Contact Us

Use the form on the right to contact us.

You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right. 

         

123 Street Avenue, City Town, 99999

(123) 555-6789

email@address.com

 

You can set your address, phone number, email and site description in the settings tab.
Link to read me page with more information.

Blog

Filtering by Tag: AIA CE

AIA Continental Europe Conference - Girne, North Cyprus

Fiona Mckay

AIA Continental Europe held its latest bi-annual conference in Girne, North Cyprus, from 29 Sep to 2 Oct 2016.  Whereas this latest CE event generally followed the traditional conference format – a series of tours, seminars and lectures interspersed with lunches, dinners and networking opportunities – the Girne Conference also added a new, parallel event to the format, while North Cyprus lent its own particular flavour to the mix. 

Student Charrette - The CE Chapter held its first Student Design Charrette during the Girne Conference at the nearby Girne American University.  The students and faculty came locally from the American University, Cyprus International University and other invited schools of architecture in Spain, the Czech Republic and Hungary.  Some of the students attending these universities came from even more diverse locations in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, insuring a multicultural atmosphere.

The 4-day Charrette focused on the adaptive reuse of the Old Bazaar in the centre of Girne. Selected conference attendees mentored the students over the 4 days, and all conference attendees were able to interact with them during evening sessions and the jury presentations. This allowed students and attendees alike to benefit from this alternative method of exploring Cypriot culture. 

The Student Charrette was sponsored locally by the Girne American University, the Cyprus International University and Girne Municipality, with support from Graphisoft.  As part of its mandate to promote education, additional financial support came from Laufen, which – along with the London Roca Gallery – also sponsors the UK Student Charrette held this October. 

North Cyprus – Girne is a city with a long and fascinating history.   Perhaps better known by its English name, Kyrenia, the Mediterranean harbour town has been home successively to ancient Egyptians, Hittites, Persians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Lusignans, Genevans, Venetians, Ottomans and most recently the British.  It is certainly a good place to observe the effect of different cultures on the built environment over time; however, the current divide between the two halves of Cyprus also rendered a special poignancy to universal cultural identity issues. 

Antiphonitis Monastary, part 12th , part 15th Century Byzantine Monastary, in the remote Karpaz Peninsula, North Cyprus

Since the civil strife and mass relocations of citizens in the 1970s, the island of Cyprus has been partitioned between the Turkish speaking populations in the north and the Greek speaking populations in the south. South Cyprus (the Republic of Cyprus) is predominately Greek Orthodox, and is part of the EU; however, North Cyprus (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) is Muslim, and is recognised internationally only by Turkey.  

Although there is positive talk of reconciliation and reunification, the current relationship with South Cyprus remains unresolved.  In the context of the volatile eastern Mediterranean, peaceful North Cyprus has a vague feeling of remoteness, even isolation, but this can be misleading. As the welcome and participation of the local government and institutions in the conferenced demonstrated, the country is energetic, well-educated and keen to encourage visitors and cross communication. For whatever reason, the attendance at this year’s conference was a little less than for previous ones.  Those that did not attend missed a compelling experience.

Seen positively, the smaller group gave an intimacy to the conference that was well appreciated.  Most of the group stayed in one hotel – a large, well-run resort hotel complete with a Mediterranean beach, multiple pools, a casino, a conference centre, etc. – and were able to eat together, learn together, and chill out together while tightening bonds of friendship. Without a doubt, the feel good factor, nurtured by Turkish hospitality was high. 

AIA UK Board Directors, Chris Musangi, AIA, and Lorraine King, AIA, relax in the Cyprus sunshine.

Two lectures on historical architecture familiarised the conference with local heritage.  A panel of speakers from both sides of the divided city of Nicosia, spoke on the difficulties and challenges of town planning in a city split down its centre by a barricaded, international border - the Green Line - and called for reinforcement of their bi-communal, team work recommendations.

Local lecturers and guides were supplemented by Continental Europe AIA members speaking of their own experiences on universal topics such as adaptive reuse of buildings, sustainability, rural architecture and decay, acoustic environments, public spaces and floating bridges.  As is customary with CE Conferences, two chapter sponsors – Graphisoft and Swiss Pearl – gave short talks. See HERE for full Conference programme and other details. 

Conference tours were taken to see the Old Bazaar and historical harbour of Girne and the vernacular buildings in the nearby Karmi Village. In Nicosia, a walking tour explored architectural highlights in North Nicosia, before crossing the Green Line into South Nicosia, to experience the different architecture and atmosphere between the North and South sides of the city

Tower 25 / White Walls by Atelier Jean Nouvel, South Nicosia

Special reference should be made to the Conference Committee, including, Ali Yapicioglu, AIA, (Chair) and Bari Wetmore Salathe, AIA, with help from Sandra Zettersten, AIA.  The Student Charrette Coordinator was Dr Balkiz Yapicioglu.  All in all, the conference generated a grand total of 19.75 (+ 4 for Monday extension) CEUs along with many memories of good friends, brilliant weather and a brilliant programme. 

007.jpg
Print Friendly and PDF

AIA UK CHAPTER ARCHITECT WINS AIA CONTINENTAL EUROPE’S “ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN AWARD”

Fiona Mckay

On 3rd Oct 2015 at the Continental Europe (“CE”) Vienna Conference, Continental Europe’s Design Award for Environmental Design was received by Kevin Flanagan, AIA, for PLP Architecture’s Amsterdam project, the Edge.   Kevin is a partner at PLP Architecture and long-time AIA UK Chapter Director and past President in 2007. 

Edge – developed by OVG Real Estate as the headquarters for Deloitte – was designed in collaboration with Ron Bakker, the PLP founding partner, and PLP key designers Natalia Kafassis and, Nicki Faratouri, along with Arianne Barendregt from OeverZaaijer Architectuur NL.   

