JUN 03

#CircularKarlsruhe: Vision workshop paves the way to a circular city

On May 13, over 80 participants from business, science, administration, politics, and civil society gathered at Steamwork Karlsruhe — joined by 20+ remote experts — for a full-day vision workshop on the Circular Economy. Their shared goal: to develop the foundation for a city-wide vision of a circular Karlsruhe. Four key vision areas emerged: Circular Construction, Circular Value Creation, Lifestyle and Consumption and Local Food Systems. Elena Boerman was invited to participate in the workshop group of Circular Construction on behalf of the Professorship of Sustainable Construction. The workshop results will feed into a feasibility study to inform political decision-making100

Interview: Sandra Böhm and Elena Boerman in the SIHGA TimberTalk

In the context of the Green Deal in Construction event, hosted by SIHGA in Gmunden, Austria, on 20 March 2025, Sandra Böhm and Elena Boerman gave a presentation on renewable materials and were interviewed by Thomas Hutzinger as part of the SIHGA TimberTalk series. The interview focuses on necessary measures for resource-efficient and sustainable construction on the production and application side, areas of application for bio-based and innovative materials, and political and economic incentives to accelerate change in the construction industry.

MAR 10

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On Monday, April 07, 2025, in the second event of the talk series Zegeye Cherenet delivered a conversation with Lesley Lokko at Lucerne theatre.  The “African Voices Lucerne” series brings together prominent figures from Africa to discuss the future of the continent and its place in the world. The guests cover a broad spectrum of expertise: they include scientists, artists, intellectuals, educators, architects, civil society leaders, and religious leaders. Each event brings together a guest from Africa with a person of African descent living in Switzerland. “African Voices Lucerne” is a joint initiative of the Arthur Waser Foundation and the Lucerne Theater.100

FEB 24

The Exhibition “HIRZBERG+”

Last week, the final reviews of Design Studio “HIRZBERG+ – Micro-Multifunctional Room for a Kindergarten in Freiburg” took place. Congratulations to all students! The Haus für Kinder am Hirzberg in Freiburg is to be expanded to include a micro-multifunctional room due to a lack of space on its own property. This was the focus of the semester project and will be realised in cooperation with the Freiburg-based architecture office hotz + architekten. The room is to serve as a lounge and work space for employees, as well as a space for curative education activities and parent-teacher meetings. The design centred around a100

JAN 20

Potentials and Perspectives of Renewable Materials in Construction

On Wednesday, January 15, 2025, Sandra Böhm and Elena Boerman delivered a lecture at BAU 2025 in Munich on the “Potentials and Perspectives of Renewable Materials in Construction.” The lecture was based on last year’s publication by Fraunhofer IRB Verlag: “Vom Bauen mit erneuerbaren Materialien – Die Natur als Rohstofflager”. The presentation took place as part of the conference “Zukunft des Bauens: Biobasierte Baustoffe im Fokus” in the “Innovation Hub” forum. The event provided a platform to explore the potential of biobased building materials and discuss the challenges and opportunities of integrating renewable materials into construction practices. Particular emphasis was placed100

SEP
2024
11

Elke Siedentopp receives a KFG award for outstanding support for science

The association “KIT Freundeskreis und Fördergesellschaft e.V.” (KFG) awards annual prizes to KIT employees from administration, infrastructure or infrastructure-related scientific institutions as well as to non-academic young talent for particularly outstanding support services for science. The KFG determines the prize winners and the amount of prize money based on a proposal from a KIT internal selection committee. Ms. Siedentopp, secretary at the Professorship of Sustainable Building at the KIT Faculty of Architecture, was awarded one of these prizes with prize money of €1,500.00 for her achievements at the KFG’s summer reception on July 15, 2024 in the NTI lecture hall100

APR
2024
29

Building Circular: Materials – Joining – Documentation – Lecture by Daniela Schneider

After a successful start in 2023 with 450 participants, Forum Holzbau has decided to hold the Süddeutscher Holzbau Kongress (SHK) annually. The second event has now been scheduled for July 10 and 11, 2024 in Fellbach near Stuttgart. The congress, organized by Forum Holzbau, is intended to provide a platform for a comprehensive scientific and economic exchange on all aspects of modern, future-oriented timber construction. On July 11 at 1:50 pm, Daniela Schneider will hold a lecture on “Building Circular: Materials – Joining – Documentation”. You will find her in block B4 with the main topic “Circular Construction”. Please check100

