Felix Heisel – författare

Informal settlements made up of corrugated iron shacks and other materials are a ubiquitous feature in the megacities of Africa, Asia and Latin America. In response to the enormous influx of migrants from the countryside, the informal city experienced a phenomenal growth. While rightly criticized for their lack of hygiene and for their low-level living conditions, these shelters nevertheless provide planning strategies and possibly even a roadmap to a resilient city in an emerging territory.

The unregistered economic activities associated with them proliferate in a similar way and basic urban services are increasingly provided informally. Examples of these economic phenomena are microloans, bottom-up insurance or professions such as the "Kuré-Yalew" (refuse collector), who acts as an "urban miner" and thus contributes a valuable service to the community by recycling materials.

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 mushroom mycelium, or bamboo fibers as reinforcement for concrete.

Spanning from scientific research to product development and architectural application, this book builds a bridge between the academic and the professional world of architecture.

The book describes the challenges, strategies, and goals in the first part, followed by a second part on bamboo, A cultivated building material and a number of examples in the third part which form the bridge from cultivated materials to building products.

baumaterialien einer neuen generation Die Produktion von Baumaterialien verändert sich im 2 . Jahrhundert radikal: Künftige Ressourcen werden vermehrt, angebaut oder gezüchtet – sie werden organisch erzeugt. Dieses Buch stellt innovative industrialisierte Produktionsmethoden für die organische Erzeugung von Baumaterialien vor. Dazu gehören zum Beispiel durch Bakterien erzeugter Zement, aus Pilzzellen gewonnene Ziegel oder die Verwendung von Bambusfasern für die Betonarmierung. Die Darstellung schlägt einen Bogen von der wissenschaftlichen Forschung über die Produktentwicklung bis hin zu Anwendungen in Architektur und Bauwesen. Sie schlägt eine Brücke vom akademischen zum praktischen Bereich des Entwerfens und Bauen. Der erste Teil beschreibt Herausforderungen, Strategien und Ziele, gefolgt von einem zweiten Teil über Bambus als einem organisch erzeugten Baumaterial und einem dritten Teil mit zahlreichen Beispielen für Entwicklungen von Bauprodukten aus organisch erzeugten Baumerialien.

Sustainability 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 also conflicting goals and priorities. In no other field can these be better observed, addressed and influenced than in architecture and building. "Building Better – Less – Different" Each volume of "Building Better – Less – Different" details two fundamental areas of sustainability and explores their specific dynamics and interactions. After introductory overviews, innovative methods and current developments are described and analysed in in-depth essays, international case studies and pointed commentaries. The sustainability criteria of efficiency ("better"), sufficiency ("less") and consistency ("different") form the framework for each book. What the press say about the first volume"Circular Construction and Circular Economy" "The articles, case studies and commentaries in this book make a major contribution to advancing the current discourse on implementing circular-based economic models in the building sector." Hessian Chamber of Architects, book reviews "To think of tomorrow when building today is the core message that Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel want to convey to their readers. … And they also show us how: with the help of relevant examples, grouped under the headings ‘better’, ‘less’ and ‘different’, they demonstrate concrete applications and argue that circular construction can also benefit the construction industry…" architektur aktuell Clean energy transition It has long been common knowledge that energy and sustainability are closely interlinked. And yet we are witnessing a profound shift in the sector. While the earlier focus was on improving energy efficiency and increasing the proportion of renewable energy in buildings, current energy conservation policies are supporting a broader, more holistic view. This encompasses integral approaches in which building design and construction measures form part of the energy concept from the outset, as well as accounting for grey energy in building materials and a holistic evaluation of buildings over their entire life cycle. For the energy-intensive and emission-producing building sector, climate change presents an even greater challenge than conserving resources. How can we contribute to a shift in heating strategies and employ new technologies to achieve climate-neutral heating? How can we respond to rising temperatures and the risk of increased energy consumption for cooling? Can low-tech concepts help to reduce the environmental impact of buildings over their life cycle? Shouldn’t we take greater account of the users of buildings, and do we need completely different energy supply strategies? Digital Transformation At a time of natural ubiquity of digital tools, widely adopted to streamline project delivery in architecture, the foundations have been laid for a profound transformation of the construction industry to address the climate crisis. Digital architectural design and construction methods can be used as enabling technologies for a fundamental change towards a circular construction approach with significantly reduced ecological and climate impact. This approach comprises a digital reinterpretation of natural building materials through digital construction technologies. Digital deconstruction and reuse strategies can transform the existing building stock into resources for the future. Mass customization of tailor-made building components minimizes resource consumption. Architects, in their emerging role as interdisciplinary interface and digital master builders, reunite design and making through digital craft. Finally, the book provides a glimpse into the potential future of construction, which might be characterized by fundamentally different concepts of design and materialization of our built environment, challenging current paradigms within our discipline.

Sustainability is to become the guiding principle of social action and economic activity. At the same time, its implementation is far from clear. In no other field can this be better observed than in architecture.Each volume of "Building Better – Less – Different" explores two areas of sustainability. The third volume combines the topics labor and city. Both spheres are facing profound changes. Forced labor, toxic building materials and deskilling are a worldwide problem in the construction industry and deeply unethical. Thus, the need for globally binding, fair labor practices becomes increasingly apparent. In the urban realm, cities must develop into ecological and social drivers, for instance by the establishment of intelligent mobility systems or by providing a habitat for animals and plants.

Sustainability is to become the guiding principle of social action and economic activity. At the same time, its implementation is far from clear. In no other field can this be better observed than in architecture.Each volume of "Building Better – Less – Different" explores two areas of sustainability. The third volume combines the topics labor and city. Both spheres are facing profound changes. Forced labor, toxic building materials and deskilling are a worldwide problem in the construction industry and deeply unethical. Thus, the need for globally binding, fair labor practices becomes increasingly apparent. In the urban realm, cities must develop into ecological and social drivers, for instance by the establishment of intelligent mobility systems or by providing a habitat for animals and plants.Case studies of urban transformation include the Zurich Urban Climate Master Plan, the Hamburg Magistralen 2040+ Master Plan, or the Smart City Vienna Framework Strategy 2019–2050Systematic compendium with internationally renowned contributorsThird volume of the successful and timely "Building Better – Less – Different" series

”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 resource.This book introduces an inventory of current projects and building elements, ranging from marketed products, among them façade panels made of straw and self-healing concrete, to advanced research and development like newspaper, wood or jeans denim used as isolating fibres. Going beyond the mere recycling aspect of reused materials, it looks into innovative concepts of how materials usually regarded as waste can be processed into new construction elements. The products are organized along the manufacturing processes: densified, reconfigured, transformed, designed and cultivated materials. A product directory presents all materials and projects in this book according to their functional uses in construction: load-bearing, self-supporting, insulating, waterproofing and finishing products.

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 also conflicting goals and priorities. In no other field can these be better observed, addressed and influenced than in architecture and building. Each volume of "Building Better – Less – Different" details two fundamental areas of sustainability and explores their specific dynamics and interactions. After introductory overviews, innovative methods and current developments are described and analysed in in-depth essays, international case studies and pointed commentaries. The sustainability criteria of efficiency ("better"), sufficiency ("less") and consistency ("different") form the framework for each book. The first volume presents concepts, methods and examples of circularity in construction and the economy. Urban mining and circular construction are two approaches to the challenges that architecture and urban design are facing, using techniques such as mono-material construction and design for disassembly, and tools such as materials passports and databases. The circular economy is not solely about recycling but encompasses a wide range of strategies from local community projects to new ownership and service models and steering mechanisms such as carbon fees and dividends.