About
114
Publications
117,143
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
1,227
Citations
Introduction
Dirk E. Hebel is Professor of Sustainable Construction at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT within the Institute of Building Design and Technology and the Vice-Dean of Strategic Development of the Faculty of Architecture. He conducts research in Alternative Construction Materials and Circular Construction Methods. He is the author and editor of numerous book publications, lately "Building Sorted by Type" (2024). In 2022, the KIT team also under his guidance won the Solar Decathlon Europe
Current institution
Additional affiliations
September 2009 - January 2012
Ethiopian Institute of Architecture Building Construction and City Development
Position
- Founding Scientific Director
Description
- Dirk E. Hebel was the Foundiing Scientific Director of the EiABC at Addis Abeba University, Ethiopia
February 2012 - March 2017
Position
- Assistant Professor
Description
- Dirk E. Hebel held the position of an Assistant Professor for Design and Construction at ETH Zürich and the Future Cities Laboratory FCL in Singapore.
January 1999 - September 2002
Diller and Scofidio New York City
Position
- Project Manager
Education
September 1998 - February 2000
September 1992 - February 1998
Publications
Publications (114)
NEXT GENERATION BUILDING MATERIALS
The 21st century faces a radical change in how we produce construction materials – a shift towards cultivating, breeding, raising, farming, or growing future resources.
This book presents innovative industrialized production methods for cultivated building materials, like cement grown by bacteria, bricks made of...
Wie können wir zukünftige Bauaufgaben sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch bewältigen, um unserer gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung gerecht zu werden? Dieser wichtigen Frage widmet sich dieser Leitfaden.
Dem linearen Wirtschaftsmodell und damit der Vernichtung von Ressourcen steht die Idee geschlossener Stoffkreisläufe, neuartig konzipierter Konstrukti...
Sustainability is to become the guiding principle of social action and economic activity. At the same time, its ways and means are far from clear. As a holistic praxis, sustainability must combine technical and material as well as social, economic, ecological and also ethical strategies, which have multiple complex interactions and all too often al...
Vom Sortenreinen Bauen
Im März 2020 stellte die Europäische Kommission
ihren Aktionsplan für die Einführung
einer umfassenden Kreislaufwirtschaft innerhalb
der Europäischen Union bis zum Jahr
2050 vor. Dabei geht es um das ambitionierte
Ziel, alle Güter und Produkte so herzustellen
und in Umlauf zu bringen, dass sie
sich zu 100 % wiederverwenden o...
Während Nachhaltigkeit zur alles übergreifenden Leitlinie gesellschaftlichen Handelns werden soll, sind zugleich ihre Mittel und Wege alles andere als eindeutig klar. Aus ihrem ganzheitlichen Verständnis heraus muss Nachhaltigkeit technisch-materielle, soziale, ökonomische, ökologische und auch ethische Strategien vereinen, zwischen denen es komple...
With contributions from Hanaa Dahy, Moritz Dörstelmann, Alireza Javadian, Mitchell Joachim, Henk Jonkers, Andrea Klinge, Clemens Quirin, Eike Roswag-Klinge, Martin Rauch, Nazanin Saeidi, Michael Sailer und Werner Schmidt.
Designing our built environment in a socially, economically and ecologically fair way is a major social responsibility for all...
Garage Extensions Karlsruhe Rintheim
Falk Schneemann Architektur for Volkswohnung GmbH
www.falk-schneemann.de
In Karlsruhe Rintheim, twelve flats were created by adding storeys to three existing garage complexes. This is a redensification of a large housing estate; the garages remain in use as such. The additional storeys were built in timber, and...
Full waste deposit sites, ambitious
climate goals: By 2050
the European Union intends to
establish a comprehensively
circular economy. In order to
facilitate this transition in the
construction field, material resources need to be fully recyclable
and reusable. Construction materials sorted by type
and with low pollutant content, applied within con...
In the coming decades, the use of finite and ever-scarcer primary materials will become more and more difficult, and especially more expensive. In the EU Taxonomy, the European Union stipulates that, in order to benefit from public funding, buildings must reduce their primary-materials footprint by 50 % by the year 2030 and even by 75 % by the year...
As one of the largest CO2 emitting industries, construction is still far from being sustainable. The main strategies for this challenge focus on reducing waste generation and maximizing the components’ service life. One solution, therefore, could be to increase the use of fully bio-based building materials and reduce the amount of CO2 emitted durin...
