Team Switzerland:

Team Singapore:

Asst. Prof. Dirk E. Hebel

Born 1971, Germany
Master of Architecture, ETH Zurich, 1998
Master of Architecture, Princeton University, 2000
Location: Zürich

Assistant Professor of Architecture and Construction ETH Zurich/FCL Singapore 2012-present / Scientific Director of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development EiABC 2009-2012 / Guest Lecturer Princeton University, USA, 2008 / Guest Professor Syracuse University, USA, 2008 / Visiting Professor, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2005 and 2006

Dirk Hebel is currently holding the position of Assistant Professor of Architecture and Construction at ETH Zürich and the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, a research project of ETH Zürich with the National Research Foundation Singapore. Prior to that, he was the founding Scientific Director of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Between 2002 and 2009 he taught at the Department of Architecture, ETHZ as the coordinator for first year architectural design program and the director of the’ Master of Advanced Studies’ program in Urban Design. The resulting work of his teaching and research has been published in numerous academic jounals and book publications, lately BUILDING FROM WASTE:  RECOVERED MATERIALS IN ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION (2014, Birkhäuser, with Marta H. Wisniewska and Felix Heisel), SUDU: THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SUSTAINABLE URBAN DWELLING UNIT (2014, Ruby Press) and CITIES OF CHANGE: ADDIS ABABA (2009, Birkhäuser, with Marc Angélil). In 2008, he published the book DEVIATIONS (2008, Birkhäuser, with Marc Angélil), an experiment in architectural design pedagogy and in 2005 BATHROOM UNPLUGGED (2005, Birkhäuser, with Jörg Stollmann). Together with Stephen Cairns, he is the founding editor of the Future Cities Magazine, published in Singapore. Dirk E. Hebel is also one of the founding editors of the ETH trans-Magazine, established in 1996. His research at ETH Zürich and FCL Singapore concentrates on alternative building materials and construction techniques and their applications in developed as well as developing territories.

Dirk Hebel practices architecture by activating unusual building materials such as air (DISCOVERIES, an exhibition for the Foundation Lindau Nobel Prize Winners and  ON_AIR, and installation for KunstWerke Berlin), water (as the project manager for the BLUR Building for EXPO.02 in Switzerland), bamboo (in his research on new bamboo composite materials for the building sector) or plastic bottles (as in the award-winning project UNITED_BOTTLE). Dirk Hebel was one of the founding partners of INSTANT Architects (2002-2008). He received the New York Van Alen Institute Fellowship Award, the Red Dot Design Award for Best Conceptual Design, the SMART Innovation Grant Singapore, an ZUMTOBEL GROUP Award, and the LANXESS Award Singapore. In 2014, the group`s research on innovative bamboo composite materials won a Swiss KTI project fund.

Patrick Chladek

Born 1974, Switzerland
Master of Architecture, ETH Zurich, 1999
Location: Zürich

Senior Researcher at the Chair of Architecture and Construction ETH Zürich 2014 – present / Lecturer at ETH Zürich 2005 – 2011 / Research and Teaching Assistant ETH Zürich 1999 – 2012

Patrick Chladek is currently holding the position of a senior researcher at the Chair of Architecture and Construction at ETH Zürich. Prior to that, he has already been involved in teaching and research at ETH Zurich for the past 15 years with the Chair of Hans Kollhoff. His engagement resulted in several book publications and exhibitions on the work of Hans Kollhoff and his chair, latest with the architectural retrospective Praxis und Lehre – 1987 – 2012 in the ETH Zürich main building and the appendant catalogue titled Architekturlehre. Between 2005 and 2012, Patrick Chladek was responsible for the MAS programs “City Building Typology” and “Tectonic Construction Systematics” at ETH Zurich. At the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel, he researches on the relationship between material, location and space and is responsible for the master thesis program.

Patrick Chladek practices architecture with his firm Patrick Chladek – Architects and works with his team on projects in Switzerland and neighbouring countries. He is one of the founding editors of the ETH  trans- Magazine in 1996, together also with Dirk E. Hebel, among others.

