Block Course Grounded Materials

Grounded Materials will develop sustainable building materials by disrupting current teaching in two fundamental ways. First instead of studying each material separately we will combine them in creative and unexpected ways - we call this trans-material. Secondly, we will work with selected stakeholders to ground construction materials in a societal context - we call this trans-disciplinary.

Overview
Teaching of the block course "Grounded Materials" brings together the knowledge of the chair of Sustainable Construction (SC), the Transdisciplinarity Lab (TdLab) and Atelier Matières à Construire (Amàco) through trans-material and trans-disciplinary approaches. Students receive input, do experiments and workshops to develop skills in materials, creating materials, construction with materials and the relationship of materials to stakeholders and their role in the construction industry. The aim is to convey a holistic approach to materials teaching and their role for sustainable development.

"Grounded Materials" is built on two pillars: 
Teaching Trans-Material
Instead of teaching wood, steel and concrete we teach the constituting matter of all materials like fibres, grains and binders across different materials. Materials thus can be differently reconstituted, e.g. through a locally specific or available assembly of matter.
Together with experts on material sciences, students will experiment with materials and their physical properties. Concrete is made of grains and a binder. However, the physical properties that allows to improve strength properties through packing optimisation in concrete can also be used to other contexts such as for instance desert sand, earth and all sort of urban waste. Similar attitudes considering fibres or binding agent allows a true trans-material approach.

Teaching Trans-Disciplinary
In addition to the environmental considerations, future engineers and architects have to consider increasingly complex societal context. "Grounded Materials" considers construction materials, and potential future materials in relation to their societal impact and in negotiation with selected stakeholders in this field (producers, users, developers, owners,...).
Together with experts, "Grounded Materials" will provide a forum for students to explore materials in dialog with stakeholders from the construction sector considering social and environmental constraints. Sustainable construction materials will be grounded in discussion between students, scientists, builders and producers to enable addressing emergent issues related to society and the environment.

Proceedings
In the first five days students will be exposed to basic trans-material and trans-disciplinary principles. This will allow them to frame the problem at stake and fix key parameters and constraints for the development of a new sustainable material. 
The experimental lectures will showcase materials science through a series of innovative, and at times counterintuitive experiments. Here physical phenomena are presented through simple sensitive experiments. Creative sessions will allow students to freely explore various ideas for innovative materials design. 
In terms of trans-disciplinary teaching, students will also be guided through three different activities during which they will engage with stakeholders, site visits, consultation and co-creation activities. 
In addition to the trans-material, and trans-disciplinary teaching, students will receive a series of inputs, in the form of introductory lectures on the societal and environmental challenges facing the built environment.

In the second part of course, the students will work collaboratively on the challenge of developing a grounded material that responds to specific constraints and parameters. The students will receive guidance, through departmental tutors, material experts, and interactions with stakeholders during these work sessions. 

Design Thinking
Grounded Materials establishes a bridge between sustainable construction materials and stakeholders. The Design Thinking approach enables the students to formulate and design not only sustainable construction materials but iteratively define the stakeholder needs and combine them with sustainable construction materials. Design Thinking is a process to identify challenges and design solutions and pathways to overcome them. This process benefits from the very interdisciplinary set up with students from different departments at ETH Zürich and diverse sets of knowledge.

Grounded Materials is open for Master students from ETH Zürich.

Applicants need to have a strong interest in the topic of sustainability, construction materials and stakeholder considerations. Grounded Materials seeks an interdisciplinary set up and a balanced mix of participants from various demaprtments, including but not limited to:

• D-BAUG; Deptarment of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering
• D-ARCH; Department of Architecture
• D-USYS; Department of Environmental Systems Science
• D-MATL; Department of Materials
• D-GESS; Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (limited to Science, Technology and Policy MSc)

A high level of proficiency in written and spoken English is required. Active participation throughout the programme is expected and applicants will be selected based on their academic record, previous work experience as well as their commitment to research for sustainability.

Active presence and participation during the course and oral presentation of the projects at the end of the course. Assessment on:

• The link between the proposed solution and the identified mission statement.
• The quality of the project
• The translation of the knowledge taught during the course in the final project

Students interested in participating in Grounded Materials have to sign up to myStudies by May 13th 2017 and send us an email explaining us your motivation in participating in Grounded Materials (approx. 500 words). Contact Sasha Cisar via: 

We look forward to welcome you to Grounded Materials 2017!

Active presence and participation during the course and oral presentation of the projects at the end of the course. Assessment on: - the link between the proposed solution and the identified mission statement. - the quality of the project - the translation of the knowledge taught during the course in the final project.

ETH Zürich accredits successful completion of the course with 4 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credit points.

Further Information:
- Chair of Sustainable Construction, Prof. Dr. Guillaume Habert (Host), Dr. Coralie Brumaud and Sasha Cisar, http://www.ibi.ethz.ch/sc/
- D-USYS TdLAB, http://www.tdlab.usys.ethz.ch/
- Atelier Matières à Construire (Amàco), external page http://www.amaco.org/

Grounded Materials is coordinated by Sasha Cisar, please send all inquiries to him via: 

Grounded Materials 2017 takes place between July 4th – 14th at the ETH Zürich Campus Hönggerberg.

Information in the ETH Course Catalog: Link (101-0588-02L)