Mycelium-based composites (MBCs) show promising acoustic and thermal insulation, fire safety, and mechanical strength properties and are suitable for multiple applications in the construction, packing or furniture industry. A life cycle assessment confirmed climate change and fossil energy demand benefits in a laboratory scale production modelled f...
Unsere gebaute Umwelt sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch gerecht zu gestalten, ist eine große gesellschaftliche Verantwortung für alle Planerinnen und Planer. Wie gelingt es, der Ressourcenknappheit im Bauwesen zu begegnen und zu einer vollständigen Kreislaufwirtschaft zu gelangen?
Diesen wichtigen Fragen widmen sich internationale Expertinnen und E...
Unsere gebaute Umwelt sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch gerecht zu gestalten, ist eine große gesellschaftliche Verantwortung für alle Planerinnen und Planer. Wie gelingt es, der Ressourcenknappheit im Bauwesen zu begegnen und zu einer vollständigen Kreislaufwirtschaft zu gelangen?
Diesen wichtigen Fragen widmen sich internationale Expertinnen und E...
Unsere gebaute Umwelt sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch gerecht zu gestalten, ist eine große gesellschaftliche Verantwortung für alle Planerinnen und Planer. Wie gelingt es, der Ressourcenknappheit im Bauwesen zu begegnen und zu einer vollständigen Kreislaufwirtschaft zu gelangen?
Diesen wichtigen Fragen widmen sich internationale Expertinnen und E...
This study was conducted to evaluate the properties of lightweight sandwich panels made from low diameter bamboo particles, Phyllostachys Bambusides collected from Gilan province, Iran, as core layer, combined with thin wall bamboo strips as faces. The effects of three individual variables such as density of core layer (350–550 kg/m ³ ), resin cons...
Sustainability is to become the guiding principle of social action and
economic activity. At the same time, its ways and means are far from
clear. As a holistic praxis, sustainability must combine technical and
material as well as social, economic, ecological and also ethical strategies, which have multiple complex interactions and all too often al...
Wie bauen wir in der Zukunft – angesichts des fortschreitenden Klimawandels, schwindender Ressourcen und weiterer vielseitiger gesellschaftlicher Herausforderungen? Und was bedeutet das für die europäische Stadt? Diese Fragen bildeten den Rahmen für den Solar Decathlon Europe 21 >> 22. Sieben deutsche Hochschulteams waren am Start und präsentieren...
Im Sommer vergangenen Jahres hat das Team RoofKIT mit seinem Entwurf den „Solar Decathlon Europe“ gewonnen. Im Fokus des international besetzten Wettbewerbs standen Ideen für nachhaltiges Bauen und Leben in der Stadt. Im Folgenden werden die Besonderheiten des Sieger-Konzepts und die Performance der realisierten Gebäudeeinheit vorgestellt. Als Livi...
Mycelium-bound composites (MBCs) are materials obtained by growing fungi on a ligno-cellulosic substrate which have various applications in packaging, furniture, and construction industries. MBCs are particularly interesting as they are sustainable materials that can integrate into a circular economy model. Indeed, they can be subsequently grown, u...
Sustainability is to become the guiding principle of social action and economic activity. At the same time, its ways and means are far from clear. As a holistic praxis, sustainability must combine technical and material as well as social, economic, ecological and also ethical strategies, which have multiple complex interactions and all too often al...
The contribution of the RoofKIT team to the SDE 21/22 competition is the extension for an existing café in Wuppertal, Germany, to create new functions and living space for the building with simultaneous energetic upgrading. The energy concept targets all renewable resources available on and in the building for energy supply: mainly solar energy whi...
Office and retail interior fittings have a relatively short service life of 5-7 years. In this context, composite materials are often used, hindering possibilities of reuse or recycling. This research explores novel bio-composite materials and subsequently a construction method for CO 2 -neutral, circular interior fittings for office spaces. Based...
Der Beitrag des Teams RoofKIT zum SDE 21/22 ist die Aufstockung auf ein Bestandsgebäude, um neue Funktionen und Wohnraum für das Gebäude zu schaffen bei gleichzeitiger energetischer Aufwertung. Hauptzielsetzungen sind das sortenreine und kreislaufgerechte Bauen sowie eine CO2‐neutrale solargestützte Energieversorgung. Im Fokus dieses Berichts stehe...
The demand for building materials has been constantly increasing, which leads to excessive energy consumption for their provision. The looming environmental consequences have triggered the search for sustainable alternatives. Mycelium, as a rapidly renewable, low-carbon natural material that can withstand compressive forces and has inherent acousti...