APR
2024
22

Exhibition “Pilzpaläste und Tütentürme” in Junge Kunsthalle Karlsruhe

What could sustainable construction look like in the future? The exhibition is an invitation to try out new things with existing resources and lots of creativity. Beaches are disappearing, entire islands are drowning because their sand is needed to produce building materials such as concrete and glass. Other raw materials are also becoming increasingly rare, so creativity is required – clever minds and playful hands are needed to grow new building materials or harvest old ones and try them out. From April 27 to November 3, young visitors are invited to the exhibition “Mushroom Palaces and Bag Towers – Building100

MAR
2024
28

Rooftop Talks #23 “Modular up to the roof” on March 21st with Elena Boerman

The federal and state governments have agreed on a “construction turbo pact” to speed up planning and approval processes. Industrial production methods should make building cheaper and approval procedures faster: “In order to further promote this form of building, the federal states will regulate that once type approvals for serial, modular and systemic construction have been granted, they will be valid nationwide,” writes the Federal Building Ministry BMBSW. An occasion for the initiative Dachkult to take a look at outstanding architecture that is modularly planned right up to the roof. The event took place on March 21st in the Kulturzentrum100

MAR
2024
23

Building in closed loops – Lecture by Daniela Schneider on February 24 in Tübingen

On February 24, Daniela Schneider, gave a lecture on the topic “Circular planning and building: Paths towards a circular economy” in the Mensa Uhlandstaße in Tübingen. Her speech tackled the big questions of the construction industry: What does responsible use of resources look like? How can we deal with the existing building stock? And how to build reversibly? Daniela Schneider deals intensively with these issues. Among other things, she recommends taking the cycles in nature as a guideline. She explains the principle of closed loops using the Cradle to Cradle® design principle, also using examples of the built environment.Her lecture100

FEB
2024
27

MODEL EXHIBITION Design Studio Hebel

Last week, the final reviews of Design Studio Hebel “Thought to the point – Contemporary living in the historic Henkels lace factory in Wuppertal” took place. Congratulations to all students! A selection of designs will be nominated for the Urban Mining Student Award 2023/24, which is seeking visions for the sustainable conversion of the existing building stock. The KIT Faculty of Architecture has already won this competition three times in recent years and we want to tackle the assignment again this year, focusing on the respectful conversion and circular redevelopment of the historic factory site of the former lace factory100

FEB
2024
10

‘Plastic: Remaking Our World’ has now opened at the National Museum of Singapore

Plastics have shaped our daily lives like no other material. From food containers to electronic devices, from furniture to cars, from fashion to prefab buildings. With their almost limitless malleability, versatility, and economic production, plastics have spurred the imagination of designers and architects for decades. While they have been associated with convenience, progress, and even revolution, in recent years, they have lost their utopian appeal. Plastics are omnipresent – often as waste. Moving away from a linear economy towards a circular one will require a combination of different strategies and approaches: mechanical, chemical, and biological recycling; a shift from oil-based100

JAN
2024
30

Bending the Curve – Knowing, Acting, Caring for Biodiversity | Panel discussion with Sandra Böhm on February 13

As already teased in a Trailer, the fascinating exhibition “Bending the Curve – Knowing, Acting, Caring for Biodiversity” is still ongoing at Frankfurter Kunstverein. This month, exciting evening events will accompany the current exhibition: Topics ranging from justice in climate change, to the role of hope and climate activism, to sustainable construction and criminal law in the climate crisis will be covered. Two events have been organized together with the Research Centre Normative Orders at Goethe University Frankfurt. On February 8 at 6:30 pm, the climate philosopher Prof. Dr. Darrel Moellendorf will give a lecture entitled “Mobilizing Hope. Climate activism,100

Bending the Curve – Knowing, Acting, Caring for Biodiversity | Trailer

Without biodiversity, human existence on planet Earth would not be possible. However, this biodiversity has been declining for far too long, and at an alarming rate. This realisation unites the curatorial team of the Frankfurter Kunstverein, which has invited the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and Frankfurt Zoo to collaborate in the form of an interdisciplinary partnership. The result is the new exhibition titled Bending the Curve – Knowing, Acting, Caring for Biodiversity, which alludes to the concept of ‘Bending the Curve of Biodiversity Loss’. The exhibition explores how the negative trend can be halted – or even reversed.100

