IASTE 2024 KeyNote Speakers and Discussants

IASTE 2024, RIYADH KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

IASTE 2024 takes great pride in extending a warm invitation to a cohort of four esteemed keynote speakers and an additional four distinguished discussants. These luminaries collectively represent a diverse spectrum of knowledge and experience, enhancing the conference’s intellectual vibrancy. With their groundbreaking contributions spanning various disciplines, the keynote speakers are poised to captivate audiences, offering fresh perspectives on critical subjects. Likewise, the two discussants, renowned in their respective fields, will play a pivotal role in shaping thought-provoking discussions following the keynote addresses. This convergence of intellectual prowess underscores IASTE’s commitment to fostering insightful conversations, enabling interdisciplinary dialogues that transcend boundaries. Attendees can anticipate an enriching experience as they engage with these thought leaders, drawing inspiration from their ideas and engaging in meaningful exchanges.

KENOTE SPEAKERS

A DYNAMIC TRADITION: CONTINUITY & CHANGE IN THE MUSLIM BUILT ENVIRONMENT 

Salah AlHathloul 
Professor of Architecture & Urban Design at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

AlHathloul is an educator and a critic in the field of architecture, and he is the author of numerous books and articles on planning and architecture in Arabic among them The Arab Muslim City. For two decades, AlHathloul has served as the deputy minister for town planning,  in the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he was the chairman of the board of Al-Umran (the Saudi Arabian Society for Architects and Planners) from its inception in 1989 until 1993.

RESILIENT URBANISM AND DYNAMIC COMMUNITIES: NAVIGATING PUBLIC HEALTH IN CITIES OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD

Mohammad Gharipour, 
Professor and Director of the Architecture Program, University of Maryland, College Park, USA 

Gharipour has published nearly many journal papers and books including The Bazaar in the Islamic CityThe City in the Muslim World: Depictions by Western Travelers, Urban Landscapes of the Middle East, Social Housing in the Middle East and Epidemic Urbanism: Contagious Diseases in Global Cities, Historiography of Persian Architecture, Gardens of Renaissance in Europe and the Islamic Empires, and Islamic Architecture Today and Tomorrow. 

AFRICAN LANDSCAPE PRACTICES: ALTERNATIVE FUTURES FOR THE FIELD

Gareth Doherty
Associate Professor and Director of Landscape Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Doherty work explores narratives and practices of landscape architecture that have not yet been formally documented in Islamic and postcolonial societies. His book Paradoxes of Green: Landscapes of a City-State  analyzed the Bahraini landscape. His edited books include Is Landscape…? Essays on the Identity of Landscape and Ecological Urbanism Doherty is a founding editor of the New Geographies  journal and editor-in-chief of New Geographies 3: Urbanisms of Color 

“PARALLEL HERITAGE” AND DYNAMIC TRADITIONS: NEW VISION FOR CONTEMPORARY ARAB ARCHITECTURE

Mashary Al-Naim
Professor of Architectural Criticism, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Al-Naim is an architect and urban planner, who established the National Built Heritage Center at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities.  During the last two decades, he worked as a consultant on many of the architectural and planning major projects in Saudi Arabia and the region, He is a writer who specialized in the architecture and urbanism of the Arab world and has published hundreds of articles in the fields of architecture in both Arabic and English.

DISCUSSANTS

Howayda Al-Harithy
Professor of Architecture at the American University of Beirut,

LebanonAl-Harithy has been the Chair of the Department of Architecture and Design at AUB and was the founding director of it when it became a school. She is an architecture historian who specializes in the Mamluk period and more recently on urban heritage.  She is widely published with many articles in referred journals and book chapters. Her books include Lessons in Post-War ReconstructionPost-war Recovery of Cultural Heritage Sites, and Urban Recovery: Intersecting Displacement with Reconstruction.

Farrouk Derakhshani
Director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture

Derakhshani’s work with the award has brought him into contact with architects, builders, and planners throughout the world. He has organized and participated in numerous international seminars. His main field of specialisation is the contemporary architecture of Muslim societies. He lectures widely and serves on boards and committees of a number of cultural institutions. In 2018, he was named an International Fellow of RIBA.