What if construction waste were considered the result of a design error? Elma Durmisevic suggests that innovating adaptable, dynamic and innovative building systems would help create a circular value chain to prevent waste from ever being produced.

Durmisevic founded 4D Architects, a firm that focuses on transformable structures, design for disassembly and system development. She also founded the GTB Lab, the European Laboratory for Green Transformable Buildings in the Netherlands, and the Green Design Center in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Deepika Raghu a CEA postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, conducted the interview. Raghu works across the Circular Future Cities Lab Design++, and DiCE Lab, developing AI-driven tools and digital workflows for circular construction in diverse global contexts.

Learn more about GTB Lab, the European Laboratory for Green Transformable Buildings in the Netherlands:

https://www.gtb-lab.com

Read more about the Green Design Center in Mostar: https://www.bamb2020.eu/topics/pilot-cases-in-bamb/gdc/

Episode credits: 

Interview by Deepika Raghu. Produced and edited by Jennifer Bartmess. Special thanks to Thomas Stahel for his sound engineering expertise. Music by Coma Media. © Chair of Circular Engineering for Architecture at ETH Zurich