OCT
2023
11

Lecture Series MATERIALS 23/24

In the Winter Semester 2023/24, the KIT Department of Architecture will offer a lecture series on Materials, organized by the chair of Sustainable Construction, Dirk E. Hebel. In total, 11 lectures will address conventional and alternative building materials and their use in construction. Speakers are: Sandra Böhm, Prof. Andrea Klinge, Peter Schöffel, Nazanin Saeidi, Alireza Javadian and Elena Boerman. Please refer to the poster for actual dates. The lecture is held every Friday, 9.45 am at the lecture hall Fritz-Haller in the building 20.40 at KIT Campus South. Poster Design: Uta Bogenrieder

OCT
2023
10

Lecture Series SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION 23/24

In the Winter Semester 2023/24, the KIT Department of Architecture will offer a lecture series on Sustainable Construction, organized by the Professorship of Sustainable Construction, Dirk E. Hebel. In total 12 lectures he will address the history, state of the art, and alternative futures within the theme. Please refer to the poster for actual dates. The lecture is held every Wednesday, 9.45 am in the lecture hall Fritz-Haller in the building 20.40 at KIT Campus South. Poster Design: Uta Bogenrieder

OCT
2023
05

Online Panel Discussion of FNR

Daniela Schneider, doctoral student at the KIT Sustainable Building Professorship, will be taking part in an online panel discussion on the topic of “Cycle-efficient timber building system solutions” at the themed afternoons on timber construction organised by the Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR) on 15 November 2023. More information about the event here.

SEP
2023
18

Symposium “Biofrontiers: The Potential of Fungal-based Materials in Architecture”

Monday, October 9th, 20238:30 – 18:30 (CET)Open Space 2 – Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA ETH Hoenggerberg) The one-day symposium is part of our work in the Future Cities Lab (FCL) research programme. The event is being organized by the Block Research Group (ETH) and the chair of Digital Building Technologies (ETH), in collaboration with the chairs of Prof. Hortense Le Ferrand from NTU Singapore and Prof. Dirk Hebel from KIT Karlsruhe, with support from the Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA) and ALIVE, and Holcim Foundation. Our module BIO – Urban Biocycles Mycelium Digitalisation brings together researchers from the Block Research Group (ETH), the chair of Digital Building Technologies (ETH), Singapore (NTU), and Karlsruhe (KIT) to develop, utilize, and assess mycelium-bound composite100

JUL
2023
31

The KIT Materials Library is reopened

The KIT Materials Library houses an extensive collection of material samples, whose haptic experience and critical assessment are of particular importance for the education of architects in our view. It offers the opportunity to learn about both established, well-known and new, innovative materials and technologies. The extensive physical collection of material samples – and in the future also associated digital data sets – not only serves to deepen and illustrate the teaching of materials at the faculty, but also provides students with valuable assistance for working on exercises and in the design process. The material samples can be borrowed and100

JUL
2023
19

MaterialLab at IBA’27: RoofKIT and Material Samples

A large hands-on exhibition on new (and old) building materials is located in a warehouse in the future Backnang-West neighborhood: programmed wood, insulation made from old clothes, concrete foam. Selected exhibits from research and industry are on display. The focus is on various materials and their further development. There is also an exhibition contribution from the KIT Faculty of Architecture, which consists of a documentation of the RoofKIT project and an excerpt from the material library. Among others, the University of Stuttgart, ILEK/ITKE/Biomat, FRA UAS Frankfurt and selected industrial partners are also involved. The exhibition is open from 07.07. to100

JUN
2023
07

Nazanin Saeidi at IMMO TALK 2023

90 representatives from business, science and politics came together on Wednesday at the new weisenburg headquarters in Karlsruhe for IMMO TALK 2023 of TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe GmbH (TRK GmbH), an event for more sustainability in the construction industry. The head of research at the Sustainable Building Professorship, Dr. Nazanin Saeidi, was also invited to the event. The subject of this year’s event was “Bioeconomy 1 in building Plant-based building materials in the life cycle of buildings In two top-class rounds, innovative building materials made from plants were presented and discussed how they can find greater use in building practice in the100

MAY
2023
31

Recording: Does concrete – in a sustainable world – have a future ?

