Dirk Hebel argues we have 20 to 30 years to stop building with concrete and sand, which are running out. His solution: grow construction materials in cities instead, like bricks and compostable houses, and turn building into a circular system where materials break down and regrow.
November 2, 2016
Okay, so the talk today was basically called paradigm shift. We do believe that the 21st century could kind of point into a new way how we deal with the scarcity of our resources. We know that the most predominant material we use today, which is reinforced concrete, it's a finite resource. We are running out of sand, for example, of gravel. And we do need to find alternatives that make sure that if we want to continue our habitat for more and more people on this planet, other sources and resources are needed to be explored. Our idea is simple to kind of cultivate or to farm these ones. I think urban farming becomes, in that idea, a new dimension that you can grow in your cellar. You can grow your own bricks, or grow your own ideas of how to use construction materials in the future. And maybe the slogan goes that in the future we grow our house, and if we don't need any more, we simply compost it. And therefore, kind of being part of a larger metabolistic system where we don't mine our resources anymore, but we grow and then compost them and making sure that they are available also for future generations. Honestly, I think in maybe 20, 30 years, we have no other choice. It's not a question of acceptance, it's a question of need. Most of the people in the world don't even know that there are alternatives around. So it's a question also of marketing, of finding people here discussing it with academia and with research institutions and first movers, entrepreneurs who are able to produce them and to show the world that this is a valid alternative.
Day 1 - Policy Innovation for Urban Transitions | Future Cities Symposium & Exhibition 2025
