ETH wunderkind founds start-up
Gnanli Landrou grew up in a clay building in Togo and only went to school at the age of 16. Today he is a star at ETH and has founded a start-up for ecological concrete. Read his unusual story here.
The 31-year-old ETH researcher Gnanli Landrou grew up in Togo, West Africa. He came to France at the age of 16 and went to school there for the first time. In the meantime, he has made the leap to Switzerland and become a young entrepreneur.
Fascinating story
Born into the Kabiyé people of northern Togo, Gnanli Landrou grew up in a big family. But at a young age already he was sent to his uncle, a migrant worker, who offered his services together with others of the local population. While the adults of the group helped with sowing, harvesting or building mud houses, Gnanli Landrou brought the elderly water, food or was entrusted with carrying bricks. There were no school lessons as we know them: Gnanli Landrou learned from the elders. His experience with clay buildings helps him today as a young entrepreneur.
Live in Switzerland
At the age of 16 his family enabled Gnanli Landrou to travel to France. It was his host family who sent him to school for the first time. In only two years he managed to master the school material for the Baccalauréat, the French Matura. After studying materials science in western France, Gnanli Landrou finally came to Switzerland for his doctorate. Gnanli Landrou was awarded the ETH Medal in 2018 for his dissertation at the Chair for Sustainable Building at ETH Zurich under the supervision of Guillaume Habert.
Oxara – sustainable concrete
Together with his business partner Thibault Demoulin, Gnanli Landrou founded the startup Oxara. The environmental start-up produces a cement-free building material for the construction of houses, which is more environmentally friendly and cheaper than concrete. Conventional concrete is made from cement, which is energy-intensive to produce, and the limited raw materials gravel and sand. Oxara’s earth concrete, on the other hand, uses excavated material that would otherwise end up in the landfill. This special concrete hardens within 24 to 48 hours and is suitable for non-load-bearing elements in houses with up to three stories. The Oxara earth concrete is currently being tested in various pilot projects. The application potential for the eco-concrete is enormous in both developed and developing countries.
Source: NZZ am Sonntag from 18.07.2020
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