Wolf Hilbertz
Encyclopedia
Prof. Wolf Hartmut Hilbertz (April 16, 1938 – August 11, 2007) was a German
-born futurist architect
, inventor, and marine scientist.
, Germany
in 1938, the first child of Rudolf Hilbertz (1909–1995) and Erna Hilbertz, née Uslat (1906–2008). His parents had quite different personalities; whereas his father was artistic and inventive, thinking up one of the first electric razors, his mother had a more down to earth, practical approach. While his father would have liked to become an artist
, circumstances forced him to start working in a bank, whereas his mother enjoyed her occupation, channeling her forceful personality into her job as a school teacher.
After Wolf Hilbertz was born, the family moved to Ústí nad Labem / Aussig
in the Czech Republic
. When World War II
began, his father volunteered for the Wehrmacht
and became a member of the Brandenburger
special forces. Wolf's sister Uta was born in 1940. His father was badly wounded in Greece
in 1944 and fled from the Red Army
with his family towards the west in 1945.
As war refugees, he and his family settled in Detmold
, Germany in 1946. He attended the Gymnasium (secondary school) there, which he didn't complete. This would normally have precluded his attending a German university. However, after completing his compulsory military service, he went to Berlin
in 1959 and signed up for a high school equivalency entrance exam. He was one of the very few to earn a "pass". Thus he was able to attend the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, the Berlin University of the Arts, where he studied architecture. He married in 1961 in Berlin and, upon earning his architecture diploma in 1965, immigrated to New York
with his family in July of that year. 1966 he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan
, where he earned his Masters of Architecture at the University of Michigan
in 1967.
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
. Together with Phil Harding, he was able to achieve that an independent Architecture Department was set up. After several years there, he conceived and published the concept of Cybertecture. In 1970 he was taken onto the faculty of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas along with several other highly innovative new faculty by then-Dean Alan Y. Taniguchi (1969–1972).
At the University of Texas, he founded the Responsive Environments Laboratory, where he and his students developed and extended his thinking about the automated creation of the built environment. Within a very few years, he was tenured as a full professor for his work. After several years, the focus of the lab shifted to the construction of underwater structures by a method not unlike that used by living coral
s. The material produced has since become commonly known as seacrete or Biorock
.
Hilbertz' work was influenced by and influenced the work of such notables as Nicholas Negroponte
.
His academic affiliations as an environmental educator and researcher included Southern University, McGill University
, the University of the Arts Bremen
, and The University of Texas, where he also held an appointment as Sr. Research Scientist in Marine Sciences. He founded the Symbiotic Processes Laboratory (UT). Hilbertz formed and directed The Marine Resources Co., was a co-founder and Director of Biorock Inc., Vice President of Research of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, and founder and President of Sun & Sea e.V., a non profit NGO.
He published extensively on his R & D and lectured widely in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, conducting hands-on workshops. His work has been exhibited on several continents. He authored several US and international patent
s, the most environmentally important one together with Dr. Thomas Goreau
. In 1998 he and Thomas Goreau were awarded the Theodore M. Sperry Award for Pioneers and Innovators, the top award of the Society for Ecological Restoration.
Hilbertz laid down the foundation for the discipline of Cybertecture, emergent all-encompassing evolutionary environmental systems, and invented/developed the mineral accretion process in seawater. The development of Biorock Technology evolved from Goreau / Hilbertz cooperation in Jamaica
. The duo publicly introduced the notion and basic framework of a new profession: Seascape Architecture, a younger sister of the venerable design discipline aptly named Landscape Architecture
.
Installing, maintaining, and monitoring projects in many countries together with his partner of twenty years, Tom Goreau, and with the help of a host of dedicated associates, students, and volunteers, Hilbertz designed and implemented seascaping projects focusing on coral
conservation
/ fish habitat
, mariculture
, and erosion control
. Whenever possible, this was done with direct local government or community involvement and participation. Production of building materials and components, metals, minerals and gases from seawater, direct or indirect solar energy conversion, sustainable brine utilization and model seacology artificial/natural islands like the Autopia Saya
Project in the Indian Ocean
initiated in 1997, are ongoing projects and concerns, continuing after his death. His work is being continued by his longtime partner Dr. Thomas Goreau.
