at the Department of Architecture. In addition to the students’ work, the three latest publications of the Chair of Architecture and Construction are featured, which include ‘SUDU Research and Manual’ by Dirk E. Hebel, ‘Cities of Change: Addis Ababa’ by Marc Angélil and Dirk E. Hebel, as well as ‘Lessons of Informality’ by Felix Heisel and Bisrat Kifle.

The exhibition will run until the end of October.

The research team of the Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel on Alternative Construction Materials at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore together with Republic Polytechnic won the 2016 JEC Asia Innovation Award for their project “Maximizing Bonding Between Sustainable Bamboo Composite and Concrete”. The project is based on a grant by the Ministry of Education under the Translational R&D and Innovation Fund that the FCL team and Republic Polytechnic won together in March 2015.

The ETH/FCL team started to collaborate with Republic Polytechnic in 2014. As part of the grant the ETH/FCL team will train more than 25 Republic Polytechnic students during their Final Year Projects. Successful students then continue their Industry Immersion Program (IIP) internship with us. To date nine Republic Polytechnic students completed the five months IIP.

The winning project will be featured in the JEC Composites Magazine. JEC hosts the world’s biggest and most famous composite fair and exhibition in Paris every year. The JEC Composites Magazine is read by 550,000 composite industry professionals around the world.

Prof. Dirk E. Hebel and Aurel von Richthofen presented at the first annual FCL conference entitled Future Cities / Challenges in Singapore. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel reported on latest developments in research and first steps of implementation projects and gave an outlook on future vectors of engagement while Aurel von Richthofen presented the Engeneering for Development Summer School held with ETH Global and TU Delft in the Netherlands in July 2016 on the topic of “Sand – an (in)finite resource?”.

More information about the conference can be found here.

On Monday 29th August, Philipp Müller and Simon Lee speak at the 3rd International Conference on Bio-based Polymers and Composites. The Bamboo Fibre Composite developed at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore has a great potential as a viable and environmental friendly alternative for the construction sector. The talk will cover the newly developed manufacuring process and the mechanical properties of the material as well as give an outlook onto future challenges and opportunities for Bamboo Fibre Composites in the building industry.  Bamboo-based building materials can replace steel and concrete and be a major contribution to a more sustainable development of the construction.

We are designing a future-oriented, sustainable accommodation complex on the rural west coast of Greece. The ambition of the project is to test how our future lives could be led in a world without consumption and destruction of natural resources.

We develop the project based on your own definition of sustainability. The availability of resources, craftsmanship and talents as well as the climatic, ecological and economic conditions shall be integrated into the design of an innovative architectural project. The issue of contemporary tourism and its accompanying economic model will influence and inform your spatial concept. The scheme should consist of several pavilions, a lobby, administration building, educational facilities, as well as an infrastructural system for deliveries, supplies and sustainable disposal. You will be expected to work across a variety of scales, resolving individual buildings details as well as masterplanning.

We strongly recommend the seminar week “Venice – Reports from the Front” to all interested students offered together with the chair of Philippe Block. The chair offers the integrated discipline Construction within the course. Additionally, the integrated disciplines Architecture and Building Systems is offered under the chair of Arno Schlüter. The course Life Cycle Assessment is also offered in collaboration with Roland Hischier (EMPA).

Die Seminarreise wird von den Professuren Philippe Block und Dirk E. Hebel gemeinsam angeboten und durchgeführt.

Die von Alejandro Aravena kuratierte Biennale 2016 beschreitet neue Wege: Die Auseinandersetzung mit der Frage nach dem Bauen in der Zukunft wird nicht als isoliert architektonische Thema begriffen, sondern und insbesondere auf die gesellschaftliche Relevanz und die Verantwortung der Protagonisten hin untersucht. Im Rahmen der altehrwürdigen Stadt Venedig werden dabei Lösungen diskutiert, die versuchen präzise, lokal, nachhaltig auf bevorstehenden Herausforderungen zu reagieren. Die Ausstellungen versammelt Ansätze, Ideen und gebaute Projekte, die Wege aufzeigen wie weltweit ein Beitrag geleistet werden kann zur Bewältigung zukünftiger Bauaufgaben und sozialer Gerechtigkeit und welche Rolle Architektinnen und Architekten dabei einnehmen können und sollten.

