Arab World Architecture Events Part of Shubbak: A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture, Presented by the Mayor of London, Sponsored by HSBC
Public Domain Public Spaces in the Arab World 12 July - 24 September 2011 Capturing a region in transition politically, socially and economically, Public Domain showcases daily life and contemporary culture in the Arab world through a selection of narratives by architects, photographers, writers and commissioned photojournalists. Public Domain provides a cross section of public life in the Arab world – the spaces outside of the private home where people meet, shop, play, pray, exchange ideas, demonstrate and celebrate.
Exhibitions
Contributors were asked a series of basic questions: what spaces are used, how they are used, who is using them and why. With revolutions taking place in the streets and public squares across the region, this exhibition is a collection of perspectives on public and civic life.
Contributors: Aedas Architects, AGI Architects, Asterios Agkathidis, Yves Atalla, Iwan Baan, Dana Ballout, Philip Cheung, Contrast Designs, Carole Corm, Nader Daoud, Foster & Partners, Zacarias Garcia, Katrin Greiling, George Haddad, Roland Halbe, Independent Architects, Denna Jones, Sghaier Khaled, Adham Khorshed, Charlie Koolhaas, Amine Landoulsi, Lebanon Would Be Better (Sherif Maktabi), Lutfi Lokman, Melany Markham, Thomas Modeen, Tom Morgan, Mossessian & Partners, Multitude Agency (Abdulatif Almishari, Ricardo Camacho, Miguel Costa, Pedro Duarte Bento & Sara Saragoça Soares), Farah Nosh, Maggie Osama, Palestine Regeneration Team (Murray Fraser, Nasser Golzari, Clare-Ann Hamel-Smith, & Yara Sharif), Jamal Penjweny, Silvia Razgova, Lina Abou Reslan, Shopopolis (Delfina Foundation & Public Works), tareeq (Sandra Hiari), Issa Touma, Tanya Traboulsi, X-Architects, VCU Qatar, Nigel Young, Camille Zakharia, and Elisabetta Zavoli.
Please note all work featured is available for purchase. For further information contact melissa@nouscollaborative.com or +44(0)7758961029
From the new metro system in Dubai, the first urban train network in the Arabian Peninsula, to Tahrir Square, the physical heart and symbol of the revolution in Egypt, public and civic life is becoming an increasingly important part of the dialogue on architecture and development in the Arab world. In this talk, leading architects, academics and journalists will share their insights on public and civic spaces in the region and how the use and design of these spaces are changing. Moderator: Edwin Heathcote Architecture and Design Critic, Financial Times with Speakers: • Shahira H. Fahmy Principal, Shahira H. Fahmy Architects • Murray Fraser Professor of Architecture and Global Culture, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London • Nadim Khattar Design Director, Austin-Smith:Lord Arts & Culture • Bernard Khoury Principal, DW5/Bernard Khoury • Michel Mossessian Principal, Mossessian & Partners • Turi Munthe CEO, Demotix
Forward Thinking: Discussions on the Future of Architecture in the Arab World 19 July 2011, 6:30-8:30pm Throughout the next 20 years, many of the housing projects, souks, hotels, office buildings, planned cities, and cultural centres in the Arab world will be completed. As the region continues to shift both economically and politically, what will the discussions around architecture in the region be? This talk brings together a broad group of experts to discuss the questions we may be asking in the coming months and years. Topics will include the development of new technologies and materials, how the Internet could shape physical and virtual spaces, and the pursuit of Arab identity in architecture. Moderator: Tim Makower Partner, Allies and Morrison Architects and Co-Chair of Architecture and Urban Design, Qatar University with speakers: • Ahmed Al-Ali and Farid Esmaeil, Principals, X-Architects • Aidan Chopra, Google • Salmaan Craig, Foster + Partners • Ahmad Humeid, CEO, Syntax Digital • Peter Oborn, Deputy Chairman, Aedas Architects • Dr Aylin Orbasli, Programme Leader, MA International Architectural Regeneration and Development, Oxford Brookes University
Talks
Public Domain: Public & Civic Spaces in the Arab World 12 July 2011, 6:30-8:30pm
