Media Release
April 2014 SPEAKERSUIA2014/otherwhere
HIGH PROFILE PERSONALITIES FOR UIA 2014 DURBAN CONGRESS
Archbishop Emeritus, Desmond Tutu has been named the Patron of the 25th International Union of Architects World Congress, UIA 2014 Durban, being held at Durban’s International Convention Centre (ICC), from 3-7 August 2014.
“In addition to the prestigious line-up of speakers, the Archbishop’s participation in this exciting event has taken the profile of the Congress to another level,” says Hassan Asmal, President of the Organisation Committee.
“We have an amazing line-up of renowned speakers from different regions around the world,” continues Asmal. “Each of the speakers has contributed in a meaningful way to both the profession of architecture and society as a whole, and we believe that their presence will be invaluable to furthering the conversations that we are planning around critical built environment issues in South Africa, Africa, and the world.”
From Africa, the Congress welcomes Francis Kéré (Burkino-Faso), Joe Osae-Addo (Ghana), President of the South African Institute of Architects, Sindile Ngonyama and Wally Serote. Speakers from other regions are Rahul Mehrotra (India), Cameron Sinclair (UK / USA), Susannah Drake (USA), Wang Shu (China), Gerardo Salinas (Mexico), Toyo Ito (Japan) and Wally Serote (South Africa).
In addition, a number of parallel sessions at the ICC will cover specific areas of focus that relate to the Congress theme and intentions. These include the role of Built Environment Professionals in Spatial Transformation; Sustainable Human(e) Settlements; Housing and Healthcare (sustainable architecture under conditions of change); Open Building; and Addressing Informality through Design Education and Practice.
“One of our South African colleagues has stated that the developed world has “invented” the crisis; and that only Africa will provide solutions to this crisis,” says
UIA President, Albert Dubler.
.../more
SPEAKERSUIA2014/page 2
“We have already perceived some of the solutions, and we want to know more. Twenty years of Democracy have brought your country back to the global community. It's time now for the rest of the world to experience all these changes on site.”
UIA 2014 Durban Keynote Speakers at a glance:
Born in Gando, a small village in Burkina Faso, Francis Kéré studied architecture in Berlin where he then founded his office Kéré Architecture and the non-profit association Schulbausteine für Gando. The main focus of his work is on the use and development of local materials and techniques; the adaptation of new technology in simple ways; and the potential of local communities.
Trained at the Architectural Association in London, Joe Osae-Addo is the CEO of Constructs R+D, an ‘innov-native’ (TM) research and development company and the Chairman of ArchiAfrika Foundation, a non-profit organisation engaged in the promotion of African design and architecture.
Sindile Ngonyama is the principal director of Ngonyama Okpanum and Associates, which focuses on projects in basic education, higher education, primary healthcare facilities, large scale hospital projects, rural community service centres, large scale transportation and sporting facilities. He is the current President of the South African Institute of Architects.
Rahul Mehrotra, architect and educator, works in Mumbai and teaches at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where he is Professor of Urban Design and Planning, and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design as well as a member of the steering committee of Harvard’s South Asia Initiative.
Cameron Sinclair is the co-founder and 'chief eternal optimist' (CEO) for Architecture for Humanity, and co-author of the bestselling book ‘Design Like You Give A Damn’. He is a recipient of the TED prize, a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council (2011) and an advisor at USAID.
Susannah Drake is the Principal of DLANDSTUDIO in the USA, a multi-disciplinary design firm that reinvents and retrofits urban infrastructure to make it more ecologically productive. In 2013 Drake was honored with the Emerging Voices Award by the New York Architectural League; Urban Design Fellowship from the Design Trust for Public Space; and the Brunner & Young Architect Award from the AIA.
.../more
SPEAKERSUIA2014/page 3
Gerardo Salinas studied at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and is currently a partner of Rojkind Arquitectos, a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and a member of the Mexican College of Architects. In 2008, Salinas was named ‘Young Architect of the Year’ by the American Institute of Architects, Denver Chapter.