Wir reisen während der Seminarwoche nach Venedig und werden uns intensiv mit ausgewählten Beiträgen zur 15. Architekturbiennale auseinandersetzen. Wir werden dabei die Faszination der Arbeit auf allen Massstabs- und Betrachtungsebenen ergründen und uns von der Weite der gewählten Methoden inspirieren lassen. Darüber hinaus wollen wir die Stadt Venedig – das Destillat jahrhundertelangen Bauens – nicht nur bloss besichtigen, sondern ganz bewusst in Beziehung setzen zu den anstehenden Aufgaben der Architektur. Und uns begeistern lassen von der Schönheit der Lagunenstadt.

This year’s summer school organized by ETH Zürich’s Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel, in collaboration with the TU Delft and ETH Global kicks off today with an introductory lecture by Professor Dirk E. Hebel on “Sand: an (in)finite Resource?”.

Sand is the most used raw material for production of goods on our planet. It is found in concrete, glass, computers, detergents and even toothpaste. But sand is a finite resource: what took millions of years to come into being through erosion and sedimentation, man is mining at rivers and ocean coasts in a so-far unknown speed. In a matter of a few decades, sand will not be a resource anymore for our construction activities. But if finite resources are no longer an option to build the cities of the future, what alternatives are there? And what roles play research institutions as the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore and the ETH Zurich?

For more information on the summer school, please click here.

Dirk E. Hebel, on the invitation of a+u `Japan Architecture and Urbanism` magazine and the Faculty of Architecture, lectured on June 29th 2016 at the University of Tokyo on his research on Cultivated Building Materials. In particular he introduced the teams research on new bamboo fiber materials, which was featured in the last three consecutive issues of a+u magazine from May to July 2016. Also, an exhibition on Green Steel – Advanced Fiber Composite Materials in Architecture and Construction accompanied his lecture in Tokyo. a+u will also feature the book publication `Building from Waste` (Birkhäuser 2014) in Japanese language later this year.

On 22 June, 12pm Felix Heisel speaks at the FCL Lunch Talk + Book Launch in Singapore.

Informality resembles an evolutionary process more than a simple absence of rules. In itself, informality is neither illegal, nor dysfunctional, nor indicative of poverty; in fact, its actors, skills and capital are probably our best chance to solve the world’s growing housing crisis. Thus, Lessons of Informality describes an array of planning strategies and possibly even a roadmap to a resilient city in emerging territories. The book includes a DVD of _Spaces, a series of six documentaries on informality in Addis Ababa.

For more information, please click here.

On 23rd June, Dirk E. Hebel will speak on Cultivation Urbanism as part of the Urban Nature Seminar of the FCL Singapore.

Since modernity, human progress has been measured in terms of their domination of nature, rather than the redefinition of the nature of their relationship (Dunlap and Catton, 1979). Since then, humans have suffered through their estrangement from this natural processes.

Throughout the history of urbanism, the notion of ‘urban’ and ‘nature’ often intersects. Nature has been subjugated, consumed, commodified, reproduced and also to great extent idolised, in the creation of human’s built environment. But what is nature in relation to urbanism? How can we engage the concept of urban-nature as an alternative lens to understand the process behind the development of our built environment? How do our cities reflect the way we relate to, perceive and desire to dominate and adopt nature?

Engage in a contemporary multidisciplinary discourse on the concept of urban nature in 21st century Asian Cities with distinguished speakers from diverse disciplines. for more information and the full program, please click here.

A team led by five inspirational young women and one young man have taken command to realize a large educational facility in Mea Nork, Cambodia, designed for 1000 students. The architectural project involves the construction of a new school, consisting of 24 classrooms, 15 group study rooms, 3 workshop rooms, an administrative wing, a library, cafeteria, community laundry, community medical clinic, toilets, staff dormitories, an outdoor assembly space, playgrounds and a lake.

The gestation of the project began when the students, Lisa Devenoge, Lorine Grossenbacher, Franziska Matt, Elizabeth Müller, and Alina Wyder met whilst undertaking the ‘Schoolhouse Cambodia’ design studio offered by the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel under the request of the NGO Smiling Gecko at ETH Zurich. The studio consisted of 34 students who visited Cambodia and worked over the semester in pairs to produce schemes for the then hypothetical architectural project.