Public Domain: Public & Civic Spaces in the Arab World Talk 12 July 2011, 6:30-8:30pm Moderator: Edwin Heathcote Architecture and Design Critic, Financial Times Edwin Heathcote is an architect, writer and designer living and working in London. He has been the Architecture & Design critic for The Financial Times since 1999. He is also on the editorial board of Architectural Design and is a contributing editor for Icon and writes regularly for international architecture and design magazines including Wallpaper, Abitare and others. He is the author of around a dozen books on architecture covering everything from contemporary church architecture to London’s caffs. He is also the founder and design director of ize, a London-based manufacturer of handles, lighting and hardware. Speakers Shahira H. Fahmy Principal, Shahira H. Fahmy Architects Shahira H. Fahmy is an architect whose work strives to create a balance between new spatial concepts and existing context: culture, tradition, urban morphology and climate in the pursuit of a language that encompasses all fields of design. Shahira’s work has been acclaimed internationally
and her designs have been credited with a number of prestigious architectural and design awards. Her architecture firm, Shahira H. Fahmy Architects, has emerged as one of the most innovative design focused practices in the Middle East. Shahira studied architecture at the Faculty Of Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt, graduating with honors in 1997, where she also obtained her Masters degree in architecture, Her early experience includes working as an architect with the leading engineering firm Dar El Handasah and collaborating with prominent designers and architects such as Pierre Yves Rochon, Paris and Legoretta + Legoretta, Mexico in 2004. Description of Talk Shahira’s talk will reflect on how public and civic spaces in major Arab cities are taking shape by a tension between the center and their peripheries. Particular attention will be given to Cairo, a city that has seen massive urban sprawl over the past 30 years, in an attempt to explore the complex and metaphoric relationship between the center and the unregulated urban expansion on the peripheries, both living and coexisting by their distance but also their proximity. The talk will go on to examine how the negligence and loss of control by the state over the social, economic, and demographic pressures and forces led to an empowering of these, to become independence forces capable of erupting a revolution witnessed by the world.
Murray Fraser Professor of Architecture and Global Culture, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London
Nadim Khattar Design Director, Austin-Smith:Lord Arts & Culture
Murray Fraser is Professor of Architecture and Global Culture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. He has published extensively on architectural history & theory, urbanism and cultural studies, and is co-editor of The Journal of Architecture. His last book, Architecture and the ‘Special Relationship’ (Routledge) won the 2008 RIBA President’s Award for Outstanding UniversityLocated Research and the 2008 Bruno Zevi Book Prize from the International Committee of Architectural Critics for the best architectural book anywhere in the previous year. As a qualified architect, he has jointly set up the Palestinian Regeneration Team (PART) to carry out projects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He is also a member of the RIBA Awards Group, which amongst other duties selects the annual shortlist for the Stirling Prize.
Nadim Khattar studied at the Architectural Association in London and at the Jan Van Eyck Institute in Maastricht, Netherlands. He is head of the International Arts & Culture sector at Austin-Smith: Lord and co directs the new Abu Dhabi studio. Before joining Austin-Smith: Lord, Nadim founded Pattern Architecture in London and Architecture Company in Beirut. His experience includes a range of technical and leadership roles that required working extensively in Lebanon, Qatar, Egypt, Dubai, Europe and the USA. The breadth of his experience ensures not only a wide knowledge of the industry but also the cultural understanding to adapt architectural prototypes to new contexts. Since 2007, Nadim has been Design Director at Austin-Smith: Lord for a Cultural Quarter in the United Arab Emirates that focuses on regional arts and culture.
Description of Talk This talk focuses on the Palestinian Regeneration Team – which he runs with Nasser Golzari and Yara Sharif – and our design projects for the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The goal is to promote the regeneration of historic centres on socially and environmentally sustainable lines, taking our cues from research into everyday life and public space in towns and villages. In trying to find a way to sidestep the major political obstacles of the Israeli/Palestinian dispute, they are seeking creative possibilities amidst some of the most difficult urban conditions globally.