. He was survived by his mother († 2008), sister, his wife and two ex-wives, and five children; two sons and three daughters. The urn with his ashes was buried at the cemetery "Städtischer Friedhof Wilmersdorf" in Berlin.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-born futurist architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, inventor, and marine scientist.
Youth and schooling
Wolf Hilbertz was born in GüterslohGütersloh
Gütersloh is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in the area of Westphalia and the administrative region of Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a district of the same name and has a population of 96,320 people.- Geography :...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1938, the first child of Rudolf Hilbertz (1909–1995) and Erna Hilbertz, née Uslat (1906–2008). His parents had quite different personalities; whereas his father was artistic and inventive, thinking up one of the first electric razors, his mother had a more down to earth, practical approach. While his father would have liked to become an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, circumstances forced him to start working in a bank, whereas his mother enjoyed her occupation, channeling her forceful personality into her job as a school teacher.
After Wolf Hilbertz was born, the family moved to Ústí nad Labem / Aussig
Ústí nad Labem
Ústí nad Labem is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Ústí nad Labem Region. The city is the 7th-most populous in the country.Ústí is situated in a mountainous district at the confluence of the Bílina and the Elbe Rivers, and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction...
in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began, his father volunteered for the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and became a member of the Brandenburger
Brandenburgers
The Brandenburgers were members of the Brandenburg German Special Forces unit during World War II.Units of Brandenburgers operated in almost all fronts - the invasion of Poland, Denmark and Norway, in the Battle of France, in Operation Barbarossa, in Finland, Greece and the invasion of Crete,...
special forces. Wolf's sister Uta was born in 1940. His father was badly wounded in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 1944 and fled from the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
with his family towards the west in 1945.
As war refugees, he and his family settled in Detmold
Detmold
Detmold is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of about 74,000. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947...
, Germany in 1946. He attended the Gymnasium (secondary school) there, which he didn't complete. This would normally have precluded his attending a German university. However, after completing his compulsory military service, he went to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1959 and signed up for a high school equivalency entrance exam. He was one of the very few to earn a "pass". Thus he was able to attend the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, the Berlin University of the Arts, where he studied architecture. He married in 1961 in Berlin and, upon earning his architecture diploma in 1965, immigrated to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with his family in July of that year. 1966 he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, where he earned his Masters of Architecture at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in 1967.
Professional career
Hilbertz worked in architects' offices in Berlin, New York, and Detroit. His first teaching position was in 1967 as an Assistant Professor at Southern UniversitySouthern University
Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Baton Rouge campus is located on Scott’s Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the northern section...
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Together with Phil Harding, he was able to achieve that an independent Architecture Department was set up. After several years there, he conceived and published the concept of Cybertecture. In 1970 he was taken onto the faculty of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas along with several other highly innovative new faculty by then-Dean Alan Y. Taniguchi (1969–1972).
At the University of Texas, he founded the Responsive Environments Laboratory, where he and his students developed and extended his thinking about the automated creation of the built environment. Within a very few years, he was tenured as a full professor for his work. After several years, the focus of the lab shifted to the construction of underwater structures by a method not unlike that used by living coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
s. The material produced has since become commonly known as seacrete or Biorock
Biorock
Biorock, also known as Seacrete, is a substance formed by electro-accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater. The building process, popularly called accretion, is not to be confused with Biorock sewage treatment...
.
Hilbertz' work was influenced by and influenced the work of such notables as Nicholas Negroponte
Nicholas Negroponte
Nicholas Negroponte is an American architect best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also known as the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association ....
.
His academic affiliations as an environmental educator and researcher included Southern University, McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, the University of the Arts Bremen
University of the Arts Bremen
The University of the Arts Bremen is a publicly funded university in Bremen, Germany and one of the most successful ones whose roots in music, arts and design date back to 1873...
, and The University of Texas, where he also held an appointment as Sr. Research Scientist in Marine Sciences. He founded the Symbiotic Processes Laboratory (UT). Hilbertz formed and directed The Marine Resources Co., was a co-founder and Director of Biorock Inc., Vice President of Research of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, and founder and President of Sun & Sea e.V., a non profit NGO.