On 22nd April, the Professorship of Sustainable Construction was a guest in Hall B0 at the BAU2023 Munich to organise, in cooperation with the KIT Department of Architecture and the Bund Deutscher Architektinnen und Architekten BDA and supported by Wacker Chemie AG, the Symposium on Sustainable Construction “Does Concrete // in a sustainable world // have a future”. Watch the full recording of our Symposium on Sustainable Construction at BAU2023 here.

MAY
2023
12

KIT Campustag and Reinschauen 2023

On Saturday, May 13, the KIT Campustag will take place again. All KIT faculties will present their study programs and offer great hands-on activities, experiments, guided tours and much more. In addition, there will be a stage on the forum, where a colorful live program will be offered. Various bands, science slam, theater groups, university groups, and many more will show what KIT has to offer besides studies. The Faculty of Architecture at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology also cordially invites you to its annual exhibition “Reinschauen”. From May 11 to 17, 2023, all professorships, workshops and studios will present100

MAY
2023
03

Thanks for ‘Does concrete – in a sustainable world – have a future ?’

On 22nd April, the Professorship of Sustainable Construction was a guest in Hall B0 at the BAU2023 Munich to organise, in cooperation with the KIT Department of Architecture and the Bund Deutscher Architektinnen und Architekten BDA and supported by Wacker Chemie AG, the Symposium on Sustainable Construction “Does Concrete // in a sustainable world // have a future”. Invited speakers were Prof. Karen Scrivener, Head of the EPFL Laboratory of Construction Materials as well as Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Dehn, Head of the KIT Institute of Concrete Structures and Building Materials, and Koos Schenk, Director of SmartCrusher BV. The event and the panel discussion100

APR
2023
18

KIT Material Library goes BAU2023

At this year’s BAU World’s Leading Trade Fair for Architecture, Materials, Systems in Munich from April 17 to 22, 2023, the KIT Material Library of the Department of Architecture is presented. An excerpt from the physical sample stock of the material library is shown. On a small exhibition area, some material samples of different material groups, especially materials from secondary raw materials and biological building materials, will be displayed. In addition, the ideas and goals of the already existing cooperation of the Materialbibliothek Deutscher Hochschulen (MDH) are presented. We cordially invite you and you to stop by at booth 210.B100

MAR
2023
01

Does concrete // in a sustainable world // have a future ?

The KIT Department of Architecture will be holding a symposium as part of this year’s “BAU2023 – World’s Leading Trade Fair for Architecture, Materials, Systems”, which will take place in Munich from 17 to 22 April. The event will take place on 21 April from 12.00 to 13.30 in Hall B0, a hall with the motto “Investing in the Future”. In this event, a discourse on the current problems in the use of concrete will be stimulated, the current and future possibilities of recycling old concrete into new concrete will be discussed as well as new application concepts and production100

NOV
2022
25

“Plastic: Remaking Our World” at V&A Dundee in Scotland

The exhibition Plastic: Remaking Our World, which was initially on show at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, will be on display at the V&A Dundee in Scotland from 29 October 2022 until 5 February 2023. The exhibition examines the history and the future of this controversial material. From its early origins when it was intended as a sustainable alternative to natural resources, to its meteoric rise in the twentieth century. More information here.

NOV
2022
15

Prof. Dirk E. Hebel speaks at the Parliamentary Evening at the Deutsche Bundestag Berlin

Climate change is becoming a particular challenge for our urban life: our cities heat up particularly strongly in summer, and extreme weather such as heavy rainfall pushes infrastructure to its limits. Worldwide, almost 60 percent of people live in urbanized settlements, and the number is steadily increasing. As global temperatures continue to rise, so do the challenges facing cities and the people who live in them. In Berlin on November 8th 2022, several scientists talked and elaborated on the question of how to design and adapt our cities for such challenges ahead. The parliamentary evening was organizezed by Helmholtz SynCom.

NOV
2022
08

Prof. Dirk E. Hebel meets Kassem Taher Saleh, Member of the German Bundestag in Berlin

On Monday, 7 November, Dirk E. Hebel was invited to the Bundestag by Kassem Taher Saleh, Member of the German Parliament and Chairman of the Committee on Housing, Urban Development, Construction and Municipalities, to discuss which recommendations for political action can be derived from Dirk E. Hebel’s research. Mr Saleh, a civil engineer by profession and member of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, was particularly interested in wood as a building material along the entire value chain (raw material availability and end-of-life scenarios) and strategies for a truely circular economy in the building sector.

