The City as a Proto – Typology
Friday, 14. September 2012 | 10:30 Uhr
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By definition, a proto-typology – unlike a prototype – is a permanent state of change and adapta-tion, as Professor Dirk Hebel from ETH Zurich explained. In this context, cities are open and flexible systems that react to their local and immediate setting, even so they operate on a global scale.
The development of construction in Africa is enormous. Unfortunately, instead of traditional houses, multi-story buildings made of glass, concrete and steel dominate the new districts. As a result, the cities lose their typical national identity. Thus, steel consumption in developing countries has grown dramatically by over 70% over the last few years. Should this trend continue, Africa will become the world’s biggest carbon dioxide polluter. Additionally to this, Africa does not process steel, but import it from other countries (such as China). Due to these developments, architects and planners were urged to increase their use of sustainable materials typical of the country. In their search for a steel substitute, the characteristics of bamboo are currently being investigated. It grows back quickly, is very light and has twice the tensile strength of steel. Appropriate tests are currently being conducted in the laboratories in order to also prove the advantages scientifically.
Dirk Hebel
Born 1971, Germany
Master of Architecture, ETH Zurich, 1998
Master of Architecture, Princeton University, 2000
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 at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, a research project of ETH Zurich 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 with Prof. Dr. Marc Angélil. The resulting work of his teaching and research has been published in numerous academic jounals and book publications, lately CITIES OF CHANGE: ADDIS ABABA with Marc Angélil and BATHROOM UNPLUGGED with Jörg Stollmann. Several of his Design-Research-Studios with international students from bachelor to master level won international recognition. In this line, together with Marc Angélil, he published in 2008 the book DEVIATIONS, an experiment in architectural design pedagogy to initiate a plea for a new type of architectural practice.
Dirk Hebel practices architecture in Switzerland and Germany with his firm DRKH Architecture. Newer projects include the architectural design for DISCOVERIES, an exhibition for the Foundation Lindau Nobel Prize Winners and URBAN LABORATORY ETHiopia, an exhibition building in Addis Ababa. After working for Diller + Scofidio in New York and being the project manager for the BLUR Building for EXPO.02 in Switzerland, Dirk Hebel was one of the partners of INSTANT Architects (2002 and 2008). Projects include the award-winning project UNITED_BOTTLE, the traveling exhibition INVENTIONEERING_ ARCHITECTURE, and the pneumatic installation ON_AIR in Berlin. He received the Van Alen Institute Fellowship Award, the Red Dot Design Award for Best Conceptual Design, and the LANXESS Award Singapore.
Born 1971, Germany
Master of Architecture, ETH Zurich, 1998
Master of Architecture, Princeton University, 2000
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 at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore, a research project of ETH Zurich 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 with Prof. Dr. Marc Angélil. The resulting work of his teaching and research has been published in numerous academic jounals and book publications, lately CITIES OF CHANGE: ADDIS ABABA with Marc Angélil and BATHROOM UNPLUGGED with Jörg Stollmann. Several of his Design-Research-Studios with international students from bachelor to master level won international recognition. In this line, together with Marc Angélil, he published in 2008 the book DEVIATIONS, an experiment in architectural design pedagogy to initiate a plea for a new type of architectural practice.
Dirk Hebel practices architecture in Switzerland and Germany with his firm DRKH Architecture. Newer projects include the architectural design for DISCOVERIES, an exhibition for the Foundation Lindau Nobel Prize Winners and URBAN LABORATORY ETHiopia, an exhibition building in Addis Ababa. After working for Diller + Scofidio in New York and being the project manager for the BLUR Building for EXPO.02 in Switzerland, Dirk Hebel was one of the partners of INSTANT Architects (2002 and 2008). Projects include the award-winning project UNITED_BOTTLE, the traveling exhibition INVENTIONEERING_ ARCHITECTURE, and the pneumatic installation ON_AIR in Berlin. He received the Van Alen Institute Fellowship Award, the Red Dot Design Award for Best Conceptual Design, and the LANXESS Award Singapore.