The building has been described as the world’s most wired, connected and collaborative working environment given its potential to integrate with emerging technology.  The media company, Bloomberg, has gone so far as to rate the Edge as “officially the greenest office building in the world” having been certified with a BREEAM NL “Outstanding” score of 98.4%. Click here to see the full video.

In addition to its carbon neutral credentials and progressive implementation of environmental technologies, CE’s jury described the Edge as “forward looking inside and out,” and praised its “very dramatic and comfortable interiors”.  The Edge is a shining example of UK based, US led design.

The AIA Continental Europe Chapter inaugurated its “Honors & Awards Program” in 2015 in line with its 20th anniversary.  Its aim was to recognise CE’s positon as part of the “global village on one hand, and promoting site specific projects on the other.”  The Awards Committee – led by Chair Yael S Kinsky, FAIA, and including Sandra Zettersten, AIA; Alireza Razavi, AIA; Rada Doytcheva, AIA; Sergio Accatino, Int’l Assoc AIA; and Marie Jeanne van Engelen, Prof Affiliate AIA – deserve particular recognition for setting up the Awards after years of inactivity on the subject.  In particular, the range of winning projects – from Montana to Azerbaijan – fulfils the Committee’s global village ambitions.

Unlike the UK Chapter’s Design Awards, which are based simply on Design Excellence alone, Continental Europe’s Awards were submitted in specific categories.

The winner of the Architectural Design Award was Tabanlioglu Architects for the Loft Gardens in Istanbul, designed by Melkan Gursel and Murat Tabanlioglu Ihsan, Int’l Assoc AIA.  The jury described the project as a “wonderful development of the loft concept into a different building form with … patios, creating a very successful new urban form”.  

Istanbul_02.jpg

There were three Honorary Mentions in the Architectural Design category:

  • Cigler Marani Architects - Marani Vincent, AIA for the Villa Dolni Brezany in the Czech Republic.  
  • Bitner Architects - Thomas Bitnar, FAIA, for the complete renovation of a 1904 mansion and contemporary addition in Montana, USA.
  • Pickard Chilton Architects – Jon Pickard, FAIA; Willian Chilton, FAIA, RIBA; Anthony Markese, AIA, RIBA, for Eaton House in Ireland.

An Honorary Mention was also awarded in the Unbuilt category to Tabanlioglu Architects for their Astana Train Station planned for Azarbijan.

ŞANALarc with the designers Murat Sanal, AIA, Alexis Sanal, AIA, was the winner of both the Urban Design Award for its Şişhane Park project in Beyoglu, Istanbul and the Interior Design Award for its SALT Research Centre, Istanbul.

Whereas the AIA UK Chapter Design Awards are open to all architects anywhere in the world for projects in the UK and to all UK-located architects for projects anywhere in the world, Continental Europe’s Awards are for AIA members only but they are for projects built anywhere in the world.  However, all AIA members outside of Continental Europe are eligible for projects built in Continental Europe’s jurisdiction.  For the record, CE’s jurisdiction includes the following countries (not all of which are in Europe), but excludes the UK:

Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldavia, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine.

AIA UK Members should check their eligibility and be on the lookout for next year’s Continental Chapter Honor & Awards Programme.  

Print Friendly and PDF

AIA CONTINENTAL EUROPE VIENNA CONFERENCE

Fiona Mckay

The AIA Continental Europe chapter held their bi-annual meeting/conference in Vienna from 1-4 October and approximately 70 people attended.  The conference was excellently organised by CE’s Les Jordan, AIA who said that the London Conference had set a very high bar!

Highlights of the trip included a guided tour of Otto Wagner’s Postsparkasse, a talk and tour of Vienna University that included buildings by Peter Cook, Zaha Hadid, and the surprisingly good lecture building by Laura Spinadel/BUSarchitektur.  There were also interesting presentations by 3XN Architects, and by the very talented Thomas Pucher of his eponymous firm.

There was also a walking tour of historic Vienna to give some balance to the modernist weekend. On our free night, Heather and I visited the Spanish Riding School to see a combination concert of the Vienna Boys Choir and a show of the Lipizzaner horses – magic! – While others managed to get tickets to the renowned Vienna opera.

The weekend was friendly and fun.  For those that haven’t gone on a CE tour – try one! Upcoming conferences are in Barcelona (Spring ’16) and Cypress (Autumn ’16).

Author: Lester Korzilius AIA RIBA

Print Friendly and PDF

2015 AIA EUROPE HONORS & AWARDS CALL FOR ENTRIES

Fiona Mckay

AIA UK’s sister chapter, AIA Continental Europe – the 2nd International Chapter – is launching an AIA Honors and Awards programme with submissions due by 31 July 2015. 

AIA UK Architects and International Associates who are not members of AIA Continental Europe are eligible to participate if their projects are located within the Chapter’s assigned territory.  

Although AIA Continental Europe often self-styles itself as “AIA Europe,” its assigned territory is both wider ranged and more limited.  It includes the following countries not all of which are in Europe, but is exclusive of the UK:

Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldavia, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine.

Unlike our own Design Awards, CE’s programme is open only to AIA members and has defined categories –

 

  • Architectural
  • Interior
  • Urban and Environmental Design
  • Unbuilt
  • “Other” Projects.

 

The CE programme is also designed to recognise leadership and achievements by individuals or organisations that benefit the profession.

Please click on the links below for further information:

Submission Guide

List of Jury

 

We hope that many of the AIA UK’s members who fit the criteria will consider submissions.  

Good luck to you all!

Print Friendly and PDF