The collective efforts of the design studio were so much of a success that the NGO founder, artist, and philanthropist Hannes Schmid was compelled to commit to realizing the project. At the culmination of the semester, the five women agreed to continue the work of the studio as part of an internship programme. They work full time to document the entire construction package and are assisted by a male colleague, Oliver Faber, who helps out one day a week. The process has involved consolidating the strengths of the individual projects proposed during the semester into a singular, unified scheme, able to be realized under the practical constraints of time, budget and resources. To do this they have had to work in a highly collaborative environment and coordinate with consultants in Cambodia.

The team agrees that the greatest sense of achievement has come through the process of establishing themselves up as an independently functioning entity. From practicalities such as setting up their working environment to the systematic particularities such as the delegation of tasks amongst themselves according to perceived individual and collaborative strengths. Their self-motivation and initiative has been rewarded by an autonomous work ethic encouraged by Dirk E. Hebel, who leads the team and the project with his in-depth experience in developing territories. The skills and capabilities the young students have obtained during their internship will be directly applicable to their future lives, no matter what path they choose to take.

The project is due to commence construction in November 2016.

«Schnittmengen»

More information here: www.jom.ch

On Thursday June 2nd, constellation.s – an exhibition by arc en reve centre of Architecture in Bordeaux, France – opened its doors with a contribution by the Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel entitled Bamboo Composite Materials. The show displays test samples from the material research, especially focusing on the interface of bamboo composites and concrete.

From the curators: “In response to the worldwide transformations that are profoundly affecting the conditions in which we live, constellation.s will present individual and collective initiatives providing perspectives on tomorrow’s challenges in terms of how the urban environment is made.
 In response to fear, inward-lookingness, and extremism, constellation.s encourages critical thinking to help us understand the world we live in. In response to a rising tide of images, words, and spectacle, constellation.s focuses on creativity and the ways ordinary people invent their daily lives. Constellation.s embraces points of view from a range of disciplines, involving researchers, writers, architects, engineers and economists reflecting upon contemporary reality. Constellation.s will present testimonials, processes, and situations from the four corners of the world: glimmers of hope pointing to new possible horizons and ways of living together in complex societies.”

For more information, please click here.
Constellations will be open to the public until 25th September.

Philipp Mueller will speak at the 12^th World Congress of Earthen Architecture in Lyon with various speakers from more than 80 countries. The international Congress brings together academics and professionals gathering around the oldest known building material. Since more than 8000 years people are using earth as a building material and it still is en vogue due to its unique properties. Especially Earth block masonry is becoming more and more common as it is the building material with the lowest consumption of primary energy. The development of product standards has led to an increase of quality in terms of load-bearing capacity. Philipp Mueller will present results from research about structural reliability of earth block masonry allowing more economic construction and showing a wide range of future application for earth as a building material.

For more information please click here.

On May 28th, Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel opened the exhibition Daring Growth at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale in the presence of ETH president Lino Guzzella.

The installation calls for a radical paradigm shift in how habitats are materialized. The mining-based mentality must move towards an ethic of cultivating, recycling, recovering, breeding, raising, farming, and even growing future building materials. Decentralized, local and renewable production strategies and methods that do not deplete the planet’s resources or energy reserves must be given priority. A shift in attitude would allow developing societies to provide themselves with the building materials required for secure and dignified shelter without forcing them into economic dependencies.

Our contribution to ‘Reporting From the Front’ takes the form of a laboratory showcasing research work produced at the ETH Zürich and the Future Cities Laboratory Singapore in collaboration with partners such as MycoWorks Inc. in San Francisco and the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at the TU Delft. The exhibition features examples of new building materials derived from mushroom mycelium, bacteria, grasses and waste. It also displays the power of an international, interdisciplinary network of researchers, academics and professionals working on commonly defined challenges.

Palazzo Mora, “Time Space Existence”
La Biennale di Venezia, 28 May – 27 November 2016

Acknowledgements
This exhibition would not have been possible without the generous and continuous support of the President of ETH Zürich, Prof. Dr Lino Guzzella, whom we would like to thank for his unrestricted encouragement, trust, and sustenance. We also would like to thank the rector of ETH Zürich Prof. Dr Sarah Springman and Vice President of research ETH Zürich Prof. Dr Detlef Günther for their reassurance and believe in our commitment and research.

We are especially indebted to Annette Spiro, Dean of Architecture at ETH Zürich, not only for her support of this exhibition, but in general creating an atmosphere of unlimited trust and backing without research and innovation would not be possible.

