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QGBC celebrates International Women's Day with engineering community.

 
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8 Mar 2012

QGBC celebrates International Women's Day with engineering community.

Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) hosted a conference with the theme ‘Women and the Sustainable Built Environment: Qatar Prospects’ along with key partners Qatar University, the National Association of Women in Construction-Qatar (NAWIC) and the Royal Institute of British Architects-Gulf Chapter (RIBA) to mark International Women’s Day at Qatar Foundation Student Center, Education City, Doha, Qatar today.

Melanie Robson, Chair, NAWIC-Qatar opened the event and introduced internationally renowned architect Kathryn Findlay, who is currently designing The Doha Art Foundation and Official Residence for The Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Qatar, as well as working with Arup on the ArcelorMittal Orbit for the Olympic Park in the UK, designed by artist Anish Kapoor with Cecil Balmond.

Mohamed Jaber, Head of the Education committee at QGBC commented, “This conference is a landmark event in influencing notions of how women engineers are perceived in the region. We are thrilled that QGBC has played such a groundbreaking role in fostering an environment conducive to initiating such a conversation. This we hope will continue to create avenues for women engineers and architects to come to the forefront, exchange ideas and join the rising ranks of women responsible for shaping Doha’s built-environment.”

Melanie added, "To be a woman working in construction at this time in Qatar is a unique experience, and one that should quite rightly be celebrated. Women have unprecedented opportunities to be a part of Qatar's significant emergence onto the international arena."

Responsible for iconic designs such as the ‘Soft and Hairy House’ and the ‘Truss Wall House’, Kathryn Findlay has created waves though her organic architectural aesthetic. Addressing the audience that comprised a balanced mix of students and established engineers, Kathryn spoke about her personal architectural philosophy and the beginnings of her design agency Ushida Findlay.

”Ushida Findlay has a long standing relationship with Qatar and as with all of our buildings, context influences our design. We’re interested in the indigenous craft, climate and culture of our projects. The result is an architectural language that expresses buildings and spaces as natural elements, which has earned our style the name ‘Future-rustic’.

QGBC’s role in bringing speakers and ideas to the public domain as they have done with this conference is admirable. To the women here today, I would like to suggest that we, with feminine sensibilities, can add greatly to where we take our environment and I hope that events like today’s will prove inspirational for Qatari women in the industry.”

Holley Chant, Corporate Sustainability Director, at KEO International Consultants provided the audience with an unparalleled view on the opportunities awaiting women for leadership and excellence in the sustainability space in Qatar.

Environmentally sustainable tourism in Qatar was the table-topic led by Dr Rania Khalil, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urbanism in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Qatar University with her senior students. Dr Khalil’s academic experience and teaching activities include lecture courses in planning theory, housing policies, urban conservation, urban design, and urban planning legislation.

Speaking from her experience with FIDI, Fédération Internationale Des Ingénieurs-Conseils, (French for the International Federation of Consulting Engineers) Paula Boast spoke about adapting construction contracts to build a sustainable Qatar. Paula Boast is Vice-Chair of The National Association of Women in Construction (UK).

Extending her relationship with QGBC, following the launch of the green infrastructure interest group earlier this year, Dr Anna Grichting, Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at the College of Engineering, Qatar University discussed ways to improve the quality of the urban environment.

The rich and wide ranging repertoire of talent was rounded off by Doha-based South African architect Ana Maria Nomico who shed light on ecological architecture. The event was closed by Professor Ashraf M Salama. Dr. Salama is Professor of Architecture and Founding Head of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Qatar University and Royal Society of the Arts-FRSA in the United Kingdom.

He called on his students to build careers in engineering and commended the efforts of the high-profile speakers in inspiring such a change in Qatar where a steady increase in the percentage of women studying architecture and engineering is already being witnessed.>



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