The transition from a linear to a circular economy is urgently needed to mitigate environmental impacts and loss of biodiversity. Among the many potential solutions, the development of entirely natural-based materials derived from waste is promising. One such material is mycelium-bound composites obtained from the growth of fungi onto solid lignoce...
Mycelium, as the root of fungi, is composed of filamentous strands of fine hyphae that bind discrete substrate particles into a block material. With advanced processing, dense mycelium-bound composites (DMCs) resembling commercial particleboards can be formed. However, their mechanical properties and performance under the working conditions of part...
Wie können wir zukünftige Bauaufgaben sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch bewältigen, um unserer gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung gerecht zu werden? Dieser wichtigen Frage widmet sich dieser Leitfaden.
Dem linearen Wirtschaftsmodell und damit der Vernichtung von Ressourcen steht die Idee geschlossener Stoffkreisläufe, neuartig konzipierter Konstrukti...
Wie können wir zukünftige Bauaufgaben sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch bewältigen, um unserer gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung gerecht zu werden? Dieser wichtigen Frage widmet sich dieser Leitfaden.
Dem linearen Wirtschaftsmodell und damit der Vernichtung von Ressourcen steht die Idee geschlossener Stoffkreisläufe, neuartig konzipierter Konstrukti...
Wie können wir zukünftige Bauaufgaben sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch bewältigen, um unserer gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung gerecht zu werden? Dieser wichtigen Frage widmet sich dieser Leitfaden.
Dem linearen Wirtschaftsmodell und damit der Vernichtung von Ressourcen steht die Idee geschlossener Stoffkreisläufe, neuartig konzipierter Konstrukti...
Wie können wir zukünftige Bauaufgaben sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch bewältigen, um unserer gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung gerecht zu werden? Dieser wichtigen Frage widmet sich dieser Leitfaden.
Dem linearen Wirtschaftsmodell und damit der Vernichtung von Ressourcen steht die Idee geschlossener Stoffkreisläufe, neuartig konzipierter Konstrukti...
Wie können wir zukünftige Bauaufgaben sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch bewältigen, um unserer gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung gerecht zu werden? Dieser wichtigen Frage widmet sich dieser Leitfaden.
Dem linearen Wirtschaftsmodell und damit der Vernichtung von Ressourcen steht die Idee geschlossener Stoffkreisläufe, neuartig konzipierter Konstrukti...
Wie können wir zukünftige Bauaufgaben sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch bewältigen, um unserer gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung gerecht zu werden? Dieser wichtigen Frage widmet sich dieser Leitfaden.
Dem linearen Wirtschaftsmodell und damit der Vernichtung von Ressourcen steht die Idee geschlossener Stoffkreisläufe, neuartig konzipierter Konstrukti...
LookIT. LookKIT. Das Magazin für Forschung, Lehre, Innovation. The magazine for research, teaching, innovation. 2021,3: Bauen. Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT). Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (2021) Zeitschriftenausgabe (1000141052)
Klimawandel und Ressourcenknappheit machen deutlich, dass wir unsere Städte in Zukunft nicht mehr so bauen können wie heute. Am 4. Dezember 2020 stellte das Fachgebiet Nachhaltiges Bauen am Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) mit dem Symposium „grow.built.repeat“ Pioniere einer zukünftigen Bauwirtschaft vor, deren Forschungsprojekte und erst...
Mycelium-bound composite materials are a new class of sustainable and affordable biocomposites that have been recently introduced into packaging, fashion, and architecture as alternative to traditional synthetic materials. In recent years extensive investigation and research studies have been dedicated to explore methods of production and processin...
Mycelium-bound composites are promising materials for sustainable packaging, insulation, fashion, and architecture. However, moulding is the main fabrication process explored to date, strongly limiting the ability to design the complex shapes that could widen the range of applications. Extrusion is a facile and low energy-cost process that has not...
Mycelium-bound composites are promising materials for sustainable packaging, insulation, fashion, and architecture. However, moulding is the main fabrication process explored to date, strongly limiting the ability to design the complex shapes that could widen the range of applications. Extrusion is a facile and low energy-cost process that has not...
Modern cities emerged as the main accumulator for primary and waste materials. Recovery of both types from buildings after demolition/disassembly creates a secondary material stream that could relieve pressure from primary resources. Urban mining represents this circular approach, and its application depends on redefining current construction pract...
Reinforced concrete is the most widely used building material in history. However, alternative natural and synthetic materials are being investigated for reinforcing concrete structures, given the limited availability of steel in developing countries, the rising costs of steel as the main reinforcement material, the amount of energy required by the...