We deeply thank the whole team of the ETH Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, above all Peter Edwards, Stephen Cairns, Kees Christiaanse and Remo Burkhard. Within FCL, relevant research was developed over the past years in various fields, which did not only fuel this exhibition, but scholars and professionals all around the globe and especially at the ETH in Zürich.

We are extremely grateful to Prof. Dr Gerhardt Schmitt and Prof. Dr Marc Angélil for their incredible mentorship, help, and intellectual as well as physical support. Without them, our work would not be possible.

Tobias Klauser and Carlo Lienhardt, through their incredible professionalism and critical assessment of our ideas and work, made this exhibition a project in its own. We would like to acknowledge their unrestricted dedication and support as partners, friends, and advisors.

Special acknowledgements go to ETH Global, Jürg Brunschweiler, for all of his continuous help over the past years. Thanks also to ETH Foundation, Corinna Adler, for her dedication and energy. Also to Hannes Schmid, who opened eyes and doors to new intellectual terrains and professionals. Matthias Büttiger and Markus Reinhard for their encouragement, spontaneous courtesy, and incredible generosity.

We thank GAA Foundation for the possibility to exhibit our work at the 16^th Architecture Biennale in Venice. We are grateful to our partners of TU Delft, Henk Jonkers and Leon van Paassen as well as Mycoworks, Phil Ross, Sophia Wang, and Eddie Pavlu.

Special thanks to all members of our own team: Dustin Fleck, Sophie Nash, Ruben Bernegger, Manuel Fernandez, Christine Wöhner, Raphael Disler, Tobias Fuchs, Aurel von Richthofen, Alireza Javadian, Simon Lee, Philippe Müller, Marta H. Wisniewska, Patrick Chladek, Nikita Aigner, Philippe Jorisch, Amélie Fibicher, Hans Rufer.

Special thanks to Prof. Dr.Philippe Block and his team, especially Cristian Calvo Barentin for all the support and help.

Also to Uta Bogenrieder who did all graphic design works for the exhibition.

Our deepest thanks and gratitude go to all of theses individuals and organizations for their trust and the unrestricted possibilities to operate at the front of our discipline and sometimes even beyond.

Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel, Zürich, May 2016

Sponsorship
Our deepest gratitude to all sponsors and supporters of this exhibition:
ETH Zürich, ETH Global
Department of Architecture, ETH Zürich
Future Cities Laboratory Singapore
Chair of Information Architecture Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schmitt, ETH Zürich
Chair of Architecture and Design Prof. Dr. Marc Angélil, ETH Zürich
Markus Reinhard, Nomis Foundation
Matthis Büttiger

Lecture series and workshop at the Institut für Leichtbau, Entwurf und Konstruktion ILEK of Prof. Werner Sobek at the University Stuttgart investigating the theme KONTEXT. Organized and moderated by Irina Auernhammer at May 13th, 2016.

The Global Arts Affairs Foundation (GAA), in collaboration with PLANE—SITE, is releasing a series of video interviews with architects to be shown as part of the TIME SPACE EXISTENCE Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. Dirk Hebel (Switzerland) advocates for architectural research and sustainable building materials.

The videos, each approximately five minutes, mix theoretical and philosophical concerns with personal trajectories of the architects, yielding discussions on where architecture has been and where it is going. According to the organizers, the interviews as a whole “[are meant to] offer a discursive response to Alejandro Aravena’s theme for the 2016 Architecture Biennale, Reporting from the Front.”

The project will be on view at the Palazzo Bembo and Palazzo Mora from May 28, 2016 through November 27, 2016. The interviews which have been released thus-far are available for viewing here and on the PLANE—SITE’s Vimeo channel.

Read more here.

“We define our profession as architects as a combination between design and research,” says Dirk Hebel of ETH Zürich, a university specializing in engineering, science, technology and mathematics in the heart of Switzerland. The architect was interviewed by architectural movie makers PLANE–SITE as part of the “Time Space Existence” collateral exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia 2016, opening up a fascinating debate over the presumed permanence of architecture and challenging all our preconceptions about the life-cycle of buildings.

Read more here.

The Assistant Professorship Dirk E. Hebel is exhibiting a view into the laboratory entitled “Daring Growth” at this year’s Venice Biennale. As part of the official collateral event TIME-SPACE-EXISTENCE, curated by the Global Art Affairs (GAA) Foundation at the Palazzo Mora, the exhibition will report from the front of research on the potential of cultivated materials for the building industry. Everyone is welcome to join the opening party on 26th and 27th May, 6 to 10pm at the Palazzo Mora.