Description of Talk Since 2006 Austin-Smith:Lord have been designing, researching and developing a cultural quarter (in the UAE) intended to celebrate the national and regional Arts and Culture. Their proposal places a dense, pedestrian oriented complex into the heart of an urban fabric still bearing the scars of post oil boom development. The rapid growth of the 1970s to the 1990s depleted most of the fragile cultural resource that existed in the Emirates and in most of the Arabian Gulf countries. With this legacy, they are attempting to create new communal, public, almost civic spaces as
a counter to the years of hard commercial development. Seemingly unlimited retail offer, backed up by the power of the internet, have brought culture directly to the consumer; Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai, being a prime example. Now they are tasked with tempting that consumer to enquire, to learn and eventually to produce. Nadim will to discuss the following points: - How can such spaces be absorbed into the fabric of cities in the Arab World? - How can such projects influence or instigate attitudes, (one day, policy) for creative industries? Can room for doubt be created or will Art only be consumed? Bernard Khoury Principal, DW5/Bernard Khoury Bernard Khoury studied architecture at the Rhode Island school of Design (B.F.A 1990 / B.Arch 1991). He received a Masters in Architectural studies from Harvard University (M.Arch 1993). In 2001, he was awarded by the municipality of Rome the honorable mention of the Borromini prize given to architects under 40 years of age. In 2004, he was awarded the Architecture + Award. In 2008, he was a visiting professor at the Ecole polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; he has lectured and exhibited his work in prestigious academic institutions in Europe and the U.S including a solo show of his work given by the International Forum for Contemporary Architecture at the Aedes gallery in Berlin (2003) and numerous group shows including YOUprison at the Fondazione Sandretto in Torino (2008) and SPACE at the opening show of the MAXXI museum in Rome (2010). His
work has been extensively published by the professional press. Khoury started an independent practice in 1993. Over the past 15 years, his office has developed an international reputation and a significant diverse portfolio of projects both locally and abroad. Description of Talk At some point in time, Beirut had a tramway network as well as many visible institutional public buildings... Most of these were the product of the French protectorate or the ottoman empire and most of them are not in decay. In its early years, the young republic of Lebanon attempted, and more particularly during the mandate of President Fouad Chehab, to erect institutional buildings, develop and adopt masterplans for the development of the territory. Those days are long gone. Our cities are now exclusively in the hands of the private sector. This is the sad result of the total bankruptcy of our official institutions and the local political actors. In such extreme conditions, architects have to reconsider their relationship to public space and re-invent strategies in order to take part in the making of our cities. Michel Mossessian Principal, Mossessian & Partners Michel Mossessian is a world-class designer who has consistently been at the forefront of new approaches to design, sustainable architecture and new building technologies. After graduating in architecture from Ecole Nationale SupÊrieure d’Architecture de Paris Belleville, and studying philosophy with Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault,
Michel completed his masters in design studies at Harvard Graduate School of Design. He was personally mentored by Bruce Graham, at SOM Chicago, before becoming Design Director at SOM London. His design leadership has led to successes at the highest international level in projects in the UK, Europe and the Middle East, culminating in his winning design for the new NATO headquarters in Brussels (due to complete 2015). Michel set up mossessian & partners in London in 2005. His international team offers architecture, planning, technology and design services, committed to architecture that adds cultural value and benefits society ‘beyond buildings’. 2010 saw the completion of three mossessian & partners buildings: a major office building, 5 Merchant Square in Paddington Basin, London; ExxonMobil Headquarters in Shanghai and a private residence in Sorede, France.The practice is currently constructing over 30 buildings for Musheireb in Doha, Qatar, including the centrepiece square of what will be the world’s first sustainable downtown regeneration scheme, completing 2016. In Fez, Morocco, they have just won an international competition for an urban renewal project in the heart of the medina, a UNESCO world heritage site. Description of Talk Michel will talk about the importance of the ‘urban room’ in cities, spaces between buildings that foster communication, interaction and integration between different residential communities. He will illustrate the concept with reference to both the Fez and Doha projects, where traditional ways of life and local culture are deeprooted, but there is also a desire for renewal
and regeneration. Michel will talk about respecting, learning from and working with local strategies – both environmental and cultural – to develop sustainable, sensitive solutions. Turi Munthe CEO, Demotix Turi is CEO and Founder of Demotix, the multiple-award winning open newswire, with over 4,000 reporters in 190 countries around the world. TechCrunch says “Demotix is reinventing the Newswire”, and the Telegraph describes Demotix as “Journalism for the 21st Century”. Turi is English-French-Swedish and lives in London. He has been a publisher, editor, policy analyst, lecturer, journalist and talking head. He has written for or appeared on many of the world’s leading Englishlanguage newspapers and broadcasters, and has lectured on new media all over the world. He is the author of the Saddam Hussein Reader. Description of Talk ‘Twitter Revolutions’, ‘Facebook fora’, etc.: Turi will talk about the problems with these ideas, but also about the very real public spaces opening up in the virtual world across the Middle East and how they have an impact on the public sphere.
