ETH Zurich students dismantle buildings and reuse materials in Zürich, Switzerland; shown at Kunsthalle Zürich and Venice Biennale

ETH Zurich students dismantle buildings and reuse materials in Zürich, Switzerland; shown at Kunsthalle Zürich and Venice Biennale

Students breathe new life into old building materials | ETH Zurich

Students breathe new life into old building materials

Students at ETH Zurich dismantle buildings, catalogue their materials and use them to develop new construction projects. In a course held directly on the building site, they learn how to put the circular economy and digital tools into practice in real-world projects.

The course entitled “Digital Creativity for Circular Construction” combines architecture, engineering and computer science. Teams work on real-life projects for actual users.

With the aid of digital tools, such as laser scanning, artificial intelligence and extended reality, students design new structures using old materials.

The students’ work has been showcased at the Kunsthalle Zürich, the Art Genève fair and the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Students stand on demolition sites where old buildings such as an old sports hall or clinic once stood. They scan the shape of timber beams using a laser scanner, catalogue window frames or measure steel girders. Here, what would normally end up in a landfill becomes the starting point for a new design. For many of the students, this is a novel approach: “We started with a diverse stock of materials and had to adapt our designs to it – a new and challenging way of doing things,” says student Carole Allenbach.

In the ETH teaching project “Digital Creativity for Circular Construction”, students study how building materials can be effectively reused. Each year, they focus on a building set for demolition, which is carefully dismantled, inventoried or redesigned in collaboration with industry partners. The resulting structures have appeared in contexts such as Kunsthalle Zürich, Art Genève and the Venice Architecture Biennale, and were later put to use by clients and local users.

The course was developed by Professor Catherine De Wolf and is open not only to students from engineering but also from disciplines such as architecture and computer science. De Wolf is a researcher in circular engineering for architecture at ETH Zurich. She has been nominated for the KITE Award 2026 for her dedication and commitment to teaching and for developing this hands-on course format. She is one of three finalists for this year’s award.

The course is project-based. For a semester, students work on a real-world building project. Each week starts with brief input from lecturers or external experts. The students then put what they’ve learned into practice, by actively participating in building sites through hands-on sessions and construction work.

Students spend around 70 percent of their time on practical work. They learn how materials from existing buildings can be carefully disassembled, digitally documented, integrated into new designs and finally implemented. At the same time, they discuss the environmental and economic challenges of the circular economy in construction.

Digital tools for new construction processes

The use of digital technologies is a core element of the course. Students use techniques such as Lidar scanning, photogrammetry and 3D modelling to capture information about existing buildings. “Every lecture introduced us to a different technology, from blockchain to human-robot collaboration,” says Allenbach. Using computer vision and generative AI, they analyse materials and develop designs for new structures.

Extended reality, such as virtual reality headsets are also used. This allows the teams to visualise and test their designs before going on to produce them using digital manufacturing tools such as CNC machines. Many of these digital technologies are continuously developed in the research group and then incorporated directly in teaching. The digital tools help students plan and reuse existing building components with accuracy and precision.

Interdisciplinary collaboration is a key part of the course. Students from different departments work together in teams. This mix is designed to help them view complex challenges from different perspectives.

The projects often involve real clients and are developed in collaboration with external partners, such as architecture firms, construction companies and art institutions. For example, students developed playground structures from reused materials from a sports hall they disassembled. These playgrounds were initially exhibited at the Kunsthalle Zürich before being constructed and used at a daycare centre. Other projects developed open-air lecture and meeting spaces that were later used as a wedding venue, for community events, or as a communal garden. Experts from industry and politics provide feedback on the designs, helping students learn to present their ideas to different target groups and respond to comments and criticism.

These sorts of projects entail additional challenges as materials are not always available in the desired quantity or form. The teams, therefore, have to consistently adapt their designs. This process teaches them project management and stakeholder interaction in real-life conditions.

The construction sector generates large quantities of waste and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The circular economy is therefore an important approach to saving resources and to extending the lifecycle of materials. The ETH course aims to prepare students to help shape these changes.

Besides technical expertise, they acquire skills in management, communication and interdisciplinary teamwork. By deconstructing a building and using the materials to create something new, they gain direct insight into how sustainable construction can be implemented in practice – not only in theory, but directly on-site.

Innovation in Learning and Teaching Fair

The KITE Awards ceremony will take place on 6 May as part of the thirdLearning and Teaching Fair 2026. The event is an opportunity for ETH lecturers to showcase and discuss innovative teaching projects and ideas at a large exhibition in the main hall.

The KITE Award is granted in recognition of teaching projects that are innovative, effective and have a long-term impact – in other words, that build lasting skills. They should also have the potential to be carried over to other disciplines and fields. The KITE Award 2026 focuses on innovative teaching formats that actively involve students, encourage engagement, demonstrably enable effective and reflective learning and can be sustained across other teaching contexts.