HABTOOR GRAND RESORT JBR / DUBAI / UAE
Empowering progressive change with
touchstone, informed debate and an
industry-leading gala Awards
12 June 2024
MAIN HALL
08:00
Networking
Networking
Breakfast & Networking
MAIN HALL
09:00
Introduction
Paul Godfrey / Head of Content / Middle East Consultant
Welcome to the Future of Architecture Summit 2024
A review of the key themes throughout the event and why it represents an important milestone in regional discussions about significant trends in master-planning.
MAIN HALL
09:15
Keynote Fireside Chat
Keynote Fireside Chat
Architectural Futures: sustainability, design and the new-generation materials
To what extent are today’s large-scale projects treating sustainability as a ‘given’? Do sustainable protocols themselves create new special configurations and determine scale and vision? This powerful conversation evaluates these critical criteria, as well as assessing the practicality and usefulness of the new generation organic building materials.
- Delvene Lee / Head of Interior Design / KEO International Consultants,
- Engi Jaber / CEO/Managing Director / Climatize Engineering Consultants
Moderator:
- Paul Godfrey / Head of Content / Middle East Consultant
MAIN HALL
10:00
Panel Discussion
Panel Discussion
How Smart data and AI are transforming our ability to create bespoke environments
Today, the advanced use of Smart data, combined with generative software, is transforming our understanding of the optimum use of space, and leading the creation of tailored interiors and communal areas that reflect foot traffic, preferences and duration of stay. But this data can also be used for intense surveillance and monitoring, raising important legal issues as to freedom of movement and the role of ‘social profiling’.
Talking points:
- The new era of Digital knowledge about how spaces are used allows architects to precisely hone and define suitability in a way never previously possible
- This level of knowledge is a powerful tool for designing not only dedicated areas of usage, but for the accurate juxtaposition of mixed-use facilities
- Is there such a thing as too much data? Data sharing raises powerful questions about personal freedoms and the ability of influential institutions to predict behaviour and whereabouts.
Panelists:
- Drew Gilbert / Design Manager / OBM International
- Dalia Hafiz / Assistant Professor / College of Art, Architecture and Design, Ajman University
- Mohammad Shamlouli / GIS Manager / InSite
- Dipali Shirsat /Founder / The Visual Poetry
- Seb Davies / Director / Rider Levett Bucknall
- Aarti Thadani / Partner / Norton Rose Fulbright
- Amarindra Rana / Lead Principal Architect / AtkinsRéalis
Moderator:
Paul Godfrey / Head of Content / Middle East Consultant
MAIN HALL
10:45
Fireside Chat
Fireside Chat
Parametric Architecture: making the impossible possible
The new prevalence of generative software packages such as Midjourney and DALL-E – and their algorithmic mastery – allows materials to be used in shapes and configurations that were previously impossible. Leading architects SOMA call this process ‘Parametrics’, and here we speak to the originator of an exciting all-new discipline.
- Michel Abboud / Founder & CEO / SOMA
Moderator:
- Paul Godfrey / Head of Content / Middle East Consultant
MAIN HALL
11:30
Presentation
Claudia Juhre / Senior Associate & Head of Landscape Design / SIE Consultants
The shift towards urban planning around regional hubs’
The last five years have witnessed a major sea-change in urban master-planning, moving away from the creation of vast anonymous cities to designs featuring clusters of regional hubs. So, life is lived on a smaller, less formal scale – and each and every amenity is combined positively within local communities, all only a short distance away.
MAIN HALL
12:00
Fireside Chat
Fireside Chat
Strategies that matter: delivering projects on-time and on-budget
In the GCC, up to 80% of projects run over budget, and more than 20% exceed their contractual delivery times. How can this be improved? The session looks at the necessity for accurate pre-planning and the optimum protocols for ongoing monitoring and review. It discusses and explains ground-breaking, innovative strategies for all-important compliance with contractual obligations.
- Chris Nicolas / Director / TBH
Moderator:
- Paul Godfrey / Head of Content / Middle East Consultant
MAIN HALL
12:30
Networking
Networking
Lunch
MAIN HALL
13:00
Panel Discussion
Panel Discussion
The shift towards ‘new suburbs’ – urban planning and the concept of the 15-minute city
This panel debate reflects the current shift towards architects/master-planners/developers favouring vibrant life in a micro-community, but here, we ask to what extent the idea of 15-minute city is actually feasible – and how architects can realistically plan for a relevant and practical mix of amenities.
Talking points:
- The concept of regional hubs demands new answers in terms of traffic flow and directional infrastructure: what are they?
- What is the development time required either to add these hubs onto an existing city, or build a city of micro-hubs from scratch?
- Does the new hub concept actually represent a return to the 18th century notion of a small town, whereby work, shopping and play are only a short journey from each other?
Panelists:
- Anastasia Kalnytska / VP Strategic Projects / Net0
- Alan George / Architect & Design Manager / Orange Design Group
- Scott Coombes / Managing Partner / AESG
- Nicky Dobreanu / Branch Director / Omnium International Limited
- Farah Mudhafar / Associate Principal Architect / AtkinsRéalis
Moderator:
- Adam Smith / Managing Director / Polypipe Middle East
MAIN HALL
13:45
Presentation
Adam Smith / Managing Director / Polypipe Middle East
Rapid urbanisation: from flood damage to water harvesting
Flooding has proven to be a major risk of the trend towards rapid urbanisation. Yet it also brings rich opportunities for water harvesting, if the right utilities infrastructure can be installed. This presentation reviews the recent floods across the GCC and assesses the practicalities of productive re-use of excessive water – and how it can lead to greener, and more commercially successful, urban habitats.
Talking points:
- The drainage systems that would be required to soak up excessive rainfall and their optimum locations
- Re-cycling water back into productive applications and the technology required to do so
- What this ‘new era’ of urban environment would be like and the lifestyle and commercial benefits it can bring
MAIN HALL
14:15
Presentation
Dipali Shirsat / Founder / The Visual Poetry
How Smart architectural data is helping People of Determination
Today’s new Digital technologies allow for an extremely accurate understanding of how either the workplace or home can be of strong benefit to People of Determination, very much supporting special needs, rather than offering yet further challenges. Here, we find out how this data collation works in practice and how it’s best translated into new physical realities.
MAIN HALL
14:45
Closing
MC
