NOV
2015 28

SUDU publication

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 process100

MAY
2015 05

ADDIS 2050, Events, SOIL

Rural Housing research project in Ethiopia enters its final phase with a stakeholders forum

On Tuesday, April 28, 2015, a stakeholders forum in Butajira city to place to present and discuss further steps of the Rural Housing research project, a combined research project of EiABC and ETH Professorship Dirk E. Hebel, with representatives of Guraghe Zone Administration, City Government, Bete Guraghe Cultural Center, colleagues from Wolkite University and Wolkite Polytechnic College and other stakeholder. In his opening speech, EiABC Scientific Director Joachim Dieter explained the role and importance of housing research for the development of the rural areas and the meaning of experimental and applied research in full scale for the education of Architects,100

FEB
2014 26

Exhibitions, SOIL

SUDU featured in Goethe Institute Exhibition

The Goethe Institute Addis Ababa opened a new exhibition last week featuring several prototypologies from the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) and the ETH Zurich, Future Cities Laboratory Singapore, Professorship Dirk E. Hebel. Displayed in models, plans and images, SUDU, SICU, SECU and SAMU propose alternatives for the provision of housing in Addis Ababa. The Sustainable Urban Dwelling Unit (SUDU), proposes a dense, two- or even three-story structure in a row house typology . The idea is to offer inhabitants a possibility to construct their own houses without waiting for government programs or private/public developers.100

NOV
2013 07

Exhibitions, SOIL, STRAW

SUDU and SECU at the AFRITECTURE exhibition Munich, Germany

CoReSing is exhibiting the research projects SUDU and SECU as a joint effort of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development and the Bauhaus University Weimar at the AFRITECTURE exhibition of the Architekturmuseum, Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Germany. Additionally, the exhibition features the two movies “Disappearing Spaces” and “Emerging Spaces” from the cinematic research project by Felix Heisel and Bisrat Kifle. In the accompaning catalogue, Prof. Dirk E. Hebel is featured with three articles (one with Prof. Dirk Donath of Weimar University) explaining the efforts of CoReSing on establishing alternative building materials and construction methods in100

AUG
2012 01

Events, SOIL

Building with Earth Workshop in Ethiopia

PhD Candidate Lara Davis of the Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel at SEC/FCL Singapore held this seven day intensive workshop to introduce students of architecture and urbanism and local technical-vocational (TVET) trainees to the concepts and practical aspects of building with earth with contextual sensitivity in Ethiopia. For each day of the workshop, one half-day was devoted to field study and practical exercises, which allowed students to develop hands-on material-based knowledge. Afternoon lectures provided the conceptual framing for theoretical study, documentation, and reflection. The topics covered attempted to demonstrate the link between the fundamental properties of soil,100

MAR
2012 10

SOIL

Swiss Foundation sponsors Professorship Dirk Hebel FCL Singapore and EiABC on the research of Sustainable Rural Housing Strategies in Ethiopia

Zuerich/Addis Ababa/Singapore March 2012 The Arthur Waser Foundation, based in Lucerene Switzerland, recently agreed to sponsor a continuous research project called SRDU (Sustainable Rural Dwelling Unit) in Ethiopia to the tune of 460,000 Swiss Francs over the next three years. The project builds on an academic research cooperation between the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) in Ethiopia and the Professorship of Dirk E. Hebel of Architecture and Construction at the Singapore-ETH Centre for Global Environmental Sustainability and the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) in Singapore. Professor Dr. Elias Yitbarek initiated the project in 2010 as part100

FEB
2012 03

SOIL

Soil

Soil is a natural body consisting of layers (soil horizons) of primarily mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their texture, structure, consistence, color, chemical, biological and other physical characteristics.[1] Sustainable construction requires an integrative thinking of various possible local available materials, skills and know-how. There is a need to enhance vernacular construction and material knowledge to cope with the dramatic need for new urban dwellings. This knowledge must be based on integrative modes of thinking, combining design, construction, building physics, sociology, energy, ecology and economy. If local construction materials and their application could be100