Luminary speakers you shouldn’t miss at the WAF 2019
Speeches, presentations, and discourses on architecture, design, people, data, nature, power, and the relationship between them will run throughout the World Architecture Festival (WAF) over the course of three days starting 4 December. Festival delegates have their pick of watching 534 live pitches by finalists from 70 countries competing at the WAF Awards and sister festival, INSIDE World Festival of Interiors, at the same venue in RAI, Amsterdam. A stellar line-up of over 48 established international architects and designers from leading global practices all over the globe is also not to be missed.
The speaking program for WAF will culminate with keynote speeches from Marc Koehler of Marc Koehler Architects on 4 December, Studio Fuksas’ Doriana Mandrelli Fuksas and Massimiliano Fuksas on 5 December, and a live presentation followed by a Q&A with Elizabeth Diller of Diller Scofidio + Renfro on 6 December.
Koehler will present an overview of new initiatives and projects according to the principles of John Habraken’s Open Building, elaborating on three themes: Open Architecture, Open Development, and Open Systems. He will “connect the principles of Open Building to new ways to incorporate circularity, sustainability and the influence of individuals and communities into residential projects,” according to WAF. Studio Fuksas’ and Elizabeth Diller’s topics are yet to be announced.
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Day 1
Day 1 speakers will be joined by Andrew Whalley of Grimshaw Architects who will speak on reaching the ‘near-zero energy, zero-emission buildings’ construction standard by 2030. Angus Campbell of Foster + Partners will be discussing the Jeddah Metro and building a sustainable vision for infrastructure; Abel Maciel of Design Computation who will talk about the “new data revolution and how it is set to disrupt how we create, sustain and transform the built environment.” Anuradha Mathur of the University of Pennsylvania and Dilip da Cunha of Harvard University who will discuss the role of water in design and what designers can learn from it.
Day 2
On the second day, the line up of speakers includes Ben van Berkel of UNStudio and UNSense who will deliberate on “the future of the built environment; and how technology, developments in mobility, and finding a balance between cultural versus economic values can change our cities and buildings for the better.” He will be joined by Kai-Uwe Bergmann of BIG Architects and Kasper Guldager Jensen of 3XN and GXN who will be focusing on “research and learning processes within trailblazing practices, and their forecast for the future.” Commentators from leading institutions and city planners will be joining the diverse speaking program as well, including Sir Peter Cook, Saskia Sassen (Columbia University Committee on Global Thought), and Nick Tyler, CBE (University College London).
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Day 3
The last day of talks and panels will have Jacques Ferrier and Pauline Marchetti of Ferrier Marchetti Studio who will talk about ‘space-between,’ an indeterminate spacetime in which Ferrier Marchetti Studio works within and creates meaningful relationships among objects, buildings, and life.
“We are excited to be hosting inspirational speakers from such a wide variety of geographies and backgrounds. We look forward to stimulating presentations and thought-provoking ideas that will form part of the ‘big conversation’ that takes place at WAF each year,” Programme Director of WAF Paul Finch said in a press release.
See the complete and updated speaking program details here.
For more details on the WAF Awards and the festival please visit: www.worldarchitecturefestival.com @worldarchfest #WAF19 or for more details on the INSIDE World Festival of Interiors Awards, please visit www.insidefestival.com @insidefestival #INSIDE19.
Images courtesy of World Architecture Festival
