“Three key philosophies drive my teaching: the common language between architecture and engineering, hands-on project-based learning, and bringing industry leaders into the classroom.”
Classes at ETH Zurich
Digital Transformation for Circular Construction - Spring 2023
This course will teach students from different disciplines how to use digital technologies and innovation that enable the transition from a linear to a circular model in the built environment, through the case study of the reuse of the Huber pavilions on campus.
Digitalization for Circular Construction - Summer 2022
Students in civil engineering, architecture, computer science, and environmental engineering learned how to use digital technologies to upscale reuse in a hands-on course in which students disassembled an entire building to redesign a dome on campus.
Master and Bachelor Thesis Supervision - 2021, 2022, 2023
Thesis topics vary from machine learning for reuse to drone imagery and LiDAR scanning for digitisation of the existing building stock. All topics are related to technologies for a circular built environment, whether they are digital or nature-based.
Previous Classes
Constructive Second Hand - EPFL
As a co-instructor with Corentin Fivet, Jan Brütting, and Pierre Mariotte, Catherine De Wolf taught bachelor students in civil engineering, architecture, and environmental engineering how to reuse waste materials to make new structures and assess the impact of their products.
Building Design Circular economy - EPFL
As a co-instructor with Corentin Fivet, Catherine De Wolf taught EPFL master students the concept of circular economy and its applications to building design, with a focus on design for disassembly, reuse, and life-cycle assessment (LCA).
Interactive Design - Nanjing University
Catherine De Wolf introduced students at Nanjing University to structural interactive design, with a focus on implementing circular economy principles in a design studio with an emphasis on learning by doing and on working in teams.