Katja Ortiz Hintz – Senior EC Officer

During the weekend of the 14^th and 15^th of April, Architect Sandra Piesik and a team of 10 volunteers from our Article 25 Student Chapter will be undertaking the construction of an authentic Arish Palm Leaf House at the Royal Geographical Society.

Sandra Piesik, author of the book Arish: Palm Leaf Architecture, hopes that this initiative will give UK architects a chance to engage with this form of architecture and to explore how date palm leaf could be used to meet the contemporary needs of countries facing climate change. Last month, Sandra went down to Portsmouth University to give a professional practice lecture when she met some of our Portsmouth Student Chapters members. She was delighted to see their enthusiasm amongst young architects and wanted us to particularly congratulate Cheryl Bannerman for her great fundraising efforts selling cupcakes for Article 25. Cheryl was also selected amongst many others to take part in the construction of the Arish House so it was a great opportunity for her to meet Sandra Piesik who is making this possible.

At the end of February I went down to Portsmouth University to talk to students about setting up a chapter at their University. A month later they have already organized 3 lectures and have managed to raise £90! Student activity is central to raising awareness about the crucial link between the built environment and international development so I would like to congratulate our newest chapter for their great efforts and enthusiasm!

We are very excited to welcome our latest Student Chapter UEL who have set up a new blog to promote their activities.

On 19^th March, Jessica Toale will be giving a lecture entitled Disaster, Development and Design. It will be an introduction to Article 25, our work and underlying issues that inform our work. Specifically we will look at how the built environment can play a vital role in building resilience in communities after disaster and how the role of the built environment professional is about much more than simply providing the building. We will also look at the international development framework in which we work and how the built environment provides a positive and cross-cutting intervention to help achieve development goals.

This lecture is designed to give students an insight into the concept of humanitarian architecture.

Last week, Andy Haigh, Sustainable Design Strategist at Foster & Partners, was invited to speak to members of the University of Lincoln Student Chapter about the importance of sustainable design.  Speaking to the Society, Andy told members about the environmental consequences, monetary aspects and legal aspects that to be considered in architectural design, as well as advice for good design.

Andy also told those in attendance further details of their global projects. He began by sharing the story of Masdar in the United Arab Emirates, a city being constructed by the company, and how with careful architectural design it will be a zero emissions city. He revealed the project would take time to complete. He advised: “You’re not going to be able to build a whole city in a day”.

He gave further case studies such as the company’s work in the Canary Islands, Dharavi in India, Hearst Tower in New York, the Commerzbank building in Germany and their work closer to home, such as Langley Academy in Slough and More London Plot Seven.

Mr Haigh ended the afternoon by saying: “Consumption is a consequence of demand and demand is a consequence of design”.