Keynote - Ed Mazria: Architecture of the Earth, not just on it! (AIA United Kingdom)
Speaker
Edward Mazria, FAIA, Hon. FRAIC, Recipient of the 2021 AIA Gold Medal,
Founder and CEO, Architecture 2030
Moderator: Dr Mark E Breeze, AIA, AIA UK Sustainability Chair, Principal, Spatial Realities
CES: 1.5 LU/ HSW for AIA Members
Event Description
As architects, our design and specification decisions have an immense impact on the natural environment for generations to come, from the resources used and the pollution generated both from the construction and use of the built work we design. Given the complexity of projects, the fragmentation of responsibilities, the dependence on client will, finances, and governmental regulations and policy, how can we create architecture that is truly sustainable and climate-positive?
In this exclusive AIA event, 2021 AIA Gold Medalist Ed Mazria, FAIA will talk briefly about his lifetime of work committed to effective climate action as an architect, author, researcher, and educator, before engaging in an open discussion with attendees on this urgent topic. The discussion will be chaired by AIA UK Board Director and Sustainability Chair Dr. Mark E Breeze AIA.
Please bring your questions to this event and join in the conversation!
Speaker Bio
Edward Mazria, FAIA, Hon. FRAIC, Recipient of the 2021 AIA Gold Medal,
Founder and CEO, Architecture 2030
A prominent transformative figure in architecture for 40 years, Edward Mazria redefined and dramatically expanded the role of the built environment in reshaping our world. His work and synthesis of the built and natural environments in architecture, planning and construction are recognized worldwide as key to addressing the central issues of our time – climate change, energy, and urbanization. He is the founder and CEO of Architecture 2030, an organization developing real-world solutions that address global issues.
In 2002, he discovered the connection between architecture, building, construction and climate change, published an article “It’s the Architecture Stupid” that led to the industry-shaking cover story “Architect’s Pollute” issue in Metropolis Magazine in 2003. He then dedicated his professional expertise to reshaping the national and international dialogue on energy, emissions and climate change. When demands for his time, research and expertise became all-consuming, he purposefully transitioned in 2006 and founded the non-profit Architecture 2030 to address climate change by changing the way buildings, developments and cities are planned, designed and constructed. That year, Mazria issued the 2030 Challenge, an innovative approach based in science, to reverse the built environment’s contribution to fueling climate change. The Challenge was immediately adopted by the American Institute of Architects, U.S. Government (Sec. 433 of EISA 2007), U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Governor’s Association, numerous cities, counties and states, and most professional organizations, and quickly became the global standard for new building design worldwide. Architecture 2030 was an initiating organization of “Buildings Day” at COP21 in Paris where Ed delivered its keynote address as well as organized and hosted the first “Zero Emissions by 2050” event.
Ed’s research and teaching at the University of Oregon in the 1970’s, culminated with the publication of The Passive Solar Energy Book, the “bible” of designing buildings strongly related to site, climate, local building materials and the sun, which has been translated into five languages and currently in use worldwide. In 1980, he opened a practice in New Mexico and began a 35-year career producing innovative architecture and planning projects. Acknowledged for his body of work and advocacy, he has received numerous awards including:
The Purpose Prize
Mumford Award from Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility
NWF National Conservation Achievement Award
Game Changers Award from Metropolis Magazine
American Solar Energy Society Pioneer and Horace Greely Abbot Awards
Chairman’s Award from the World Green Building Council
Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council for Science and the Environment
2020 Lifetime Achievement Recipient from the Design Futures Council
2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from The Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization
Kemper Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the
2021 AIA Gold Medal
Also, recognized for its architecture and planning work, Mazria Inc. received AIA Design and Design Innovation Awards, a Landmark Designation Award, and an American Planning Association Award among others.
Moderator: Dr Mark E Breeze, AIA, AIA UK Sustainability Chair, Principal, Spatial Realities
Dr Mark E Breeze AIA is a Harvard-trained architect and an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker who combines interdisciplinary practice (Principal, Spatial Realities), research (Founding Chair, University of Cambridge Sustainable Shelter Group), teaching (Studio Master, Architectural Association), and environmental design advocacy (Founding UK Sustainability Chair, American Institute of Architects). Working at the intersection of architecture and film his current work explores the theories, practices, and forms of sustainable shelter. Recent outputs includes the award-winning documentary film Shelter Without Shelter (2020); the edited collection Structures of Protection? Rethinking Refugee Shelter (Berghahn, 2020); Forms of the Cinematic: Architecture, Science, and the Arts (Bloomsbury, 2021); and contributions to the IWM London exhibition Refugees: Forced to Flee (2020). He is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement.
