Wolf Hartmut Hilbertz (April 16, 1938 – August 11, 2007) was a German-born visionary architect, inventor, and marine scientist. He made important contributions to science by discovering a method called artificial mineral accretion, also known as biorock. This process uses electricity to pull in materials naturally found in seawater to create artificial reefs and other structures.

Personal life

Wolf Hilbertz was born in Gütersloh, Germany, in 1938. He was the first child of Rudolf Hilbertz (1909–1995) and Erna Hilbertz, née Uslat (1906–2008). His parents had very different personalities. His father was creative and imaginative, inventing one of the first electric razors. His mother was more practical and realistic. His father wanted to become an artist but had to work in a bank because of life circumstances. His mother enjoyed her job as a school teacher and used her strong personality to do well in her work.

After Wolf was born, the family moved to Ústí nad Labem / Aussig in the Czech Republic. When World War II began, his father volunteered to join the Wehrmacht, a German military group, and became part of the Brandenburger special forces. Wolf’s sister, Uta, was born in 1940. His father was seriously injured in Greece in 1944 and fled with his family from the Red Army toward the west in 1945.

As war refugees, Wolf and his family settled in Detmold, Germany, in 1946. He attended a secondary school there but did not complete his studies. Normally, this would have prevented him from attending a German university. However, after completing his required military service, he went to Berlin in 1959 and took a test to prove he had the same knowledge as a high school graduate. He was one of the few people to pass this test. This allowed him to attend the Berlin University of the Arts, where he studied architecture.

In December 1962, he married Regina Piper in Berlin. After earning his architecture diploma in 1965, he moved to New York City with his family in July of that year. In 1966, he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he earned his Master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Michigan in 1967.

In the spring and summer of 2007, Wolf experienced health problems that were initially thought to be stomach-related. He was later diagnosed with terminal lung cancer at the end of July 2007. He died on August 11, 2007, in Munich. He was survived by his mother (who died in 2008), his sister, his wife, two ex-wives, and five children: two sons and three daughters. His ashes were buried at the "Städtischer Friedhof Wilmersdorf" cemetery in Berlin.

Professional career

Hilbertz worked in architects' offices in Berlin, New York, and Detroit. His first teaching job was in 1967 as an assistant professor at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. With Phil Harding, he started a new Architecture Department at the university. After working there for several years, he developed and shared the idea of Cybertecture.

In 1970, he joined the School of Architecture at the University of Texas, along with other creative faculty members, under the leadership of Dean Alan Y. Taniguchi (1969–1972). At the University of Texas, he created the Responsive Environments Laboratory, where he and his students explored using technology to build structures. Within a few years, he earned a full professor position for his work. Later, the lab focused on building underwater structures using a method similar to how living corals grow. The material made this way is now called accretion, seacrete, or biorock.

Hilbertz’s work was influenced by and also influenced the work of Nicholas Negroponte. Important students and colleagues included Joe Mathis, Bob Swaffar, Gene Lucas, Geoffrey Wright, Forrest Higgs, Frances Carvey, Eric Vanderzee, Ed Seiber, Dr. Thomas J. Goreau, Frank Gutzeit, and Ari Spenhoff.

Hilbertz helped create the field of Cybertecture and the study of evolutionary environmental systems. He invented the artificial mineral accretion process in seawater in 1976. During the 1970s, he focused more on refining this process. By the early 1980s, accretion became his main work. In the late 1980s, he partnered with Dr. Thomas J. Goreau to build and monitor accretion/biorock projects in many countries.

He wrote many books and papers about his research. He gave talks and taught classes in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and led hands-on workshops. His work has been shown in exhibitions on several continents. He held several patents in the United States and internationally. In 1998, he and Dr. Thomas Goreau received the Theodore M. Sperry Award for Pioneers and Innovators, the highest honor given by the Society for Ecological Restoration.

With the help of colleagues, students, and volunteers, Hilbertz designed and built projects that helped protect coral reefs, support fish habitats, grow sea life, and control erosion. These projects often involved local governments or communities. Ongoing efforts included making building materials, metals, minerals, and gases from seawater, using solar energy, and creating artificial islands like Autopia Saya. The Autopia Saya Project in the Indian Ocean began in 1997 and continued until 2002. After his death, work on accretion projects continued.

His academic roles included teaching and research at Southern University, McGill University, the University of the Arts Bremen, and the University of Texas, where he also worked as a Senior Research Scientist in Marine Sciences. He founded the Symbiotic Processes Laboratory at the University of Texas. Hilbertz started and led The Marine Resources Co., co-founded and directed Biorock Inc., and founded and led Sun & Sea e.V., a non-profit organization.