He published extensively on his R & D and lectured widely in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, conducting hands-on workshops. His work has been exhibited on several continents. He authored several US and international patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s, the most environmentally important one together with Dr. Thomas Goreau
Thomas J. Goreau
Thomas J. Goreau is a biogeochemist and marine biologist; son of Thomas F. Goreau and Nora I. Goreau.After studying in Jamaican primary and secondary schools, he earned degrees in planetary physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in planetary astronomy at the California Institute of...
. In 1998 he and Thomas Goreau were awarded the Theodore M. Sperry Award for Pioneers and Innovators, the top award of the Society for Ecological Restoration.
Hilbertz laid down the foundation for the discipline of Cybertecture, emergent all-encompassing evolutionary environmental systems, and invented/developed the mineral accretion process in seawater. The development of Biorock Technology evolved from Goreau / Hilbertz cooperation in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. The duo publicly introduced the notion and basic framework of a new profession: Seascape Architecture, a younger sister of the venerable design discipline aptly named Landscape Architecture
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
.
Installing, maintaining, and monitoring projects in many countries together with his partner of twenty years, Tom Goreau, and with the help of a host of dedicated associates, students, and volunteers, Hilbertz designed and implemented seascaping projects focusing on coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
conservation
Habitat conservation
Habitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range...
/ fish habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
, mariculture
Mariculture
Mariculture is a specialized branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other products in the open ocean, an enclosed section of the ocean, or in tanks, ponds or raceways which are filled with seawater. An example of the latter is the farming of marine fish,...
, and erosion control
Erosion control
Erosion control is the practice of preventing or controlling wind or water erosion in agriculture, land development and construction. Effective erosion controls are important techniques in preventing water pollution and soil loss.-Introduction:...
. Whenever possible, this was done with direct local government or community involvement and participation. Production of building materials and components, metals, minerals and gases from seawater, direct or indirect solar energy conversion, sustainable brine utilization and model seacology artificial/natural islands like the Autopia Saya
Saya de Malha Bank
The Saya de Malha Bank is the largest submerged bank in the World, part of the vast undersea Mascarene Plateau...
Project in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
initiated in 1997, are ongoing projects and concerns, continuing after his death. His work is being continued by his longtime partner Dr. Thomas Goreau.
Death and family
After suffering what were initially diagnosed as stomach problems in the spring and summer of 2007, he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer at the end of July. He died August 11, 2007 in MunichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. He was survived by his mother († 2008), sister, his wife and two ex-wives, and five children; two sons and three daughters. The urn with his ashes was buried at the cemetery "Städtischer Friedhof Wilmersdorf" in Berlin.
Published works
- Toward Cybertecture, in: Progressive Architecture, May 1970
- Marine architecture: an alternative, in: Arch. Sci. Rev., 1976
- Mineral accretion technology: applications for architecture and aquaculture with D. Fletcher und C. Krausse, Industrial Forum, 1977
- Building Environments That Grow, in: The Futurist (June 1977): 148-49
- Electrodeposition of Minerals in Sea Water: Experiments and Applications, in: IEEE Journal on Oceanic Engineering, Vol. OE-4, No. 3, pp. 94–113, 1979
- Solar-generated construction material from sea water to mitigate global warming, in: Building Research & Information, Volume 19, Issue 4 July 1991, pages 242 - 255
- Solar-generated building material from seawater as a sink for carbon, Ambio 1992
External links
- WolfHilbertz.com: website with downloads of his articles
- Biorock.net: website about Biorock and accretion as developed by Wolf Hilbertz and Thomas Goreau
- GlobalCoral.org: photo gallery of the Pemuteran project
- Biorock-Workshop.org: website about Biorock workshops
- Growing a beach in the Maldives, authors Abdul Azeez Abdul Hakeem, Wolf H. Hilbertz, and Thomas J. Goreau
- Aquaculture & Coral Reef Restoration - Pacific Aquaculture Cooperatives International, Sept. 21, 2007
- About.com inventors: Wolf Hilbertz - Sea-cretion
- Ocean-Grown Homes: Wolf Hilbertz Wants To Build Low-Cost Housing From The Sea, Popular Mechanics - September 1997
- Projekt einer künstlichen Insel im Indischen Ozean - Oktober 2003
- artificial coral reef project in Pemteran Bay, Bali
- plan of the Saya de Malha bank
- US Patent Nr. 5,543,034 from 1996
- The Electrodeposition of Minerals in Sea Water for the Construction and Maintenance of Artificial Reefs, 1979