Felix Heisel

Born 1984, Germany
Master of Architecture, UdK Berlin, 2010
Location: Zürich

Researcher at the Chair of Architecture and Construction ETH Zurich/FCL Singapore 2012-present / Lecturer and Coordinator of the 3rd Year Architecture Program at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development 2011-2012 / Academic Assistant at Studio Arets, University of the Arts, Berlin 2010-2011 / Master Class Teaching Assistant at Berlage Institute Rotterdam 2010

Felix Heisel is currently working as a researcher at the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland and the Future Cities Laboratory Singapore. Preceding this position, he was the coordinator for the 3rd year architecture program at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. For his involvement as a lecturer there, he received the ‘Best Teaching’ award in 2011. Felix recently published Building from Waste: Recovered Materials in Architecture and Construction (2014, Birkhäuser), and contributed articles to magazines and books such as S.L.U.M.Lab: Made in Africa (2014, UTT), The Economy of Sustainable Construction (2013, Ruby Press) or Building Ethiopia: Sustainability and Innovation in Architecture and Design (2012, EiABC). His interest in Ethiopia’s urban growth resulted in the making of the movie series _Spaces, a collection of six documentaries on space appropriation in Addis Ababa, started together with Bisrat Kifle in 2011.

Felix Heisel has won several awards and grants within the last years, such as a Ministry of Education (MOE) Innovation Grant (2014), an ZUMTOBEL GROUP Award (2014),  a Swiss KTI project fund (2014), the SMART Innovation Grant Singapore (2013) or the Bauhaus.SOLAR Award (2012). He also contributed to several architectural competition entries, such as the 1st prize Sulzer Werk 1 Winterthur, Switzerland (2009) with Gigon/Guyer Architects; the 1st prize Bole Road Hotel Competition Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2009) with Zegeye Cherenet Architects & Associates and the 3rd prize Städel Museum Frankfurt, Germany (2008) with Gigon/Guyer Architects. Currently, Felix Heisel is practicing architecture in Switzerland and Ethiopia together with Marta H. Wisniewska.

Marta H. Wisniewska

Born 1985, Poland
Master of Architecture, ZUT Szczecin, 2011
Location: Zürich

Researcher and teaching assistant at the Chair of Architecture and Construction ETH Zürich/FCL Singapore 2012-present / Lecturer and Architectural Program Coordinator at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development 2011-2012 / Consultancy Project Coordinator at Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development EiABC 2011-2012

Marta H.Wisniewska is currently working as a researcher and a teaching assistant at the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction at the ETH Zürich and the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. The output of her engagement at FCL include organization of a ‘Constructing Waste’ seminar (2012, Singapore) for doctoral students and curating or working on several exhibitions, such as ‘Constructing Waste’ (2012, Singapore), ‘FCL Midterm’ (2013, Singapore) and ‘Future Cities Laboratory Exhibition’ (2014, Zurich). Prior to her engagement at ETH Zurich, she was working as a lecturer and 1^st year architectural program coordinator at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development in Addis Ababa. In 2011, EiABC Student Council recognized her commitment with a ‘Best Teaching’ award. Together with Felix Heisel she is practicing architecture in Ethiopia with the design for MULU, a sustainable container village in Addis Ababa, constructed out of 120 oversees shipping containers compiling 29 housing and industrial manufacturing units.

In 2014 Marta H. Wisniewska has published ‘Building from waste: Recovered Materials in Architecture and Construction’ (2014, Birkhäuser, together with Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel), based on her Waste Research. Apart from that she has contributed texts to such entities as ‘ETH Intranet’ (2014), ‘Architektura i Biznes’ (2012, 2013), ‘Construction Ahead’ (2012), ‘Building Ethiopia: Sustainability and Innovation in Architecture and Design’ (2012, EiABC).

