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Msheireb Properties seminar explores responsive settings for urban places and meaningful learning environment

Part of company's Chair of Architecture at Qatar University series

The 'Responsive Environments between Universal Relevance and Cultural Reference' seminar hosted by Msheireb Properties at the company's Knowledge Enrichment Centre successfully attracted a wide distinguished audience of academics, architects, students and members of the professional community. This was the third in the series of lectures organised by the Msheireb Properties Chairs in Architecture at Qatar University .

The seminar conducted by Prof Ashraf M. Salama (Head of Department of Architecture and Urban Planning and Msheireb Properties co-Chair in Architecture at Qatar University ) and Prof Tim Makower ( Msheireb Properties co-chair at Qatar University and Partner Allies and Morrison Architects, London) addressed a spectrum of audience that reached professional architects and planners, and students of architecture.

Prof Makower's lecture titled 'ZOOM: How to make Nice Places; Step Two' referred to notions relevant to the making of successful urban places which are aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to live while Prof. Salama's lecture titled 'Emerging Perspectives on Schooling and School Buildings' showed the results of his explorations of issues relevant to the making of meaningful environments for learning in Qatar.

Prof Makower's second in a series of three lectures about how to make 'nice places'; pleasant places to be; successful urban places which are good for people to inhabit, to look at and to use, was very well received. The lecture posed some interesting and important questions for urban designers and architects, such as, 'Is there a size for an urban masterplan beyond which it is 'dangerous' to allow one designer to take control and which should therefore be broken down into smaller packages?' and 'Is there a maximum for a comfortable distance to walk in a city before one can turn left or right, or are all such judgements relative?

"In our work at the Msheireb project, we have used models such as Beirut and Souk Waqif in Doha to judge the level of intimacy and the 'human scale' of urban spaces, with governing factors of course being highways design, environmental design and residential adjacencies as much as aesthetics," Prof Makower elaborated while exploring questions such as, 'Is there an absolute maximum width for a pleasant street or is it all a matter of proportion?', and 'Can a very wide street be a success because it has very tall edges?'

Prof Makower's presentation also brought about questions on form and relative scale: 'Are skylines and streetscapes necessarily 'harmonious' if buildings are controlled within maximum heights?'. As development parcels become larger, it becomes increasingly important to balance the picturesque and the rational. And the engaging query of 'Why do some surfaces engage the viewer in a more satisfying way than others?', 'Why can some buildings be appreciated at all scales - from far away, middle distance, close up - when others disappoint from either near or far?' Prof Makower presented some of the 'hand-made' process of drawing at all scales; thinking about the layouts of cities, the plans or elevations of buildings or the detail or a doorway, all with an equivalent intensity. Asking if this is integral to the making of successful places? "Yes, it is impossible to bring an appropriate sense of humanity to the fabric of cities without zooming in and zooming out, continually simplifying and enriching, refining and responding; with intuition as well as with intellect," said Prof Makower.

The second lecture, delivered by Prof Salama focused on school buildings and schooling, arguing that the educational process in schools involves many activities that aim at testing students' motivation, knowledge assimilation, academic performance, and teachers' productivity. Prof Ashraf analyzed the emerging understandings of sustainable learning environments and measured reactions of teachers and children from six schools representing the three educational systems within Qatar. This materialized through the development and implementation of an awareness-based assessment mechanism encompassing awareness-based tools that seek feedback from users on the spatial environment relevant to their activities in space.

Guided by the four principles of Qatar Education Reform Initiative (Autonomy, Accountability, Variety, and Choice), and along the line of the preceding outline, Dr Ashraf's research explored as to how school building users perceive their environments? What are the mechanisms of understanding their perceptions and preferences? The presentation explored various ways to find efficient bottom up strategies and tools that address school building users which can be utilized in the Qatari context.

Prof Salama's research seeks the development of trans-disciplinary knowledge by attempting to cross the boundaries of knowledge about the physical qualities of school buildings, knowledge about how these buildings have an impact on the environment, and knowledge about the way in which school buildings accommodate and foster different types of activities that achieve desired teaching, learning, and behavioral objectives.

"The research concludes that school environments in different parts of the world must provide students and teachers with feelings of hospitality, comfort and safety. Education reforms have to take into account school building designs that nurture children's spirits, promote their creativity or advance their academic achievement. It's time now to envision the need to go beyond adopting prescriptive measures to address the quality of the learning of environment. The research highlights the need to utilize knowledge generated from research findings into school design process, to pursue active roles in sensitizing users about the value of the school environment in reaching the desired academic performance while increasing teachers' productivity," says Prof Salama.

Msheireb Properties established the Chairs in Architecture to support Qatar University (QU) in developing qualified architects who can own and further its new architectural language. A spatial language that strikes a balance in the understanding of different qualities in the built environment that includes cultural aspirations, environmental concerns and the desire to build a modern metropolis that speaks to its community and context.

Ashraf M Salama, M.Arch., PhD, is an architect, scholar and Professor of Architecture and Head of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Qatar University . He is a recognized Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Society of the Arts. His appointment included serving as an International Jury member for United Nations Competition, UNESCO, and the International Union of Architects-UIA. His books on architectural pedagogy and design studio teaching practices are widely- acknowledged. He is chief editor of International Journal of Architectural Research at MIT, USA, and associate editor of Open House International Journal, UK.

Tim Makower MA Cambridge University, RIBA, is a partner at Allies and Morrison, one of the UK's foremost practices in Architecture and Urban Design. He has had extensive experience designing in multi-cultural contexts both in the UK and the GCC, including major projects both of urban design and architecture. He is the architect of the Diwan Amiri Quarter, including the Qatar National Archives and the National Eid Ground in the Msheireb project as well as numerous residential projects in Doha.

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For further information on Msheireb Properties please contact:
Jawaher Al Khuzaei
+974 55568992
jalkuzaei@msheireb.com

Chatura Poojari
+974 33257708
cabbasi@msheireb.com

© Press Release 2011