Subtropical Cities 2011 Conference Announces Renowned Keynote Speakers

Nov. 22, 2010 - PRLog -- SUBTROPICAL CITIES 2011 CONFERENCE
ANNOUNCES RENOWNED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Subtropical Cities 2011 today announced a line-up of distinguished keynote speakers in the fields of architecture, urban planning and environmental sustainability at the Subtropical Cities 2011 Conference - Subtropical Urbanism: Beyond Climate Change.
Experts in various disciplines and academia from around the world will convene at Florida Atlantic University’s downtown campus in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from March 8-11, 2011 to exchange world-changing ideas and advancements, along with best practices to support responsible growth and environmentally sustainable subtropical design.

The international collaborative conference will discuss the future of development in subtropical cities around the world. Key themes include: subtropical cities in the urban age, sustainable practices and decision making for resilient cities and adaptation to climate change. Subtropical Cities 2011 Conference - Subtropical Urbanism: Beyond Climate Change, is hosted by Florida Atlantic University in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology in Australia.

The illustrious speakers will be:

Andres Duany, Principal, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, Miami
Duany is a founding principle at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ).  DPZ is widely recognized as a leader of the New Urbanism, an international movement that seeks to end suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment.  In the years since the firm first received recognition for the design of Seaside, Florida in 1980, DPZ has completed designs for close to 300 new towns, regional plans and community reinvestment projects.  This work has exerted a significant influence on the practice and direction of urban planning and development in the United States and abroad.

Duany has delivered hundreds of lectures and seminars, addressing architects, planning groups, university students and the general public.  His recent publications include The New Civic Art and Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream.   He is a founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism, where he continues to serve on the Board of Directors.  

Andres received his undergraduate degree in architecture and urban planning from Princeton University, and after a year of study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, he received a master’s degree in architecture from the Yale School of Architecture. He has been awarded several honorary doctorates, the Brandeis Award for Architecture.

Guy Nordenson, Principal, Guy Nordenson & Associates, New York

Nordenson is a professor of structural engineering and architecture at Princeton University and a faculty associate of the University Center for Human Values. Nordenson was the structural engineer for the Museum of Modern Art expansion in New York, the Jubilee Church in Rome, the Simmons Residence Hall at MIT in Massachusetts, the Disneyland Parking Structure in California, the Santa Fe Opera House, and over 100 other projects. Nordenson is active in earthquake engineering, including code development, technology transfer, long-range planning for FEMA and the USGS, and research. He initiated and led the development of the New York City Seismic Code from 1984 to its enactment into law in 1995.

Nordenson was the first recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award in Architecture for contributions to architecture by a non-architect in 2003. With Terence Riley he was co-curator of the “Tall Buildings” exhibition held at MoMA QNS in 2004. He has served as Commissioner and Secretary of the New York City Public Design Commission since 2006. He was the editor of Seven Structural Engineers —The Felix Candela Lectures in Structural Engineering, published in 2008 by MoMA. His project “On the Water—the NY/NJ Upper Bay” won the 2007 AIA College of Fellows Latrobe Research Prize. The research was published in On the Water | Palisade Bay (Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2010) and served as the inspiration for the MoMA workshop and exhibition "Rising Currents" in 2010. Nordenson was a recipient of the AIA’s 2009 Institute Honors for Collaborative Achievement Award, and is the seventh structural engineer to receive this award.

Bruno Stagno, Principal, Bruno Stagno Arquitecto y Asociados, Costa Rica
Stagno is the founder and director of the Institute for Tropical Architecture, which combines concepts of tropical architecture with those of international contemporary architecture.

Stagno focuses his practice on the communion of building with nature, juxtaposing tradition and innovation. His work embodies the principles of critical regionalism in a time where globalization is the dominant force. Bruno Stagno has developed an intense activity, focusing on the maximum exploitation of climate characteristics of the tropics, logical use of materials, and emphasizing tropical biodiversity in the landscape. He endorses the concept of “more design than technology” for sustainable architecture in developing countries.

Born in Santiago, Chile and a Costa Rican national, he has studied architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago and the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. His work has been exhibited and collected in numerous publications and meetings such as Venice Biennale in 2004. He is the author of Bruno Stagno: An Architect in the Tropics and Ciudades Tropicales Sostenibles (Sustainable Tropical Cities). He is also co-author of Tropical Architecture: Critical Regionalism in the Age of Globalization.

His design for the Holcim Costa Rica office building in San José reduces energy demand through natural lighting and ventilation, achieves this at a relatively modest cost, presents a striking and attractive appearance, and provides a stimulating work environment – and was named by the Spanish version of GEO magazine as one of the five pioneering sustainable buildings on the planet.

Dr. Kenneth Yeang, Principal, Llewelyn Davies Yeang, Kuala Lumpur
Yeang is an architect-planner, and one of the leading ecodesigners, theoreticians, and thinkers in the field of green design. He has been synonymous with skyscraper design for years; and his focus, embracing the growing demands of green design, swiftly developed into an extended analysis for the contemporary eco-skyscraper. He insists that in order to be both ecologically sustainable and high rise, a building needs to be the perfect balance between engineering infrastructure and mimicking nature - Yeang approaches each building as an addition to the earth’s living, breathing eco-system. Adopting techniques used in urban planning to analyze sites horizontally, he proposes their almost literal vertical application on skyscraper design – from circulation analysis, to vertical green zones.

After having studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London, his work on the green agenda started in the 70s with his doctoral dissertation for the University of Cambridge on ecological design and planning. He holds the Chair of the distinguished Plym Professor at the University of Illinois and Adjunct Professorships at the University of Malaya and University of Hawaii and recently received a D.Lit. (Hon) from the Sheffield University. A principal of Llewelyn Davies Yeang (UK) and its sister firm, Hamzah & Yeang (Malaysia), Ken Yeang is regarded as the father of the ‘bioclimatic skyscraper’, and is well known for designing signature green buildings and master plans, and for his pursuit of an ecological aesthetic in his designs.

For additional information please visit www.subtropicalcities2011.com


Media contact:                
Diana Hanford               
Ambit Advertising and Public Relations                      (954) 568-2100, ext. 110
diana@ambitmarketing.com

# # #

Ambit is a full service advertising and public relations agency providing traditional and technology assisted marketing.