Alireza Javadian

Born 1985, Iran
Master of Civil Engineering, NTU Singapore, 2010
Master of  Civil Engineering, NUS Singapore, 2011
Master of Business Administration, ARU Oxford, UK, 2012
Location: Singapore

PhD student in the Chair of Architecture and Construction ETH Zurich/FCL Singapore 2012-present / Civil Engineer at ‘Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner’ Singapore, 2010-2012 / Researcher at NUS Singapore 2009-2010 / A*STAR Singapore scholarship recipient at NTU Singapore, 2007-2009

Alireza Javadian is currently working as a PhD student and senior researcher at the Chair of Architecture and Construction at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, a collaboration of the ETH Zurich and the National Research Foundation Singapore. He received his Bachelor Degree from University of Tehran, Iran. Following his graduation, he worked for the Iranian Cement and Material Institute in Theran. In 2007 he was the recipient of a Singapore A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) scholarship to pursue his Master in Engineering at Nanyang Technological University NTU and conduct research on ‘Effective High Temperature and Structural Reinforced Concrete Applications’. After completing his Master studies at NTU, he joined the National University of Singapore NUS as a research assistant and started to conduct studies in the Master Program of Science in Civil Engineering. Following the successful completion, he joined ‘Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner Engineers’. Prior to his work at ETH/FCL Future Cities Laboratory, he has received a Master of Business Administration from ARU Oxford, UK in marketing. He is a member of ACI (the American Concrete Institute) and ICI (the Iranian Concrete Institute). His PhD research focuses on alternative composite fiber materials as reinforcement systems in concrete applications. Lately, he won the SMART Innovation Grant Singapore, the SAWIRIS SCHOLORSHIP Grant of ETH Zürich, a Swiss KTI project fund, and an ZUMTOBEL GROUP Award together with the bamboo research team in Singapore and Zürich.

Aurel von Richthofen

Born 1978, Germany
Master of Architecture, ETH Zurich,  2004
Master of Architecture, Princeton University, 2007
Location: Singapore

Module Coordinator at the Chair of Architecture and Construction at the Future Cities Laboratory Singapore 2014-present / Assistant Professor at the German University of Technology, Oman 2010-2014 / Lecturer Technical University Berlin, Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design and University of Applied Sciences Berlin, Germany 2009-2010 / Visiting Assistant Professor The Ohio State University in Columbus, USA 2007-2009

Aurel von Richthofen is currently working as Module Coordinator at the Chair of Architecture and Construction at the Future Cities Laboratory Singapore. Aurel is an architect trained in Switzerland and the USA. Prior to Singapore, Aurel spent four years teaching and researching as assistant professor at the German University of Technology in Oman. He was co-investigator on a research project on sustainable urbanisation patterns in Oman – sponsored by the Research Council Oman. He developed a new urban planning framework addressing social, cultural and climatic needs and served as consultant to urban renewal projects and spatial planning strategies in Oman. Prior to Oman, Aurel was teaching in Germany and at The Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio.

Aurel von Richthofen will coordinate and develop new research projects anchored in material experimentation in Singapore. His expertise in sustainability concepts in extreme climates bridging material, architectural and urban scales will serve as a backdrop for his research in the larger Singapore region. His research on sustainable urbanisation patterns in Oman lead to an international conference and exhibition in March 2014. Articles on sustainable urbanisation patterns in Oman were published in Topos and Baumeister magazines. Aurel received the IKEA foundation fellowship. His architectural practice aurelVR investigates into parametric urban design.

Tiago Rocha Damasceno

Born 1986, Mozambique
Masters of Architecture, UCT Cape Town, 2010
Location: Zürich

Researcher at the Chair of Architecture and Construction ETH-Zürich 2013-present / Architect in the architecture office of ‘Ziegert|Roswag|Seiler Architektur und Ingenieure’  – ZRS-Berlin 2011-2013 / Founder and Director of the Mozambican based NGO Centro de Pesquisa e Trabalho Social in cooperation with the Barefoot College (India) 2008-2009 / Volunteer at the Barefoot College (India) 2008

Tiago Damasceno is currently working as a researcher at the Chair of Architecture and Construction of FCL Singapore in close cooperation with the Chair of Housing of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development in Addis Ababa. Questions of future rural housing strategies are on the forefront of the research. Prior to this position, Tiago Damasceno worked in the architecture and engineering office ‘Ziegert|Roswag|Seiler’ in Berlin. During this period, he worked in Pakistan in the construction of a school made out of local available materials and applying appropriate construction methods. He also realised a practical internship at ‘Geflecht und Raum’, a company specialised in weaving and wood construction. Before Berlin, Tiago Damasceno volunteered in the Indian NGO ‘The Barefoot College’ with whom he established a collaboration to work in social rural projects between Mozambique and India.

