Interior Architecture | HFT Hemp Building Symposium 2024

HFT Hemp Building Symposium 2024 | FORMAT FOR EXCHANGE AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER ON BUILDING WITH HEMP

On 11 and 12 October 2024, the "HFT Hemp Building Symposium" of the Interior Architecture program took place for the first time.

The two-day symposium presented the oldest cultivated plant in the world and was aimed at architects, interior designers, civil engineers and all those interested in the topic of “building with hemp”. Whether in combination with lime, clay, geopolymer or mushroom mycelium - the natural building material hemp combines a variety of properties. The focus of the symposium was on working with hemp hurds, with both basic and specialist knowledge being passed on. The design potential was demonstrated by lighthouse projects that have already been realized. Obstacles and challenges were discussed, and strategies for scaling up through the development of innovative processes were presented, such as the prefabrication of wooden elements with tamped hemp lime. After the theoretical discourse on the first day, the practical application of different construction methods was demonstrated on the second day.

The Hemp Building Symposium was organized by the Interior Design program at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Architecture and Design. The initiator was Prof. Jens Betha, who, as head of the laboratory for natural building materials, has been working on the topic for several years and collaborates with experts from Central Europe. The committee also consisted of Dipl.-Des. Melissa Acker and Patricia Klier M.A. in collaboration with hemp engineer Henrik Pauly M.Eng.

In the follow-up, the contents are now being prepared and made available to the public in a publication.

Many thanks to the Association of Friends of the HFT and all other project partners, volunteers and participating companies.

Further information: www.hanfbausymposium.hft-stuttgart.de

In the first theme block, an overview of the plant, its history and the hemp cultivation industry on an international and national level was given.

The second thematic block dealt with the introduction to various processing options for hemp lime: STAMPED - MADE - TESTED - PREFABRICATED.
This block served as a theoretical introduction to the practical part on Saturday afternoon.

In addition to lime as a binding agent, hemp hurds can also be combined with other materials. The most important ones were briefly explained in this block:
HEMP + CLAY / MYCELIUM / GEOPOLYMER.

In the last block of the symposium, the hemp cultivation methods explained the day before were demonstrated in practice:
RAMMED - MASONRY - SPRAYED - HEMP + MYCELIUM

The symposium offered companies, for example from the hemp building materials industry, the opportunity to present themselves and their products to the Stuttgart audience as part of an exhibition. There was also a product pitch as part of the program, in which 60 seconds were given each to present their company and products.

Also on display were acoustic elements made of hemp shives in combination with natural lime or geopolymer by third-semester students of the International Master of Interior-Architectural Design (imiad).
More information at www.hft-stuttgart.de/architektur-und-gestaltung/projekte/imiad-hanf-und-akustik

The symposium showed how important formats are for interdisciplinary dialogue and knowledge transfer between planners, experts, craftspeople and students. The aim is to create synergies and jointly develop innovations to make natural building materials suitable for mass use - for a more sustainable built environment.

A publication summarising the content of the hemp construction symposium is currently in the works. The publication is intended to disseminate knowledge on the topic of "Building with hemp" among students, planners, craftsmen, other experts, builders and other interested parties and thus make a small contribution to the building revolution.