São Paulo – Hashim Sarkis, the Lebanese-born dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (SA+P-MIT), in the United States, will be in São Paulo next Tuesday (27). He will deliver the keynote address in a seminar and exhibit on the effects of rapid urbanization in big cities and the shifting concepts of housing and habitation.
The event is organized by the Arq. Futuro project, the SA+P, and the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of São Paulo (FAU-USP), where the meeting will take place. Brazil’s Arq.Futuro project is a discussion platform focusing on the future of cities.
Sarkis has been the SA+P dean since January 2015. An architect by trade, he has developed low-cost housing, buildings, and urban planning projects. He has won several prizes and accolades, including at the Venice Biennale. One of his latest projects is a building in Byblos, one of Lebanon’s premier tourist destinations. The building will house a museum and local city hall offices. Another of his creations is a popular housing complex set to be built in the Lebanese city of Aamchit.
Challenges in the cities
Social inequality, housing deficits and migration are some of the effects of unplanned urbanization and the lack of public policies for sustained urban development. Moreover, concepts such as habitation and housing are changing, and no longer refer to a specific location. Every habitation is the result of its surroundings and its interaction with it: the presence or absence of public transportation, connections with the city and with municipal service networks.
Apart from Sarkis’ address, the event will see SA+P and FAU enter into a partnership. It will also feature a presentation of an exhibit created by the Lebanese architect in partnership with MIT research fellows Gabriel Kozlowski and Roi Sagueiro. “The world according to architecture” has been featured at Yale University and in the exhibit “The city of 7 billion: a constructed world,” which discusses globalization and its impact on urban centers.
Quick facts
The World According to Architecture
September 27, 2016
4pm – Exhibition Opening and Keynote Address
5pm – Launch of MIT SA+P, FAU-USP and Arq.Futuro Partnership
Venue: FAU-USP Auditorium, Rua do Lago, 876, Butantã – São Paulo
For additional information write to: [email protected]
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
