Change

Life is change. Although many people would like to see as little change as possible, we can best feel the constant change in ourselves: we are getting older. And this shows that change can be positive - we become more experienced, have a greater overview, can recognize things more quickly, etc. - but that it can also have negative side effects, as we can see in our health in particular. It is up to us to ensure that the positive outweighs the negative.

Before it gets too personal, let's take a look at building. Even though construction has only seen minimal increases in efficiency over the last 30 years, our awareness has changed.

Let's take a look at the major issues of the 1990s: After reunification, there was an incredible demand for construction work: housing construction scaled unimagined heights in terms of quantity and speed (what tax write-offs can do ...) and in infrastructure, 17 major projects as part of the "German Unity Transport Projects" dominated the picture.

The topics are familiar to today's readers. This time, however, it is mainly the lack of housing and the almost desperate attempt to find ways to remedy this shortage in the shortest possible time. In the area of infrastructure, we are primarily concerned with the condition of an immense number of bridges and the equally desperate attempt to put an end to this situation, which is also endangering human lives.

It is immediately clear that our approach is also changing in view of this completely different situation. One thing is clear: "We should not expect things to change if we always do the same thing" (Albert Einstein). It was precisely with this motivation that the work of our Institute began 30 years ago.

Furthermore, it has become increasingly clear to what extent the construction industry contributes to climate change, so that in addition to the tasks mentioned above, we will have to build climate-neutrally and resource-efficiently in the future. However, as we cannot overcome all these challenges with the existing materials and methods (see quote above), we need to intensify research into new ideas and approaches.

For example, research in a niche area with textile-reinforced concrete has resulted in a widely applicable carbon concrete with_{CO2 savings of} over 75%. Or the extensive knowledge gained in the laboratory in measurement and testing was used to develop an application-ready and safety-enhancing monitoring technology. And knowledge-driven basic research - or in other words: pure curiosity - in the field of impact has resulted in an understanding of the behavior of concrete under high load velocities, which is suitable for making valuable contributions to the growing tasks in the field of civil protection.

The Institute of Concrete Structures will continue to work on new, sometimes completely new solutions in concrete construction in the future, and our thanks go to all our employees, whose ideas, creativity, commitment and technical expertise contribute significantly to the success of our work at the Institute.

We will continue to work together with all stakeholders in the construction industry and politics, because only together can we put all ideas into practice. All with the aim of mastering all challenges simultaneously: climate neutrality, resource efficiency, aesthetics, economy and safety.

This will only be possible in the future through constant change: Change in thinking, change in ideas, change in implementation, change in the people involved. In conclusion, everything is summarized by a poem by Goethe entitled One and All[1]:

It should stir, act creatively,
First form itself, then transform;
Only seemingly stand still for moments.
The eternal continues to stir in all:
For everything must decay into nothing,
If it wants to persevere in being.

Stay with us!

Manfred Curbach, Steffen Marx, Birgit Beckmann and Yvonne Ciupack

[1] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Complete Works in 18 Volumes, Volume 1: Complete Poems. Artemis, Zurich 1950, p. 514