Tiago Damasceno has received a scholarship and took part of the Leonardo Davinci Program (2012). He was part of the ZRS-Berlin team which won the Gold Prize for the Regional Holcim Awards in Asia Pacific with the project’ Tipu Sultan Merkez’ in Pakistan (2011). He also received funding from the Cement and Concrete Institute of South Africa, together with a group of students from UCT, to realise a movie entitled ‘À Procura de Pancho’, which got screened in many festivals in both Africa and Europe (2010).

Hans-Christian Rufer

Born 1981, Germany
Master of Architecture, ETH Zurich, 2008
Location: Zürich

Research and Teaching Assistant at the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel ETH Zurich 2014 – present

Hans-Christian Rufer is currently working as a researcher and teaching assistant at the chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at ETH Zurich. Prior to that he has been involved in research at the Chair of Architecture and Urban Design Urban-Think Tank, Prof. Brillembourg and Prof. Klumpner, resulting among other things in the exhibition “Empower Shack” in the Eva Presnhuber Gallery in Zurich. Preceding his involvment at ETH Zurich he has worked on several construction projects in Switzerland, such as the planning of an appartment building for Gramazio & Kohler Architects using digitally fabricated facades. At the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel, he teaches in the design studio and researches on the relationship between material and space in low-cost housing construction.

Hans-Christian Rufer has received a scholarship of the Japan Student Services Organisation (JASSO) and took part in the Erasmus Student Program.

Gian Salis

Born 1973, Switzerland
Preliminary course, ZHdK, 1995-96
Master of Architecture, ETH Zurich, 2001
Location: Zürich

Teaching Assistant at the Chair of Architecture and Construction of Asst. Prof. Dirk Hebel, ETH Zurich 2014-present / Lecturer at the Chair of Architecture and Construction of Prof. Annette Spiro ETH Zurich, 2012–2014 / Teaching Assistant at the Chair of Architecture and Construction of Prof. Annette Spiro ETH Zurich, 2008–2012

Gian Salis is currently working as a Teaching Assistant at the Chair of Architecture und Construction of Asst. Prof. Dirk Hebel at the ETH Zürich. Prior he had a position as lecturer at the Chair of Architecture and Construction of Prof. Annette Spiro at the ETH Zurich where he led the elective materials-lab in which the context of materials and architectural expression was studied. Together with the students, he built the first cupola made of rammed earth, which can still be seen on the campus of the ETH. Previously he was teaching assistant in the first year course by Prof. Annette Spiro at her chair of Architecture und Construction. Gian Salis is one of the initiators of the materials collection in the Baubibliothek of the ETH.

Gian Salis practices architecture with his own office since 2008. He received the award „Häuser des Jahres 2014“ for his design of a house on a hillside in Wyhlen, Germany. He won the 4th prize for the expansion of a school building in Biel, Switzerland and the first prize for the expansion and conversion of the Künstlerhaus Boswil, Switzerland. Before he was employed as a project architect in the atelier of Peter Zumthor in Haldenstein from 2005 to 2008 and at Loeliger Strub Architektur in Zürich from 2001 to 2005.

Karsten Schlesier

Born 1972, Germany
Master of Civil Engineering, KIT Karlsruhe, 1999
Location: Zürich

Research Consultant at the Chair of Architecture and Construction ETH Zurich/FCL Singapore 2012-present / freelance collaboration with M+W Engineers, Hamburg 2012-present / Visiting Professor for Structural Design at GUtech Oman 2012-present / Chair Holder of Structural Design EiABC 2009-2011 / Visiting Professor Addis Ababa University 2008-2011 / Research Associate KIT Karlsruhe 2003-2007 / Structural Engineer at Bollinger + Grohmann 2002-2003 / formTL 2000-2001

Karsten Schlesier currently works as a research consultant at the Chair of Architecture and Construction at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, a collaboration of the ETH Zurich and the National Research Foundation Singapore. He graduated in Civil Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in 1999. As a structural engineer he worked for various engineering offices specializing in the fields of lightweight, membrane and glass structures.

