About us

The construction industry currently focuses on downcycling building materials rather than on reusing components and elements. Saving resources in practice requires careful dismantling, removal, storage and reinstallation, which is reflected neither in common practice nor in standards and regulations.

We started the Library of Reuse to collect knowledge of how materials can be identified, removed, stored and reused to pursue more sustainable approaches to architecture, engineering and construction.

Barbara Buser

Barbara Buser, graduate architect SIA (Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects) ETH with an NDS (postgraduate studies) in Energy, has been working in the field of reuse in construction for almost 30 years.

She is considered a pioneer of the circular economy in the field of construction and real estate, where she has initiated and implemented various projects and been awarded numerous prizes.

Catherine De Wolf

Catherine De Wolf is Assistant Professor of Circular Engineering for Architecture (CEA) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich).

She leads research on digital innovation towards a circular and regenerative built environment. She has a background in civil engineering, architecture, and filmmaking.

Daniel Stockhammer

Daniel Stockhammer is Professor for Built Heritage & Circular Construction at the University of Liechtenstein and, together with Cornelia Faisst, heads the upcycling design studio.

As an architect and academic, he works towards the systematic analysis and redesign of the built environment as a repository of material and cultural resources.

Anna Buser

Anna Buser is a scientist at the Circular Engineering for Architecture (CEA) Lab at ETH Zurich as well as a social anthropologist and urbanist in Studio Buser.

She helps edit books and make films for the Library of Reuse. She also works for a company which accompanies construction reuse projects.

Jennifer Bartmess

Jennifer Bartmess is a scientific editor. She manages projects at gta Verlag, the publishing house for the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture at ETH Zurich.

She produces the podcast series of the Circular Engineering for Architecture (CEA) Lab at ETH Zurich.

How we started

The concept of the Library of Reuse took shape during Barbara Buser’s guest professorship at ETH Zurich. Students’ creative thinking and unconventional approaches to materials, elements, and implementations in her Studio Reuse sparked the idea.
We created the Library of Reuse to share knowledge accumulated through extensive application, research, deepening, and documentation with the public to propel reuse in the circular economy.
The Library of Reuse is a collaboration between Prof. Catherine De Wolf from the Circular Engineering for Architecture (CEA) lab at ETH Zurich, Barbara Buser from baubüro in situ and Daniel Stockhammer from the University of Liechtenstein. Anna Buser and Dr. Jennifer Bartmess from the CEA lab edit the content curated for the website.
We also collaborate with the Digital Circular Economy (DiCE) lab at ETH Zurich, which organises events on digitalisation for a circular economy.