The growing scarcity of resources calls for a paradigm shift from linear material consumption to circular economy – especially in the construction industry. This shift involves a complete rethinking of design principles, materials, construction technics and technologies, as well as the introduction of new business models evolving from these reconfi...
The article at hand follows the understanding that future cities cannot be built the same way as existing ones, inducing a radical paradigm shift in how we produce and use materials for the construction of our habitat in the 21st century. In search of a methodology for an integrated, holistic, and interdisciplinary development of such new materials...
The growing elimination of resources calls for a paradigm shift from linear material consumption to circular economy - especially in the construction industry. The residential and research unit Urban Mining and Recycling (UMAR) in the modular experimental building NEST of Swiss research institute Empa consequently implements this claim: The design...
In 2016, Empa inaugurated NEST ("Next Evolution in Sustainable Building Technologies"), a new type of building that expedites the innovation process by providing a platform where new developments in the built environment can be tested, verified and demonstrated under realistic conditions. One of the units within is the "Urban Mining and Recycling"...
Bamboo fibers with high mechanical properties can be a sustainable alternative to synthetic fibers for application in fiber reinforced polymer composites. The first aim of this study is to evaluate the dependence of mechanical properties of Dendrocalamus asper, known as bamboo Petung from Indonesia, on physical properties of the culm, including cul...
This publication is centred around twelve manifesto points towards a people-centred urbanism and an architecture of belonging in times of rapid global urbanisation. Based on the authors’ eleven year research experience, the book draws conclusions from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, as its case study. It contains essays on the historic develo...
lt is our belief that architecture affects the way we live. We think that the quality of our built environment directly influences our quality of life. For architecture to be of high quality, it must be embedded within its context in order to establish a dialogue between the people that use it and the place where it stands. Regardless of its loc...
MycoTree is a spatial branching structure made out of load-bearing mycelium components. Its geometry was designed using 3D graphic statics, utilising compression-only form to enable the weak material to perform structurally. Using only mycelium and bamboo, the structure represents a provocative vision of how one may move beyond the mining of our co...
MycoTree is a spatial branching structure made out of load-bearing mycelium components. Its geometry was designed using 3D graphic statics, utilizing compression-only form to enable the weak material to perform structurally. Built from only mycelium and bamboo, the structure represents a provocative vision of how one may move beyond the mining of o...
Potential application of newly developed bamboo composite material as structural reinforcement called forth for durability test and bond strength examination. Firstly, durability of bamboo composite material and effectiveness of protective epoxy coating were evaluated by subjecting samples to various corrosive environments normally encountered duri...
Das Fachgebiet „Nachhaltiges Bauen“ am Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) und dem Future Cities Laboratory Singapore, sowie die Block Research Group (BRG) der Eidgenössischen Technischen Hochschule (ETH) Zürich kombinieren ihr Wissen um Materialien, Konstruktion, Statik und Geometrie auf der Suche nach Alternativen zur vorherrschenden Design...
Newly developed bamboo composite materials as reinforcement systems in structural concrete have the potential to revolutionize the concrete building sector. Steel reinforced concrete is the most common construction material worldwide. So far, no other material has been found to compete with steel as the dominant reinforcement system on a broad scal...
Edited by Alejandro Zaera-Polo, Hyungmin Pai, urbanNext Imminent Commons, first book from the Seoul Biennale 2017, will present an imminent urban cosmology that is crucially mediated by the technologies and institutions that feed us, move us, condition our environments, recycle our refuse, make our clothes, and connect us into communities. The citi...
The publication at hand is part of a five-segment series documenting the work and design philosophy of the
Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at the ETH Zürich, Department of Architecture
between 2014 and 2017. Each of the design studios offered to the students pursues the ideology of designing
within a progressive, open-m...
The publication at hand is part of a five-segment series documenting the work and design philosophy of the
Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at the ETH Zürich, Department of Architecture
between 2014 and 2017. Each of the design studios offered to the students pursues the ideology of designing
within a progressive, open-m...
The publication at hand is part of a five-segment series documenting the work and design philosophy of the
Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at the ETH Zürich, Department of Architecture
between 2014 and 2017. Each of the design studios offered to the students pursues the ideology of designing
within a progressive, open-m...
The publication at hand is part of a five-segment series documenting the work and design philosophy of the
Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at the ETH Zürich, Department of Architecture
between 2014 and 2017. Each of the design studios offered to the students pursues the ideology of designing
within a progressive, open-m...
