AIA Middle East - Digital Tools for Urban Design

When: Tuesday 27 August 2024 @ 05:00 (Eastern US Time)/ 13:00 (UAE time)
Where: Online
CES Credits - Estimated 1.0 LU for AIA Members

Speakers

Dr. M. Nabyl Chenaf, Professor of Architecture, American University in Dubai

Dr. Maryam Shafiei, Assistant Professor of Architecture, American University in Dubai

Description

Join AIA Middle East for an exclusive online course on Digital Tools for Urban Design led by the esteemed Dr. Nabyl Chenaf and Dr. Maryam Shafiei. Dive deep into the innovative tools shaping the future of urban planning.

Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your skills and transform your designs!

The course emphasizes the significance of digital literacy for contemporary urban designers and examines various ways digital tools are employed in urban planning and design. It specifically underscores the importance of comprehending and applying Digital Twin, Generative Design, and Augmented Reality. The course advocates for integrating these skills into the educational journey of architecture and urban design students, showcasing examples of students’ works to illustrate their practical applications.

AIA Hong Kong - 25th Anniversary Symposium: Connectivity and Placemaking in the Greater Bay Area

When: Thursday 7 April 2022 @ 06:30 (Eastern US Time)/ 18:30 (Hong Kong time)
CES Credits - 2.0 LU/ HSW for AIA Members

Speakers

Prof. Anthony G.O. Yeh, FHKIP FRTPI FPIA FRICS FCILT FBCS, Chan To Hann Professor in Urban Planning and Design

Kelvin Law, Vice President of AECOM

Oren Tatcher, AIA HKIUD, Principal of OTC Limited

Philip Wong, Macau Office Leader, Greater Bay Area Taskforce Leader of Arup

Moderator: Dr. Sujata S. Govada, AICP HKIP HKIUD Assoc AIA, CEO and Managing Director of UDP International

Description

AIA Hong Kong is excited to announce its 25th Anniversary Symposium: Connectivity and Placemaking in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). Jointly organized with AECOM, the symposium will include webinars and events to provoke thought and provide insight into the urban planning and development of the GBA.

Over the past several years, the significance of the GBA to the international and local design industries has grown steadily. Inter-city collaboration and cross-border cooperation have been essential to the success of joint developments and infrastructure upgrades – with high-levels of coordination between multiple cities in the GBA. From a three-hour travel outer ring to an inner one-hour living zone, these initiatives have improved livability and helped to facilitate inter-city mobility of people, goods and information.

As the most open and international city in the GBA, Hong Kong is well-known as a financial, transportation, trade and aviation hub. With the completion of projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the High Speed Rail, how can we continue to play a key role in the design and planning of this dynamic region, as well as in China’s development blueprint?

To assist China in their goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, what are the key issues that designers and planners need to take into consideration to create an adaptable, scalable and hybrid environment of people, resources and nature?

Beginning with our first webinar on April 7, we will invite notable scholars, planners, architects, engineers and landscape architects to engage in conversations on how Hong Kong can connect with other GBA cities through infrastructure planning. Topics will include:

• Overview of current GBA policy and planning
• Regional connectivity and airport development
• Infrastructure challenges and urban design.

LEARN MORE>>>

AIA Japan - Locally-based Sustainable Design Approach for Walkability in Dubai - by Takeshi Maruyama, AUD

When: Thursday, December 17 @ 04:30 (Eastern US time)/ 18:30 (Japan time)

CES Credits - 2.0 LU/ HSW

Speaker: Takeshi Maruyama, American University in Dubai

Description:

Since the discovery of oil in 1966 and its subsequent financial revenues, Dubai has been developing rapidly into a global city – while mainly adapting the western urban development style. Suburban growth exploded, with urban sprawl becoming an issue since the early 1980s. Local towns spread out and expanded in scale. Consequently, Dubai could be called ‘Cities within a city,’ representing many fragmented western-style suburban communities connected by automobiles. People often attribute problems with walkability or the limited pedestrian-oriented activities to the harsh weather. Still, harsh weather in Dubai lasts roughly four months out of the year, causing people to avoid the outdoors during that period. Nevertheless, the somewhat limited walkability continues throughout the year, even in the nicer weather. Then what is the leading cause of this phenomenon? 

My study argues that this limited walkability is not due to weather but due to the urban structure caused by mega-developments in Dubai, which do not consider human scale or local culture. For instance, old districts such as Satwa or Karama have a more compact scale; therefore, pedestrian activities occur naturally. Aggressive adaptation of western-style urbanization completely goes against locally-adapted sustainable design approaches that ancestors have fostered in the city. Driveways and fenced-gardens have replaced the narrow alleys (Sikka) and the court-yard houses of the past. These drastically changed the structure of communities, therefore, impacting walkability as well as the health, safety and welfare of its residents.

This issue is a common theme discussed in the thesis courses and sustainability design studios, which I am instructing at the university. The lecture will demonstrate potential design solutions for walkability and enhancing outdoor public space usage within existing urban areas. 

AIA IR Taipei - Architecture and the City

Selected Works of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

When: Wednesday, November 4, 2020, 06:00 (Eastern US time)/ 19:00 (Taipei time)

Speaker: Lu-Min Guo, Associate, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

CES Credits: 2 .0 LU

Description

We believe that cities are the physical framework of our society, the generator of civil values, the engine of our economy and the heart of our culture. Public space between buildings influences both the built form and the civic quality of the city, be they streets, squares or parks. A balance betweent he public and private domain is central to the practice’s design approach. Buildings and their surrounding spaces should interrelate and define one another, with external spaces functioning as rooms without roofs.

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89156978209?pwd=eUh2alNlZ2VXMHRDWWxEaERKeDB4dz09

Meeting ID: 891 5697 8209

Passcode: 426946

Lecture + Networking - Building a Post-Pandemic City Now - with Jeffrey Hou

When: Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 07:00 (Eastern US time)/ 19:00 (Taipei time)

CES Credits: 2.0 LU/ HSW

During the COVID-19 crisis, community self-help and mutual support have become critical to the survival of many individuals, lending a lifeline to some of the most vulnerable populations in our society. Further, by engaging with design to activism, the strategy considers design as a vehical for activism.