OCT
2022
27

Expert discussion on “Innovative and sustainable building materials” of the Green parliamentary group in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart

At the expert discussion on “Innovative and Sustainable Building Materials” of the Green parliamentary group in the state parliament, to which Gudula Achterberg, member of the Heilbronn state parliament and member of the working group and committee on state development and housing, had invited on 21st October, science and practice met and identified future tasks for building and housing. The speakers from science and research as well as from construction practice were united by the realisation that the current crises and global interdependencies can also accelerate developments in construction. Keynote speaker Professor Werner Sobek received the Order of Merit of100

OCT
2022
24

Exhibition “Plastic: Remaking Our World” now at V&A Dundee in Scotland

The exhibition Plastic: Remaking Our World, which was initially on show at the Vitra Design Museum, will be on display at the V&A Dundee in Scotland from 29 October 2022. The contribution of the Sustainable Building Professorship will also travel from Weil am Rhein to Dundee. Plastic: Remaking Our World will again feature prototypes, new technologies, and cutting-edge materials as designers grapple with a material that has changed our world.  The exhibition will feature product design, graphics, architecture and fashion from the collections of the V&A and Vitra Design Museum, as well as collections all over the world. This is the first exhibition produced100

OCT
2022
10

MycoTree in the Natural History Museum in Karlsruhe

As part of the 17th “Karlsruher Frischpilzausstellung” of the Natural History Museum in Karlsruhe, the MycoTree was exhibited in the pavilion in the Nymphengarten on the 8th and 9th October. The exhibition displayed 250-300 species of mushrooms and presented various literature on mushrooms. The weekend exhibition was visited by almost 1300 people interested in mushrooms. The MycoTree, a spatial structure made of the cultivated materials mushroom mycelium and bamboo, supplemented the exhibition with the topic area ‘Building materials from natural resources’. At 2 p.m. on both days, Sandra Böhm and Elena Boerman gave a short lecture on the exhibited project,100

SEP
2022
18

Lecture Series MATERIALS 22/23

In the Winter Semester 2022/23, the KIT Department of Architecture will offer a lecture series on Materials, organized by the chair of Sustainable Construction, Dirk E. Hebel. In total 11 lectures will address conventional and alternative building materials and their use in construction. Speakers are: Andrea Klinge, Kay Sanvito, Peter Schöffel, Nazanin Saeidi, Alireza Javadian, Elena Boerman and Sandra Böhm. Please refer to the poster for actual dates. The lecture is held every Friday, 9.45 am at the Egon Eiermann HS in the building 20.40 at KIT Campus South. Poster Design: Uta Bogenrieder

SEP
2022
17

Lecture Series SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION 22/23

In the Winter Semester 2022/23, the KIT Department of Architecture will offer a lecture series on Sustainable Construction, organized by the Professorship of Sustainable Construction, Dirk E. Hebel. In total 12 lectures he will address the history, state of the art, and alternative futures within the theme. Please refer to the poster for actual dates. The lecture is held every Wednesday, 9.45 am in the HS37 in the building 20.40 at KIT Campus South. Poster Design: Uta Bogenrieder

JUN
2022
25

Team RoofKIT wins the Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22 in Wuppertal

On Friday 24 June at about 6 pm, the time had finally come – the Competition Director of the Solar Decathlon Europe 2021/22, Karsten Voss, in Wuppertal announced the winning team of the student competition: Team RoofKIT from Karlsruhe! The team was very surprised about this development and expressed their relief, happiness and pride. The moment of the announcement was captured on video by SDE 2021/22: Second place in the overall competition was taken by Team Virtue from Eindhoven, and third place was shared by Team SUM from Delft and Team Aura from Grenoble. On the website of the SDE100

JUN
2022
25
JUN
2022
25
JUN
2022
24
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2022
23
JUN
2022
21

RoofKIT wins 1st in out-of-competition category “Timber Construction” at Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22 in Wuppertal

Our thanks go to the Kaufmann Zimmerei and Tischlerei in Reuthe, Austria and to the Timber Construction Award Jury.