The publication at hand is part of a five-segment series documenting the work and design philosophy of the
Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at the ETH Zürich, Department of Architecture
between 2014 and 2017. Each of the design studios offered to the students pursues the ideology of designing
within a progressive, open-m...
Bamboo is a rapid growing, affordable and available natural resource in many developing countries. It is potentially superior to timber and to construction steel in terms of its weight to strength ratio. A new technology has been developed in this research to preserve the mechanical properties of bamboo and to enhance physical characteristics throu...
Essay Series: Engineering bamboo – a green economic alternative Part 2, Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel: At the Advanced Fibre Composite Laboratory in Singapore, a new mechanical processing for raw bamboo has been developed, which leads to a fibrous material with physical features that are mainly defined by the bamboo s...
Catalog of an exhibition held at the Palazzo Mora, Palazzo Bembo and at the Palazzo Rossini, Venice, Italy, May 28-Nov. 27, 2016, on the occasion of the Biennale, 15th International Architecture Exhibition 2016
About Cities of Change:
Aiming to identify sustainable strategies―rather than upholding an a priori vision of an ideal city―the publication acknowledges the heterogeneous conditions of urban territories. This revised edition highlights questions of method and procedure that can be transferred to other ‘cities of change’, and covers recent developme...
Genesis of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development EiABC
Dirk Hebel
Ethiopia’s ongoing transformation from an agricultural to an industrial society was one of the major objectives of a new higher education program centered on engineering disciplines. This governmental initiative, implemented in 2005, w...
The IdeasCity festival, regularly organized in several US cities by New York's New Museum, took place in New York itself in May 2015. lt's aim is to connect design, arts, and culture with an exploration of the current phenomena of life in cities. For this occasion, teachers and students at ETH Zurich designed a 90 m2 pavilion made from recycled bev...
Applying composite strengthening systems of very high stiffness and strength to weak masonry structures is unprofitable because only a low percentage of their full mechanical capacity is being exploited. An innovative system out of bamboo fibres and highly deformable adhesives is proposed as a more efficient and cheaper alternative, particularly fo...
In a circular econnomy, waste is not an option.
The Sustainable Urban Dwelling Unit project is a co-operative research initiative launched between the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. The work on SUDU was carried out using laboratory methodologies...
The FCL Magazine Special Issue gives an overview of the research by the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel between 2012 and 2015. So far underused or forgotten substances such as bamboo, sand substitutes, and waste, as well as questions on architectural and urban design illustrate the overall aim to activate alte...
Steel-reinforced concrete is the most common building material in the world, and developing countries use close to 90 per cent of the cement and 80 per cent of the steel consumed by the global construction sector. However, very few developing countries have the ability or resources to produce their own steel or cement, forcing them into an exploita...
Our economical system is based on the principle of the exhaustion of natural resources for the purpose of production, entailing the fabrication of waste. This system functions at the expense of our social integrity and environmental sustainability. Images of the urban poor searching steaming landfills for valuable items are iconic representations o...
Urbanisation is generally seen as a positive factor in overall poverty reduction, as it brings people in close proximity to social networks and infrastructures. But as urbanisation in the Global South is usually a phenomenom of massive migra-tion from rural areas, cities face major housing shortages and the collapse of social and physical infrastru...
At the Advanced Fibre Composite Laboratory in Singapore, a new mechanical processing for raw bamboo has been devel- oped, which leads to a fibrous material with physical features that are mainly defined by the bamboo species. This material is used as a natural fibre source for the production of a high- tensile fibre reinforced composite material ai...
A straightforward mechanical processing protocol for raw bamboo, which leads to a fibrous material with physical features that are mainly defined by the bamboo species, has been developed. This material was used as a natural fiber source for the production of a high-tensile fiber reinforced composite. Thereby, controlling the parameters of the unde...
Researchers at the Future Cities Laboratory Singapore/ETH Zurich achieved the liaison of both the superior physical properties of the bamboo fiber and the extraordinary mechanical properties of polymer resins in a new green and sustainable material technology. The team investigates the potential of high-performance bamboo fiber composite materials...
Our future building material for sustainable and resilient cities might already exist in our current urban systems: Waste. By 2025, the growing world population and prosperity will have doubleed the annual production of Municipal Solid Waste. This paper proposes to activate this resource for the urban construction process within thinking of circula...
”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 re...
ADDIS 2050 is a so-called ‘synergy project’ at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. It combines the collective activities and collaborations within FCL and African partners over
the last few years in Ethiopia, especially in its capital Addis Ababa. The title ADDIS 2050 is derived from an international conference in November 2012, where FCL, t...
