Creative Engineering Attitudes in the Built Environment

Creative Engineering Attitudes in the Built Environment

Speaker Profile:

Hanif Kara

Hanif Kara is a design director and co-founder of London based structural engineering practice Adams Kara Taylor (AKT II) and an Educator. Under his leadership the practice has in the last decade gained an international standing in the ๏ฌeld of the built environment. Since forming AKT II in 1996, he has been responsible for a number of innovative and pioneering projects but also for raising the pro๏ฌle of 'Design Engineers' both in the construction industry and the wider community. He is a fellow member of; Institute of Civil Engineers, Institute of Structural Engineers, Royal Society of Arts and in 2004 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

His particular 'design-led' approach and interest in innovative form and material uses, prefabrication, sustainable construction and complex analysis methods have allowed him to work on award winning and unique projects. Between 1996 - 2012 the practice has won over 220 design awards with many for projects led by Hanif as design director. Some include prestigious awards such as the Stirling Prize for Peckham library, London; Lubetkin Prize for UK Expo Pavilion 2010, Shanghai; the RIBA Manser Medal for Hunsett Mill, Norfolk; and RIBA Sustainable building of the Year for Heelis - National Trust HQ, Swindon.

Appointment as a commissioner for in๏ฌ‚uential Government watchdog CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) in 2008; becoming the ๏ฌrst structural engineer to be appointed to this position. Hanif was also appointed as a member of Design for London Advisory Group to the Mayor of London, 2007-2008 and currently is on the Design Surgeon Panel for the London Development Authority, and Design Council CABE's London Review Panel.

He was appointed as a Board of Trustee for the Architecture Foundation in 2010 and 2011. He has used these roles to promote and establish the role played by Engineers both at the national and international level. In the global context the Aga Khan Award for Architecture is recognised as one of the most important awards in the industry. Hanif was the ๏ฌrst structural engineer to be selected for the Master Jury for the 2004 cycle of the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture. His work is also intertwined with the research and education of design. Co-tutoring a Diploma Unit at the Architectural Association in London from 2000 to 2004 and supporting the Design Research Lab. In 2008 he accepted a position as the visiting Pierce Anderson Lecturer in Creative Engineering at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard. Since 2007 he has held the position of visiting Professor of Architectural Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Hanif is also part of the Harvard Research group who are producing the Encyclopedia for Sustainable Urban-ism which is focused on Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat.

Pre-dinner Speaker: kamvari architects and Collaboration

Omid graduated with an architectural degree from the University of Greenwich before moving to the Architectural Association to complete his diploma and Master's degree.

Omid is the founder of Kamvari Architects which he established in 2011. In the short period since, he has been the project director on numerous residential projects in London, submitted schemes for a 40 storey mixed use tower in Tehran, A national Library, a school in Greece as well as 120,00sqft residential scheme in Leeds. He is currently working on a 1.8 Million sqft mixed use scheme in Muscat Oman as well as a number of interesting research projects within the region.

Prior to setting up Kamvari Architects he worked at major architectural firms in London such as Foster and Partners, Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM), Allies and Morrison, Make Architects and Hamilton's. He has contributed to numerous international projects across Europe, Middle East and Africa including, the London 2012 Olympics master Plan, hotel resorts in Egypt, Libya, and Italy, residential schemes in the UK, UAE, and India as well as commercial offices and educational buildings in the UK.

In addition to his duties at Kamvari Architects Omid is Programme Director of the Ar­chitectural Association's Tehran and Muscat visiting schools, a programme aimed at investigating architecture and urbanism in the Middle East. He has successfully set up and initiated the very first scholarship programme of its kind for Iranian students to study at the AA.