He was a member of the Holcim Awards 2020 jury for Europe, and a member of the former Academic Committee of the Holcim Foundation. He was a workshop moderator for “Changing paradigms: Materials for a world not yet built” at the 6th Holcim Forum 2019, and a Workshop Mentor at the Norman Foster Foundation - Re-materializing Housing Workshop, supported by the Holcim Foundation.

Dirk E Hebel was Assistant Professor of Architecture & Construction and Director of the Master of Advanced Studies Program in Urban Design at the ETH Zurich (2012-17) and founding Scientific Director of the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture Building Construction & City Development (EiABC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2009-12). He was Visiting Critic, Cornell University (2017), Guest Lecturer, Princeton University (2017), Guest Professor, Syracuse University (2008) and Visiting Lecturer, American University of Sharjah (2005 & 2006).

He is co-founder and partner of 2hs Architekten und Ingenieur PartGmbB Hebel Heisel Schlesier, practicing architecture with a focus on resource-respectful construction methods and materials. He was also one of the founding partners of INSTANT Architects (2002-08).

He received one of the German Material Awards 2019, two Innovation Awards “Bauhaus 100 – Prototyping the Future” organized by the Federal German Government and German Industry in 2019, the New York Van Alen Institute Fellowship Award, the Red Dot Design Award for Best Conceptual Design, the SMART Innovation Grant Singapore, the JEC Asia Innovation Award, a ZUMTOBEL GROUP Award, the Suzanne Underwood Award for Best Design, and the LANXESS Award Singapore. He was also awarded the KIT Best Teaching Award, Department of Architecture, 2019.

Dirk E Hebel initiated an exchange program for both faculty and students between the Addis Ababa University (AAU) and the ETH Zurich, together with Franz Oswald and Marc Angélil. They organized study visits to Ethiopia, taking students to Lalibela, Gondar, Axum, Harer, Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa, and conducted workshops with different stakeholders in the field of the building industry including policy decision-making parties.

He obtained a Master of Architecture from the ETH Zurich (1998), and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University (2000). His publications include Cultivated building materials (Birkhäuser, 2017, with Felix Heisel), Building from waste: Recovered materials in architecture and construction (Birkhäuser, 2016, with Marta H Wisniewska and Felix Heisel), Cities of change: Addis Ababa, Deviations – an experiment in architectural design pedagogy to initiate a plea for a new type of architectural practice (Birkhäuser, 2008, with Marc Angélil), Bathroom unplugged (Birkhäuser, 2005, with Jörg Stollmann) and Addis Ababa: Manifesto on African Progress (Ruby Press, 2018).