In 2003 Karsten Schlesier became scientific staff member at the Faculty of Architecture at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Between 2008 and 2011 he joined Addis Ababa University as visiting professor holding the Chair of Structural Design at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development as of 2009. Since 2012 he is visiting professor for structural design at the German University of Technology in Oman. His research activities are focused on non-standardized and alternative construction materials, realizing various prototypical structures (e.g. BottleBubble from PET bottles 2005; Bamboo Pavilion Hawassa 2010; Structural consultation of SECU Sustainable Emerging Cities Unit 2011). In 2014, Karsten Schlesier received together with the bamboo research team in Singapore and Zürich an ZUMTOBEL GROUP Award.

Dr. Mateusz Wielopolski

Born 1981, Poland
M. Sc. Molecular Science, University of Erlangen, 2006
Dr. rer. nat. Chemistry, University of Erlangen, 2009
Location: Zürich

Senior Researcher (Post-Doc) at the Chair of Architecture and Construction ETH Zurich/FCL Singapore 2013-present / Research Associate in the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Photochemical Dynamics Group, ETH Lausanne 2011-2013 / Research Associate in the Cluster of Excellence “Engineering of Advanced Materials” Erlangen, 2009-2011/ Research Associate in the Tsukuba Advanced Research Alliance Center, Tsukuba 2009-2010

Mateusz Wielopolski is currently working as a Post-Doc senior researcher at the Chair of Architecture and Construction at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, a collaboration of the ETH Zurich and the National Research Foundation Singapore. He has received his PhD in Chemistry in Germany at the University of Erlangen for his research on molecular wires. His PhD work has been awarded the Springer Thesis Prize in 2010. His background in physical chemical and materials sciences has led him through researcher positions in the UK, Japan, Germany and Switzerland. Thereby, his expertise is found in the development and analysis of new materials for applications in modern photovoltaics, surface technologies and renewable energy sources. In this field he has contributed to more than 20 peer-reviewed journal publications and books. His research in Singapore concentrates on the development of new bamboo reinforced composite materials. In 2014, Mateusz Wielopolski received together with the bamboo research team in Singapore and Zürich an ZUMTOBEL GROUP Award as well as a Swiss KTI project fund.

Tobias Eberwein

Born 1991, Germany
Student at FH Rosenheim, Germany
Location: Singapore

Tobias Eberwein currently works as a student research assistant at the Chair of Architecture and Construction in Singapore. The internship at the Future Cities Laboratory is associated with his course of studies Timber Construction and Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Rosenheim, Germany. Before, he completed the study course Energy- and Climate-efficient Construction at Linneaus University in Sweden, within a student exchange program. His work focuses on the treatment of natural fibres and their processing into a sustainable composite material, by setting up test models and standardizations.

Zara Gray

Born 1986, South Africa
Master of Architecture, UCT Cape Town, 2010
Location: Zürich

Researcher at the Chair of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel ETH Zurich 2015-present / Course Coordinator and Lecturer of the first and sixth year architecture program in the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) 2013-2014 / Architect at Graft Gesellschaft von Architekten in Berlin 2011-2013 / Part I Architect at Carl Stern Partnership, London 2008

Zara Gray is currently working as a researcher at the Chair of Architecture and Construction ETH Zürich. Preceding this she worked for a year at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) based in Addis Ababa. There she was the course co-ordinator and a lecturer in the Chair of Basic Architecture and Design. She was involved in various workshops, exhibitions and research projects including the documentation of the grand housing program which has been running over the past decade in Ethiopia. Prior to Ethiopia she was based in Berlin in the architectural firm Graft Gesellschaft von Architekten for two and a half years. There she was involved in the design and development of various large scale housing projects within Germany. Between her bachelors and masters degree she worked for a year in London in a small design based office. Zara Gray completed her Masters at the University of Cape Town. She won the Ivor Prinsloo Prize – Best Essay in Architectural Theory in the MArch Programme as well as receiving the Hugh and Winn Walker UCT Masters Research Scholarship. Together with a group of students from UCT they won the Cement and Concrete Institute Moving Space short film competition for their film À Procura de Pancho which was shown at various film festivals around the world.

Previous team members:

Johannes Budde
Lara Davis
Kristel Romina Guzman Rocabado
Georg Hana
Tobias Wullschleger
Nicholas Ashby
Samuel P. Smith
Ruben Bernegger
Robert Berner