101-0531-00L Digital Creativity for Circular Construction
| Semester | Autumn Semester 2024 |
| Lecturers | C. De Wolf |
| Periodicity | yearly recurring course |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Comment | All students who register go on a waiting list until 11.09.2024. To register: 1. Enroll before 05.09.2024 2. Send a short motivation letter (max. 300 words) and a 1-page CV to cea-course@ibi.baug.ethz.ch by 05.09.2024 3. MIBS students: This course is mandatory and there is no need to send your application documents Please only register for the course if you really intend to participate on all course dates (see course catalog), otherwise, you will deprive someone else of a place. |
Courses
| Number | Title | Hours | Lecturers | ||||||||||||||||
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| 101-0531-00 P | Digital Creativity for Circular Construction Schedule remarks: 1. Class on Tuesdays 14:15 – 18:00. Location according to separate specification. 2. course location Kunsthalle Zürich on December 12 from 9h to 13h and December 14 from 9h to 17h. Flexibility: This is a hands-on course, where students explore digital technologies and opportunities/challenges of reuse. Flexibility (e.g. adapting to unforeseen circumstances), responsibility (e.g. arriving on time for safety briefing), and spontaneity (e.g. finding innovative solutions) is expected from the students to adapt to the contingencies from demolition and construction sites with reused materials. Former course title: "Digital Transformation for Circular Construction". | 7.5 hrs |
| C. De Wolf |
Catalogue data
| Abstract | The course is about digital innovation towards a circular economy in the built environment. How can we bring together two worlds that are often too distinct: low-impact construction and digital innovation? Bringing digital tools already used in other sectors into the construction sector, students will learn about circular construction (e.g., reuse of materials) through hands-on learning practices. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | In the fall semester 2024 we will focus on applying artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR) to the circular design workflow and. The course will be taught at the Kunsthalle Zurich as part of an exhibition. By the end of this course, students will be able to use augmented computational design enabling circular construction, with a view to environmental implications. They will be able to assess the challenges and opportunities of low-carbon, circular construction and evaluate possible solutions using digital technologies to enable a circular built environment (more specifically, with reused building materials). To achieve this, they need to be able to do the following: 1. Apply circular principles using recovered building materials. 2. Compare different digital technologies applied in circular construction (e.g., LiDARscanning, drone imagery, photogrammetry, computational design, AI, computer vision, XR, LCA tools etc.) 3. Understand the potential and limitations of AI for circular construction, e.g. use machine learning to detect and digitize materials (computer vision) or to support creativity in the early design phases of circular construction (generative AI). 4. Communicate the importance and urgency of circular construction. 5. Assess the environmental impact implications of their design and technology decisions through a preliminary Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | Students will receive an introduction to circular principles by experts from the building industry and visit of (de-)construction sites where circular construction is exemplified. They will explore how to use digital technologies such as LiDAR scanning, photogrammetry, scan-to-BIM,computer vision, computational design, digital fabrication, blockchain technology and learn about the design implications using reclaimed building materials. This course is meant as an overview/introduction of many digital technologies that could be useful for circularity and gives the tools to students to further study the technologies they are most interested in on their own. Creativity in writing, filmmaking, design, construction, etc. is expected from the students. This course will give the tools to students to learn more on LCA if they wish to deepen their knowledge further. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture notes | Language: English Courses are on Tuesday afternoons in Kunsthalle or a room at ETH, but also require out-of-the-semester work and significant homework and site visits outside of class hours. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | Çetin, S., De Wolf, C., Bocken, N. (2022) "Circular Digital Built Environment: An Emerging Framework." Sustainability - Circular Economy in the Digital Age special issue, 13, 6348, DOI: 10.3390/su13116348 De Wolf, C. (2022) "4 promising digital technologies for circular construction." World Economic Forum, September 13, Link Raghu, D., Marengo, M., Markopoulou, A., Neri, I., Chronis, A., and De Wolf, C. (2022) "Enabling Component Reuse from Existing Buildings. Using Google Street View and Machine Learning to Enhance Building Databases." The Association of Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA), Sydney, AU, April 5-9. Gorden, M., Batallé, A., De Wolf, C., Sollazo, A., Dubor, A., Wang, T. (2022) "Automating Building Element Detection for Deconstruction Planning and Material Reuse: A Case Study" Automation in Construction. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | Interest in Digitalisation and Construction. Flexibility: This is a hands-on course, where students explore digital technologies and opportunities/challenges of reuse. Flexibility (e.g. adapting to unforeseen circumstances), responsibility (e.g. arriving on time for safety briefing), and spontaneity (e.g. finding innovative solutions) is expected from the students to adapt to the contingencies from demolition and construction sites with reused materials. The course is mandatory for MIBS students. If you are a first year MIBS student, please do not apply, you are automatically accepted. All other students from other departments should apply. Please only register for the course if you really intend to participate on all course dates (see course catalog). Please only register for the course if you are willing to send us a letter of motivation and really intend to participate; otherwise, you will deprive someone else of a place. All non-MIBS students who register go onto a waiting list until 11.09.2024 and up to 25 of them will be selected by the lecturer. To register: 1. Enroll before 05.09.2024. 2. Send a short letter of motivation (max. 300 words) and a 1-page CV to cea-course@ibi.baug.ethz.ch by 05.09.2024. Collaborators: Kunsthalle Zürich, ETH AI Center, Design++ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Competencies |
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Performance assessment
| Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again) | |
Performance assessment as a semester course | |
| ECTS credits | 8 credits |
| Examiners | C. De Wolf |
| Type | ungraded semester performance |
| Language of examination | English |
| Repetition | Repetition only possible after re-enrolling for the course unit. |
Learning materials
| No public learning materials available. | |
| Only public learning materials are listed. |
Groups
| No information on groups available. |
Restrictions
| Places | Limited number of places. Special selection procedure. |
| Waiting list | until 11.09.2024 |
| End of registration period | Registration only possible until 05.09.2024 |