“The world is changing, and the ways we live in it are changing too.
 More than ever before, architecture and planning – which provide the conditions for urban living – must be conceived in the light of what is no longer there and what is yet to come.” – arc on reve, Bordeaux

The Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel is exhibiting its bamboo research at this year’s Constellation.s, organized by arc en reve in Bordeaux. “The exhibition is intended to encourage careful thinking to render new conditions for human habitation intelligible; it focuses on initiatives that take the risk of making the future meaningful; and it shares processes of innovation capable of showing us new ways of living in the world.” The display opens on June 2nd and runs through September 25th 2016. For more information, please visit here.

The first installment in an interview series that explores the philosophical concerns of architects exhibiting at “TIME – SPACE – EXISTENCE,” a collateral event at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, features Dirk Hebel of ETH Zürich.

World-Architects first became aware of the materials research that Hebel and his ETH colleagues having been undertaking when we visited a pavilion he designed for the IDEAS CITY Festival in New York City last year. Made from shredded beverage cartons pressed into wallboards, the striking pavilion featured arched structures resting on wood pallets. That project is visible in this four-minute interview with Hebel, who discusses the broader goals of his research, including the need to grow and cultivate materials rather than mining them. More information here.

Felix Heisel will speak on the panel “How the Construction Business is Transforming Problems into Solutions” at the Cleantech Forum Europe on April 12th, 2016, 2pm – 3pm.

The panels description by the organizer reads as follows:
Hear from experts in the construction field on the latest solutions to creating more optimized buildings. While cement accounts for roughly 5 percent of global CO2 emissions, the industry is re-inventing itself through new and efficient processes and partnerships with innovative startups to not only reverse its environmental impact, but make improvements to the whole supply chain of building development. We will share some case studies and new possibilities in construction – whether it is a new type of binder that improves the mechanical strength of construction materials, new catalytic processes that removes pollutants from the air, or other methods that can sequester carbon while also improving the insulation and energy efficiency of buildings.

Moderated by: Gunther Walenta, Senior Climate Change Manager, LafargeHolcim
Co-Hosted by: LafargeHolcim

For more information, please click here.

Philipp Müller speaks at the Green Tech & Materials Symposium about potential and applications of Bamboo Fiber Reinforced Polymers (BFRP) in the building sector. The Symposium hosted various leading researchers and manufacturers of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymers, discussing opportunities of bio-based composites in different applications.

FRP based on natural fibers are becoming more and more interesting not only for Automotive Industry but also for the builders. The BFRP which has been developed at the Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel already is able to replace steel in reinforced concrete. Coupled with various other applications this will be presented by Philipp Müller

For more information, please click here.

Felix Heisel speaks at the 2016MIECF Macau International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition on April 1st 2016. “Disposing of waste in an environmentally-friendly manner is crucial to business, it also gives rise to a plethora of business opportunities. Thus, apart from welcoming participation from various green industries, 2016MIECF will adopt the theme ‘Green Economy – Opportunities for Waste Management’, and invite specialists and academics to share their techniques and experience in controlling waste streams.” Felix Heisel will contribute his views on waste as a building material. For more information, please click here.

Dirk Hebel will be be one of the jurors for the MaterialPREIS 2016. “Ziel des materialPREIS ist es eine öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit zu erlangen, die die Bedeutung von Materialität und deren Einfluss auf die räumliche Gestaltung und somit auf das menschliche Bewusstsein aufzeigt. Ausgezeichnet werden herausragende Materialien, die den definierten Kriterien der jeweiligen Kategorie in hohem Maße entsprechen.” More information here.

The publication Building from Waste (Hebel/Wisniewska/Heisel; Birkhäuser, 2014) will be published by a+u in Japanese. The book provides a conceptual and practical look into materials and products which use waste as a renewable resource for architectural, interior, and industrial design. The inventory ranges from marketed products to advanced research and development, organized along the manufacturing processes: densified, reconfigured, transformed, designed and cultivated materials. ”Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recover“ is the sustainable guideline that has replaced the ”Take, Make, Waste“ attitude of the industrial age. Based on their background at the ETH Zurich and the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, the authors provide both a conceptual and practical look into materials and products which use waste as a renewable resource. More information here.