Forward Thinking: Discussions on the Future of Architecture in the Arab World Talk 19 July 2011, 6:30-8:30pm Moderator: Tim Makower Partner, Allies and Morrison Architects Co-Chair of Architecture and Urban Design, Qatar University Tim Makower joined Allies and Morrison in 1990 having worked for the practice as a student since 1984. He trained at the University of Cambridge and the Royal College of Art. Tim is responsible for largescale urban projects and architectural works including St Andrew’s Bow, Bankside 123, Liverpool One and King’s Cross Central. He currently leads the work of the practice in Doha and Abu Dhabi, and is Co-Chair of Architecture at Qatar University. Speakers Ahmed Al-Ali and Farid Esmaeil Founders and Principals, X Architects Ahmed Al-Ali is an architect and entrepreneur from the U.A.E. He has a degree in Architecture from the American University of Sharjah and established X Architects in 2003. X Architects has gained international acclaim, including the Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction in Africa and the Middle East and the Middle East Architect Award. In 2010, Ahmed was awarded the Mohammed Bin Rashid Award for young business leaders. Ahmed regularly participates as a speaker at conferences an was a critic, and has contributed to research
projects and Summer Workshops at the Architecture School of London and Harvard University. Farid Esmaeil is the founding partner of a leading architecture and urban design practice in Dubai. He graduated from the American University of Sharjah (AUS) in 2003. His design work addresses issues of contemporary society, urban identity, and architecture. Farid has lectured and exhibited at various universities and institutions worldwide, including University of Toronto, Qatar Green Building Council, Venice Biennale, and Archiprix international Architecture Thesis Program. He is a frequent guest lecturer at several universities, the American University of Sharjah being one of them. His research work has also been published in international magazines such as Al Manakh I & II, among numerous others. His design work has won many accolades including the Middle East Architect Awards 2009 and 2010, Cityscape MENA Awards 2010, the prestigious HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Award for Best Business in Consultancy of 2010, and the regional Holcim Award in 2008. Description of Talk “It seems that the dead American cities have found a second life in the Arabian Desert only fifty years after its death….A suburban living dream in the heat of Arabia. No lawns here…no backyards and lavish landscape…. Only two meter privacy concrete walls that bounce heat into your face. No shadows, glare is washing of all colors to dusty white….the wide dark asphalt of this sprawl is filled with utility pipes and manholes….
No walkways, community facilities or even a place for public realm priority is for infrastructure. “ Through a decade of practice, X Architects have pioneered the integration of the new Arabia’s thirst for change with a sustainable development model, developing new urban models that integrate heritage and culture with the future. Aidan Chopra Product Evangelist, SketchUp, Google Aidan Chopra works at Google as the Product Evangelist for Google SketchUp, a 3D modeling tool used by design professionals, engineers and 3D enthusiasts all over the world. He is the author of Google SketchUp For Dummies and the textbook Introduction to Google SketchUp, both of which were published by John Wiley & Sons. Aidan holds an undergraduate degree from NSCAD University in Halifax, and a Master of Architecture degree from Rice University in Houston. At Google, his job is to be an advocate for the everyday communication of concepts, ideas and places in 3D. Aidan is responsible for the SketchUpdate e-newsletter and blog, and contributes to the efforts of SketchUp’s marketing, training, product management and development teams. Description of Talk This talk focuses on the Palestinian Regeneration Team – which he runs with Nasser Golzari and Yara Sharif – and our design projects for the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The goal is to promote the regeneration of historic centres on socially and environmentally sustainable lines, taking our cues from research into everyday life and
public space in towns and villages. In trying to find a way to sidestep the major political obstacles of the Israeli/Palestinian dispute, they are seeking creative possibilities amidst some of the most difficult urban conditions globally. Salmaan Craig Environmental Design Analyst, Foster + Partners Salmaan did four years of research with Buro Happold under an Engineering Doctorate program hosted by Brunel and Surrey University. During this time he developed and tested a novel material structure that can be used to protect buildings from solar and ambient heat, while allowing it to cool at night through atmospheric re-radiation into space. He then became a Façade Engineer at Buro Happold. For the Abu Dhabi Louvre project, he spent a week in the desert, showing how and why, on clear nights, more dew falls on some materials than others. Now a member of the Specialist Modelling Group at Foster + Partners, he is thinking about – among other things – what to do with all that water. Description of Talk : Arabian Nights: Throwing Heat into Outer Space Looking through an infrared lens from a satellite orbiting earth, the countries that together constitute the Arab World brim and fluctuate in garish red-pink tones. Like a valve loosely fastened, the clear dry skies above these countries let escape much of the radiant energy that under a more vapour-rich sky would otherwise be trapped. This weak greenhouse effect represents a fascinating yet untapped cooling resource. Salmaan will talk through the vernacular curiosities, eccentric engineering patents, and intriguing
