The architecture studio HENN and the Technical University of Dresden (TU Dresden) have created the world’s first building made of carbon concrete, rethinking one of the contemporary essential – but at the same time very resource-intensive and polluting  – architectural materials: reinforced concrete. Centrally located on Fritz-Foerster-Platz, in the TU Dresden campus, with 243 square meters of laboratory and event spaces, “The CUBE” sets a significant precedent for architectural and structural innovation.

Carbon concrete, in fact, can drastically minimize resource consumption, as it can be up to four times lighter (because of the reduced structural sections) and four times stronger than regular concrete. Using this material could lead to more flexible construction processes while reducing CO2 emissions by up to 50%.

“The CUBE” is the result of a collaborative process involving Professor Manfred Curbach. his Institute for Solid Construction at the TU Dresden, and HENN. Its shape recalls the fluid, almost textile nature of carbon fibers, merging walls and ceilings in a continuous form, suggesting a future architecture characterized by environmentally-conscious design, formal freedom, and a radical rethinking of essential architectural elements.