Dirk Hebel speaks at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) on April 22, 2016 at the symposium Embodied Energy and Design. The event frames embodied energy—defined as the sum of energy required to produce, transport, assemble, and dispose of any building element—in the context of broader design ecosystems and architectural issues. Organized by David Benjamin, GSAPP. More information here.

The Federal Institute of Material Science and Technology EMPA commissioned the Professorship Dirk E. Hebel and the Werner Sobek Group Stuttgart to build a NEST Unit in Dübendorf with the theme “Urban Mining”. “Resource shortages, greenhouse gas emissions, polluted drinking water and much more are all symptomatic of a throw-away mentality in a society that produces more waste by the day and scatters it in the environment. The Urban Mining unit tackles this mindset head-on and sees waste as a goldmine of new materials.” More information  here.

As of March 2016, a project team of ETH students and architects formed to continue the planning process for the Cambodian Schoolhouse project. After a successful design semester in fall 2015, Smiling Gecko Foundation, the initiator and client of the project, decided to coninue the work with the Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel and support the formation of a planning team. Construction work is scheduled to start in November 2016 in the village of Melanork, two hours north of Phnom Penh.

As a first encounter with the studio theme of `Building for Disassembly`, students took 24 hours to dismantle a car in its 5000 single pieces. While doing so, an investigation started in order to understand which construction and connection principles are adequate for a disassembly approach and could be transferred into an architectural design process. Walter Haase of Werner Sobek`s Insitute of Lightweight Design and Construction ILEK at the University of Stuttgart, gave impressions of their current research approaches in the field and showed the potentials for the building industry. Directly after the dismanteling happened, students started to deepen their knowledge on the found architectural potentials with the first excercise of the semester, this time with a time frame of one week.

Wintersemester 2023/24
URBANE MINE im Markgräfler Land

Der Umgang mit dem Bestand wird eine der wichtigsten Aufgaben der kommenden Jahre und Jahrzehnte in Deutschland und Europa sein. An diesem kleinen, realitätsbezogenen Projekt trainieren wir wichtige Techniken und Grundlagen mit der Aussicht auf Realisation Ihrer Entwurfsideen. 

Der erste Teil besteht aus einem Rückbauworkshop einer bestehenden Holzscheune in Ehrenkirchen nähe Freiburg. Gemeinsam mit anderen Helfern wird diese Struktur an einem Tag abgebaut und eingelagert. Die rückgebauten Holzteile werden vermessen und so ein digitales Materiallager aufgebaut. Dieser einfache Materialpass dient dann als Grundlage für einen neuen Entwurf.

Der zweite Teil des Stegreifs besteht darin, mit den wiedergewonnen Teilen aus dem Rückbau einen kleinen Entwurf für ein Lager- und Servicegebäude für den Sportverein Ebringen zu entwerfen. Das ursprüngliche Gebäude ist vor einigen Jahren abgebrannt, die Reste sollen aber erhalten und in den Entwurf integriert werden. 

Alle weiteren Informationen beim Vortreffen am Mittwoch, den 29.11.2023

Wintersemester 2020/21 
Lern doch, wo Du willst

Entwicklung Prototyp “Outdoor Lern- und ArbeitsRAUM”

Das KIT braucht dringend neue Lernräume! Plätze in der Bibliothek sind gemessen an der Studierendenzahl rar und meist schnell ausgebucht. Auch Arbeitsplätze, vor allem Gruppenarbeitsplätze (2-6 Personen), sind Mangelware. Das AKK  (Arbeitskreis Kultur und Kommunikation) bietet nur bedingt die Möglichkeit im Sommer draußen zu lernen – es fehlt an einer entsprechenden Infrastruktur wie z.B. Steckdosen, Blend-, und Sonnenschutz und einem Dach bei Regen.

Deswegen soll im Rahmen eines Stegreifs des Fachgebiets Nachhaltiges Bauen gemeinsam mit dem Zukunftscampus KIT ein Prototyp entworfen werden, der Lernen und Arbeiten im Freien ermöglicht. Der Prototyp kann dabei beispielhaft auf einer Freifläche des KIT geplant werden, sollte aber einer möglichen Versetzbarkeit entsprechend mitgedacht werden.Ziel ist es mit Hilfe des „Outdoor Lern- und ArbeitsRAUMS“ gut gestaltete öffentliche und soziale Räume zu schaffen, und durch neue Landmarken eine Sichtbarkeit auf dem Campus zu etablieren. 