architectural innovations from old Persia that together make up a diminuitive repertoire of techniques for night-sky radiative cooling, before speculating about how Arab architecture might incorporate these lessons in the future. Ahmad Humeid CEO, Syntax Designer (www.syntaxdigital.com), blogger (www.360east.com), digital entrepreneur (www.itoot.net, www.ikbis.com, hellospring. net). Design activist (redesignarabia.com). Inventor of the ElectroTurban®. Ahmad started his first design studio in 1991 while studying architecture at the University of Jordan. In the 1990s he led design and technology efforts at various pioneering publishing, consulting and web ventures in the Middle East. His Amman-based company, SYNTAX, is a brand, design and innovation firm. In 2008 SYNTAX created the first branding system of Jordan’s capital, Amman. He is married to Salua Qidan who is SYNTAX’s other co-founder. Together with their three boys they live in Amman, Jordan. Description of Talk: Redesign Arabia. Design will save the (Arab) world. Exploring the role of design, design thinking and designers in a post revolutionary Arab world. While the recent upheavals in the Arab world have started to change the political reality of the region, the Arab reality today is marked by a legacy of decades of unsustainable development, neglect and cultural and aesthetic decline. ReDesign Arabia is an initiative to activate Arab designers across disciplines to play an active role in re-imagining and redesigning the Arab reality. Can Arab urban designers, architects, product designers, technologists and visual
designers become a force for positive, tangible change in their countries? Redesign Arabia will be launched in July 2011 as on online hub that starts by celebrating Arab designers across disciplines and will challenge them to prove their impact, both intellectually and on the ground. Peter Oborn Deputy Chairman, Aedas Architects Peter is the Deputy Chairman of Aedas Architects Ltd, currently ranked among the world’s leading international architectural practices. Peter has considerable experience of working internationally, particularly in the Gulf, and he has completed projects in Oman, Qatar and the UAE. With offices in 39 countries, Aedas has an extensive range of experience for both private and public sector clients in a wide variety of sectors including commercial, education, healthcare and transportation. Peter was responsible for inception of the practice’s Research & Development group, based in London, which has grown significantly over the past five years and has developed specialisms in sustainability, advanced modelling and computational design. Underpinning the work of the practice is a commitment to an increasingly and thoughtful design process, combining empirical analysis with creativity, and the R&D group is helping to drive innovation throughout the business, enabling practice to find new ways of problem solving and design. Description of Talk In his talk, Peter will present ‘A short history of development in the Middle East’ drawing on his experience to:
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Remind the audience that oil wasn’t found in the region until the late 1960’s; Many of the countries to which we now refer, such as Oman and the UAE, didn’t exist until the 1970’s; Much of the development that we see today wasn’t started until the 1980’s; Much of the inappropriate development for which the region has been criticised, was designed by Western consultants who lacked sufficient understanding of the cultural and environmental context in which they were operating; and, While there is ample evidence of a greater awareness emerging about the need for planning (and for a ‘Vision with Values’, as evidenced by the Abu Dhabi 2030 Plan, Estidama, Masdar etc) there remains a risk that mistakes will continue to be made unless plans are continually challenged by all of us working in the region, not least because of the new economic order in which we find ourselves and the threat of climate change, but also the changing demographic throughout the region.
Dr Aylin Orbasli Programme Leader, MA International Architectural Regeneration and Development, Oxford Brookes University Aylin Orbasli trained as an architect and has specialised in conservation and heritage management. She works as an international consultant advising public sector clients on the conservation, regeneration and management of their built heritage. Much of her work is in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia. She is particularly interested in the synergy and conflicts of traditional ‘Islamic’ towns and tourism. This is a key research interest
and she combines practical site-based work with academic interests through a part time position as Reader in the Department of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University. She is a board member of ICOMOS-UK and the author of two books, Tourists in Historic Towns (2000) and Architectural Conservation (2008). Description of Talk With a focus on the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula the presentation will explore the paradoxical relationship between the destruction and reinvention of the traditional design aesthetic in the process of identity building in the urban realm. The sudden growth in wealth combined with opening up to the globalised market place has resulted in the large scale abandonment and subsequent loss of historic areas and traditional building practices across the region. At the same time traditional societal values continue to be upheld and religion (Islam) influences the ways in which space in the private and public realms are used. The private and semi-private nature of the traditional Arab Islamic city has come to be redefined in gated housing developments and the new leisure and retail environments captured in shopping malls. Meanwhile, the ‘traditional’ style of architecture and more often liberal interpretations of it have become a popular add-on in a wide range of new developments including shopping malls, housing developments and tourist resorts. In the urban realm and in place making within these complexes traditional styles manifest themselves in the visual and physical rather than the spatial characteristics of a place.
www.nouscollaborative.com
Nous is a London-based architecture gallery, consultancy and collaborative. Our aim is to provide a platform for established and emerging architects, pursue the most compelling issues and research affecting architectural practice, promote cultural integration, and facilitate collaboration between architects, designers and businesses. Established in 2007, Nous has completed 12 exhibitions around the world and in 2010 launched an annual conference series examining the political and economic context of architecture.
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