I thank the INSPIRELI team for the kind invitation to be a juror in the world’s largest architecture student competition. The level of the submitted projects is outstanding, and I wish all the participants the best of luck in competing in this year’s edition!
ABU DHABI MUNICIPALITY INNOVATION FORUM
It truly was a great honor to be selected and included among the presenters at the innovation forum. The Margham and Mina Zayed projects were highly commended, and we look forward to further collaborating with the local authorities.
Jury @ Simone Micheli Workshop / Ajman University
The workshop “From Interior Design to Graphic and Visual Communication” held at Ajman University in collaboration with Simone Micheli was a success. I am glad I was invited as juror for the final presentations. Students were engaged and enthusiastic about the 5 days intense educational experience.
INVITED SPEAKER @ INNOVATION FORUM
Participation in the Abu Dhabi Municipality Innovation Forum is another excellent opportunity to disseminate our research on architectural and urban design solutions for Arabian cities. I will present the projects we developed for Mina Zayed and Margham with students from UNIVPM and AURAK.
MARGHAM'S PROJECT PRESENTATION @ DUBAI MUNICIPALITY
The presentation to the Urban Planning Department at Dubai Municipality was an excellent opportunity for our team to initiate a possible research collaboration. We look forward to further occasions to provide more ideas on the future of desert settlements.
EVERYTHING ARCHITECTURE CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
Happy to receive the certificate from the organizers of the event. Everithing Architecture was held as part of the Dubai’s International Building and Construction Show in December 2022. The session comprised a series of interesting interventions and discussion on buildings conservation and adaptation focusing on the Dubai’s context.
NEW BOOK CHAPTER
I am glad to announce the publication of the book “Urban Open Spaces toward the New Challenges of Adaptivity” which contains my chapter “The Characteristics of Dubai’s Public Spaces Some Differences to be Aware Of”. The book is published by FrancoAngeli Milano in the BETHA Open Access series and one can download it from this link:
https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/book/904
JURY @ WAF 2022
World Architecture Festival 2022 Day 2 Crit Room 3. Built Mixed Use Projects. Jury Panel: Philip Johnson (Senior Principal, Populous), Alastair Richardson (Principal Director, Cox Architecture), Cristiano Luchetti (Assoc. Prof. Aurak). Projects presented by Zaha Hadid Architects, Nikken Sekkei, Meccanoo, Woods Bagot. UN Studio, and many others. Congratulations to the Winners and the shortlisted.
Invitation for the Editorial Advisory Board of the book "Education Applications & Developments VIII"
I am delighted to join the editorial advisory board of this book. It is another excellent chance to learn from innovative and sophisticated pedagogic applications.
Learning from reality. Presentation @ 2a Arch Talk
Some pictures from my presentation at the 2022 2a Arch Talk in Dubai. I spoke about the decay of architectural design education quality and the role of practitioners in contrasting such an issue
SPEAKER @ EVERYTHING ARCHITECTURE
I am delighted to announce my participation as a speaker at the Architecture & Design Talks at Everything Architecture, taking place from 5 – 6 December 2022 in Za’abeel Hall 4, Dubai World Trade Centre. Apply now to attend my session: https://www.thebig5.ae/apply-to-attend-my-session
WAF 2022 JUDGES
I am happy to receive notification about my fellow jurors at the World Architecture Festival 2022 in Lisbon. I look forward to meet them both and take part in the Mixed Use typology projects presentations.
2A ARCH TALK 2022
The 2A Arch Talk is another great opportunity to contribute to the region’s architectural discourse. I will moderate the whole session and talk about the role of professional practitioners in teaching the architectural design curriculum. Thanks to 2A magazine for the kind invitation.
2ACAA JURY DAY @ CANADIAN UNIVERSITY DUBAI
Jury day for this year's 2a magazine award took place at the Canadian University Dubai school of architecture. The team examined over 100 projects submitted for the 2A Continental Architectural Awards. It is always interesting to discuss high-quality submissions with some esteemed colleagues from academia and architectural practice.
ABSTRACT ACCEPTED @ The International Journal Frontiers of the Built Environment
Great news!! The scopus indexed publication accepted my proposal for a paper regarding the seminar we are conducting at AURAK on the architecture and urbanism of desert agricultural settlements.
ARCH521 SEMINAR DAY @ AURAK
The course ARCH521 @ AURAK welcomed Steven Velegrinis and Ahmed Khadier for another intense day of the architectural design seminar “MARGHAM: Architecture, Farming, Community.” Students attended lectures and discussions covering a broad spectrum of sophisticated landscape and architecture strategies. From mega projects to the punctual urban regeneration of dilapidated neighborhoods, the class had the chance to learn from two of the most original figures in the architecture and urban studies of the gulf.
FIRST TWO APPOINTMENTS OF THE AURAK+UNIVPM JOINT SEMINAR
The seminar kicked off with two interesting contributions delivered by Dr. Cazacova and Ahmed Bukhash.
In the first one, we learned the implications of an integrative sustainable design process, while in the second appointment, we will discuss the desert settlements in the UAE
ARCHITECTURE DESIGN JOINT SEMINAR / MARGHAM: ARCHITECTURE, FARMING, COMMUNITY
The course ARCH521, which I am teaching at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah in the fall semester, will be part of a joint seminar co-organized with UNIVPM. The theme is part of ongoing research that focuses on sustainable architecture and urban solutions for developing and regenerating agricultural settlements in the Emirati desert. Renowned architects and urbanists based in the UAE will contribute to the academic activities of the two universities through dedicated lectures and participation in reviews.
NEW TEACHING POSITION @ AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF RAS AL KHAIMAH
I am happy to announce that from this semester, I will be part of the academic staff of the Architecture Department of the American University of Ras Al Khaimah in the role of Associate Professor. A further opportunity to keep researching architecture and urbanism in this part of the world.
Presentation @ Camerino's Seminario di Architettura e Cultura Urbana
My presentation's theme at this year's Camerino seminar was about a master plan I led in its initial conceptual stage in KSA. An opportunity to discuss the contemporary urban and architectural development of the largest country in the gulf, which is undergoing massive urban development nowadays.
