Public Lecture: Democratic Design and Community Development by Professor Henry Sanoff

Democratic Design and Community Development

Public Lecture by Professor Henry Sanoff

Department of Architecture and Urban Planning

College of Engineering, Qatar University

March 7, 2012
Doha, Qatar

Democratic design is an attitude about a force for change in the creation and management of environments for people. Its strength lies in being a movement that cuts across traditional professional boundaries and cultures. Its roots lie in the ideals of a participatory democracy where collective decision-making is highly decentralized throughout all sectors of society, so that all individuals learn participatory skills and can effectively participate in various ways in the making of all decisions that affect them. This presentation includes examples of my architecture and planning case studies in Japan, Mexico and the United States that illustrate a variety of participation methods by which people can be involved in shaping and managing their environment.

Professor Henry Sanoff is a world recognised specialist in the field of community participation. He is an author of world published books, among them: Community participation methods in design and planning, Designing with Community Participation, Three Decades of Design and Community, Participatory Design: Theory and Techniques, Design Games, Methods of Architectural Programming and Visual Research Methods in Design. His other fields of interest include: social housing, community art, children’s environment and aging populations. He is the author of, among others: Creating Environments for Young Children and School Design: Planning with People: Integrating Programming Evaluation and Participation in Design. Another subject of his concern is environmental education, which resulted in the book Seeing the Environment, he has been also one of the founders of the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) in 1969.

For more information on the lecture,
visit http://www.qu.edu.qa/engineering/events/auppublichenry.php

For more information on the work of Professor Henry Sanoff,
visit http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/users/s/sanoff/www/henry.html
and  http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/users/s/sanoff/www/schooldesign/home.html

Middle East Lecture Series, Department of Architecture, Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich

A series of lectures on architecture and urbanism in the Middle East, as part of the second semester studio of Professor Dr. Josep Lluis Mateo - Chair, Department of Architecture, ETH (February 22, 2012 - May 15, 2012)

Guest Speakers: Ibrahim Al Jaidah, Khaled Al Sallah, Ashraf M. Salama, Rami Daher, and Sahel Al Hiyari    

QATARI VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
Ibrahim Mohamed Al Jaidah

DESERT SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
Khaled A. Al-Sallal

GLOBAL CONDITION, IDENTITY DISCOURSE AND CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE IN THE GULF
Ashraf M.Salama

CONSCIOUSNESS AND RESISTANCE, A CRITICAL OBSERVATION OF THE CURRENT ARAB CONDITION AND THE 100 YEARS OVERDUE HOMEWORK
Rami Farouk Daher

WORKS
Sahel Al Hiyari

For more Information: click here
www.architecturalpapers.ch/index.php?ID=70
http://www.architecturalpapers.ch/pdf.php?ID=70

Algorithmic Sustainable Design: An Important Series of Lectures by Nikos A. Salingaros

"Algorithmic Sustainable Design: The Future of Architectural Theory"
A series of 12 Lectures by Nikos A. Salingaros

• 
  This lectures series involves
  Application of cutting-edge mathematical techniques to architectural design. Fractals and algorithmic processes. Cellular automata that generate the Sierpinski carpet. Harmony-seeking computations. Generative codes, and their difference from static New Urbanist codes.
  
  Below are the list of topics.
• To download the lectures as video files or as slides, click here:
  http://www.math.utsa.edu/~salingar/algorithmic.html
  
  
  1. Recursion and the Fibonacci sequence. Universal scaling. Biophilia.
  2. Geometric Recursion and Fractals. The Sierpinski gasket. Perforation, bending, and folding. Anti-gravity anxiety. Architecture of the horizontal.
  3. Universal distribution of sizes. Fractal design, ornament, and biophilia. Sustainable systems.
  4. Cellular automata. Sierpinski carpets and sea-shells. Design in hyperspace and connection to the sacred.
  5. Harmony-seeking computations. Architectural harmony. Alexander’s theory of centers. Design as computation. Computational reducibility.
  6. Alexander's 15 Fundamental Properties. Three laws of architecture.
  7. Biologically-inspired computation. Genetic algorithms. Computation versus memory retrieval. Evolutionary regression.
  8. Emergent systems. Examples from Artificial Life. Inhuman experiments. Architectural education.
  9. Symmetry production. Symmetry breaking. Classical moldings. Binding energy.
  10. Generative codes and their application to building and urban morphology.
  11. DPZ New Urbanist codes and the Transect.
  12. Implementation of generative codes in design.