Der Stegreif ist als Wettbewerb ausgelegt und bietet Möglichkeiten zur Realisation. 

Ausgabe Stegreif: 09.12.2020, 12:00 Uhr
ZOOM-Link: https://kit-lecture.zoom.us/j/67908695156?pwd=QW9wZnV2Szh0NDUvUDFEL0J2SDFwdz09
Meeting-ID: 679 0869 5156, Kenncode: 997771
Betreuung: 08.01.2021
Abgabe: 23.01.2021
Preisverleihung: Februar 2021

Wintersemester 2018/19 
Mitfahrbänkle

Sechs Gemeinden – ein Ziel: die nachhaltige Entwicklung des Raum Bad Bolls voranbringen, um auch in Zukunft gut leben zu können. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen haben sich die Mitgliedsgemeinden des Gemeindeverwaltungsverbands Raum Bad Boll: Aichelberg, Dürnau, Gammelshausen, Hattenhofen und Zell u. A. (alle Landkreis Göppingen am Fuße der schwäbischen Alb) zur zweiten N!-Region Baden-Württembergs zusammengeschlossen.

Einer dieser konkreten Maßnahmenvorschläge ist die Einführung des Mitfahrbänkles an verschiedenen Standorten in allen Gemeinden der N!-Region Raum Bad Boll. Das Mitfahrbänkle ist ein niederschwelliges privates Mitfahrangebot, mit dem das vorhandene ÖPNV-Angebot ergänzt werden kann.

Genauere Informationen bei der Ausgabe am 08.10.2018

Wintersemester 2017/18 
Ein Leitsystem für die Bundesgartenschau

Unter dem dramatischen Eindruck schwindender Ressourcen und der negativen Auswirkungen unseres Handelns auf die Umwelt rückt die Dringlichkeit zu einem nachhaltigen Ressourcen-umgang und einem Materialeinsatz in geschlossenen Kreisläufen immer stärker in unser Bewusstsein. Die BUGA 2019 GmbH hat als Ausrichter der kommenden Bundesgartenschau in Heilbronn ihre große Chance erkannt, diese Thematik aufzugreifen und öffentlichkeitswirksam Wege einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung aufzuzeigen. Wir wurden daher von der BUGA GmbH gebeten, ein innovatives, temporäres Leitsystem zum Thema „Building from Waste“ zu entwickeln. In diese Frage möchten wir Sie in Form dieses Stegreifs mit einbeziehen, um ein möglichst großes Spektrum möglicher Konzepte zu entwickeln. Ausgewählte Entwurfsergebnisse werden den Verantwortlichen der BUGA vorgestellt und haben somit das Potential, für die Bundesgartenschau 2019 in die Praxis umgesetzt zu werden.

We are planning 140 new apartments together with the Gemeinnützigen Bau- und Mietergenossenschaft Zürich (GBMZ) in District 4 in Zurich. We design our buildings according to the principle of „building for disassembly“ in order to allow not only their construction but also the complete dismantling and hence the genuine reusability of all materials.

For more information about the studio, please click here.
To register, please use the ETH platform (ETH students only)

We travel to Switzerland and southern Germany, in search of groundbreaking approaches in the production of buildings. It is the goal to understand technical frameworks and to experience the built reality and today’s opportunities in terms of prefabrication and energy issues.

For further information, please click here.
To register, please use the ETH platform (ETH students only).

On December 01, 2015, Ruby Press Berlin publishes SUDU, Research and Manual, edited by Dirk E. Hebel, Melakeselam Moges and Zara Gray.  SUDU—the Sustainable Urban Dwelling Unit—is a full-scale prototype for an affordable, two-story house built with local materials and traditional building techniques in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Developed in a collaborative endeavor between the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development and ETH Zurich, SUDU ties in with the rich tradition of loam construction while at the same time taking a fresh look at how to adapt this tradition to contemporary needs.

Recapitulating SUDU’s idiosyncratic construction process in two lavishly illustrated volumes, this publication details the building techniques employed, such as rammed earth, mud bricks, and timbrel vaulting. The first volume additionally explores the history of Ethiopian architecture, the postcolonial nature of its current construction industry, and the challenges of the country’s rapid urbanization. The second volume, a manual with more than 600 detailed drawings and instructions, demonstrates how to build a house, step-by-step, with the most readily available building material—earth.