Rena Giesecke
Program Engagement Manager, Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, Switzerland
Last updated: January 17, 2024
Rena Giesecke (Dr. sc. ETH Zurich) is Program Engagement Manager at the Holcim Foundation. She manages outreach and relationships with the Foundation’s global network of partner universities, and leads the design and implementation of a dynamic program of thought leadership activities for sustainable construction.
Before joining the Holcim Foundation, Rena was an ITA Doctoral Fellow at the Chair of Digital Building Technologies at ETH Zurich where she developed innovative solutions within the field of emerging additive manufacturing and digital technologies for construction.
Rena holds a Master of Architecture and a Doctor of Sciences from ETH Zurich. She studied architecture in Germany, Austria and Japan, and worked in a number of international offices. Her research at the Chair of Digital Building Technologies included digital construction methods for concrete slabs and glass facades, culminating in her thesis Digital Materiality of Glass Architecture: Additive Manufacturing of Three-dimensional Polychromatic Float Glass.
Besides architectural design and engineering, her expertise includes research with industry partners, teaching and project management from concept and technology development to implementation, and scientific publication.
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Holcim Foundation and ULI New York hosted a sold-out event on “Decarbonization at Scale”
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Holcim Awards Webinars look at transforming neighborhoods with hyper-localized approaches from Egypt and Canada
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Liz Minné discusses a range of innovative strategies that redefine our expectations of flooring.
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Holcim Awards Webinars look at sustainable design on campus with winners from Singapore and the USA
Green Campus Blueprints: Crafting Net-Zero Architecture
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Holcim Awards winning project delivers urban renewal in the city of Dhaka
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The delicate balance between heritage and innovation, and the nuances of urban and rural development
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Decarbonization at Scale: New York City, USA - August 5-16, 2024
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Holcim Awards Webinars continue with winners from the USA and Vietnam
Industrial Architecture: Prioritizing Efficiency and Well-Being
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Exemplary designs at the forefront of sustainable architecture
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Paul Finch, World Architecture Festival: The tastemaker
London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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Banking on symbiotic nature-based solutions
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Preserving a treasure trove of heritage and culture
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Measuring value from a sustainability perspective
Ambrish Arora, Studio Lotus: The reflective practitioner
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Hanoi breathes new life into eroded island landscape
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Groundbreaking hub set in biophilic environment
Ankara’s Eco-Techno Park is a green oasis for business
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Transform the community first
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Modular architecture that is net positive
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Municipality of Minalin, Central Luzon, Philippines
The strategy and the application of sustainability is very different in every situation
Tatiana Bilbao: The architect of care
Mexico City, Mexico
Next Generation Ambassadors explores architectural transformation
Maternity and community health center project now underway
Nkweshoo, Tanzania
Construction of environmental, cultural, and social hub continues in East Jerusalem
Collaborative design supports social reconstruction
East Jerusalem, Palestine
A design approach marked by an emphais on place
Benny Kuriakose: The vernacularist
Chennai, India
Examples from design and the built environment
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Rotterdam, Netherlands
The first global flooring manufacturer to sell all its products as carbon neutral across their full life cycle
Nigel Stansfield, Interface: The flooring innovators
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
We need a transformational shift of the way we work, the goals we set, the processes we deploy
Maria Atkinson AM: The sustainability whisperer
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Hybrid event on building preservation in Indonesia set for August 26
Next Generation Ambassadors to host workshop on vernacular architecture
Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
Paradigm-shifting strategies on how to transform the energy sector
Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute: The energy guru
Boulder, Colorado, USA
Documentary explores the unique architecture of the riverine communities in Brazil
Life on the Amazon Waters
Manaus, State of Amazonas, Brazil
Restoring the water cycle in the built environment
Building with water
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Holcim Awards jury meetings underway to uncover the most exemplary projects in sustainable design
“A unique opportunity to spotlight a healthier, more sustainable tomorrow” – Belinda Tato
Zürich, Switzerland
Stage one of the Holcim Awards winning urban flood protection infrastructure project completed in New York City
First phase of Manhattan’s climate resiliency project opens
New York City, USA
Research in Practice Grant recipients publish research on creating renewable energy infrastructure in Patagonia, Argentina
Creating public discourse on the role of infrastructure in the age of climate change
Punta Loyola, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina
The new generation of nature-based 3D printed artificial reefs
Coastruction: Bio-active constructions for reef recovery
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Urban design responds to road-related deaths: Africa’s leading cause of youth mortality
Designing safer pathways for the most vulnerable road users
Kampala, Uganda
Holcim Awards winning design displays the big impact of extending building life and thinking long-term
An artful approach to sustainability
Culver City, California, USA
Challenging traditional ways of material sourcing by putting the reuse of building elements at the forefront of construction
Beyond recycling: Why reuse is vital for resilience and regeneration
Zurich, Switzerland
Creating a toolkit for delivering sustainable urban growth
A new role for architectural design in improvised settlements
Cairo, Egypt
Introducing the Next Generation Ambassador projects
Clinic of Care
Zurich, Switzerland
The Wildgarten urban master plan encouraging diversity and sustainability has been completed in Vienna
Sowing the seeds for urban vitality
Vienna, Austria
Anton Savov on using digital tools to provide customized housing solutions for urban densification
7DayHouse: Fabrication-aware generative design
Zurich, Switzerland
Entry phase wrapped up on April 6
Enthusiastic response to return of Holcim Awards competition
Zürich, Switzerland
Ammar Mirjan on robotic rebar solutions create concrete structures that save on materials, emissions and waste at the Holcim Foundation Sounding Board
Digital rebar: An opportunity for material-efficient construction
Zurich, Switzerland
Submit your project by March 30 2023
One month left to enter the Holcim Awards 2023
Zürich, Switzerland
2023 competition opens for entries
Tatiana Bilbao, Craig Dykers, Lesley Lokko, Manit Rastogi, and Belinda Tato to chair the Holcim Awards 2023 juries
Zürich, Switzerland
Get ready to share your sustainable design
Holcim Awards competition launches this February
Zurich, Switzerland
End of Year Message from Laura Viscovich, Executive Director
Re-imagining the Holcim Foundation
Zürich, Switzerland
Circularity 2022
Holcim Foundation Board members participate in built environment session
Sydney, Australia
Cities: Affordable Housing
Holcim Foundation teams up for workshop with Norman Foster Foundation
Madrid, Spain
Holcim Awards Next Generation winners from The Americas celebrated in Córdoba
Inspiring young professionals to lead the transformation of the building sector
Córdoba, Argentina
A participatory project in Cabo Verde is rebuilding a community on the edge of new lava flows
Sustainable reconstruction in the shadow of a volcano
Cha das Caldeiras, Cabo Verde
Next Generation Awards Lab celebrates new ideas in sustainable construction
A launchpad for what architecture could be
Lausanne, Switzerland