Architect/Professor Wang Shu established the Amateur Architecture Studio with his wife Lu Wenyu in 1997. He’s been working and doing research on the re-establishment of contemporary Chinese architecture, which reflects in his projects including the Ceramic Houses, New Campus of China Academy of Art in Ghangzhou and the Ningbo Historic Museum. He serves as the head of the School of Architecture at the highly regarded China Academy of Art. He is the winner of numerous architectural prizes including the Schelling Architecture Prize in 2010 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2012. He received the Gold Prize of Architecture from France Architecture Academy 2011. He was the Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor at the Harvard GSD in 2011.
Dr. Mongane Wally Serote was previously a member of Underground armed cadre Umkhonto We Sizwe. He currently holds numerous prominent positions. He is currently the Chairman of the board of JOBURG THEATERS, a board member of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Associate Professor at UNISA, African Renaissance Foundation chairperson, Indigenous Knowledge System of SA and Freedom Park CEO (a national heritage project in Pretoria). He is a well-known and awarded author with numerous titles to his name including poetry, essays and novels.
He is a graduate of Columbia University and worked for the African National Congress in their Arts and Culture Department.
Toyo is a Japanese architect, born in Seoul 1941, whose work and awards pervade the realm of architecture. He graduated in 1969 and founded his studio, Urban Robot, in 1971 in Tokyo. Toyo is currently the Honorary Fellowship of both the AIA and the RIBA, whilst holding the title of Commissioner of Kumamoto Artpolis. Between 1986 and 2013, Toyo has amassed 19 awards, his most recent being the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2013.His designs have been showcased at the Venice Biennale and he has been honoured with The Royal Gold Medalby the Royal Institute of British Architects.Toyo's work has contributedsignificantlyto the educational front in Japan as well as represented Japanese design on theinternationalstage.
For more information or to register for the Congress visit www.uia2014durban.org
ends
Media Enquiries: Joanne Hayes, Tumbleweed Communications
Cell: +27 83 6277249 e-mail:
NOTE TO EDITORS:
About The Congress – The 25th International Union of Architects World Congress of Architects, UIA 2014 Durban, will be held at the International Convention Centre in Durban from 3-7 August 2014. This is the first time that this Congress is being held in Southern Africa and 6000 delegates are expected from around the world.
The International Union of Architects (UIA) organizes a World Congress every three years, and there have been 24 previous UIA Congresses.
The UIA is a non-governmental organization accredited by the United Nations, and it represents professional associations of architects in 124 countries, and approximately 1,3 million architects worldwide. The UIA secretariat, located in Paris, is responsible for the Union’s management and general administration.
The selection of the Congress host city is made six years in advance. At the UIA 2008 Torino Congress, the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) won the bid to host this triennial World Congress with the support of the national Department of
Public Works, barely nine years after SAIA’s post-Democracy readmission to the UIA.
One of the key participants in the Congress is the Africa Union of Architects, which was instrumental in helping South Africa to win the bid in 2008 and will be holding its General Assembly at the ICC Durban in the two days preceding the Congress. The AUA represents, through professional organizations in 27 countries, nearly 35000 African architects.
The Congress theme, ‘architecture OTHERWHERE’, will celebrate diversity by exploring other communities, other regions, other disciplines, and other ways of thinking about, practising and teaching architecture. The intention is to acknowledge the built environment as a major force that may be harnessed towards a better life for all – through the sub-themes RESILIENCE, ECOLOGY and VALUES.
UIA 2014 will be unique. The hosting of the congress in South Africa is meaningful at a time in the country’s development when the realisation that the spatial realities of the country and its cities need to be closely interrogated in light of values that are key in the post-Apartheid era. The congress will also have significant relevance globally. At a time when “business as usual” is being questioned, UIA 2014 intends to shed light on issues believed to add value to the debate on cities and human settlements.
UIA 2014 Durban | Page 4 of 4