The Jeffrey Cook Workshop on Desert Architecture and Urban Planning

The 2^nd Jeffrey Cook Workshop on Desert Architecture and Urban Planning shall be held under the auspices of the UN hosted 3rd International Conference on Drylands, Deserts and Desertification, sponsored by a number of national and international institutions and bodies. The workshop will focus on matters of planning and design in deserts, including the promotion of international understanding of desert architecture and passive heating and cooling, and the refinement of approaches to improving the quality of life and work in desert buildings; the transmission of best practices and new techniques to those working in relevant areas; the dissemination of cutting-edge technologies and methods for resources conservation in desert built-up environments, among them open spaces and their design. Special attention will be paid to issues of sustainable planning and design, green buildings standards and specifications, and comfort - thermal, visual and other. Papers on relevant research and projects are welcome.

Project Wadi Atttir: A Model for a Sustainable, Community-Based Agricultural Enterprise in an Arid Environment.

Project Wadi Attir is a Bedouin, community-based enterprise in the Negev desert of Israel. The project seeks to develop and demonstrate a model for sustainable, organic farming operation, adapted to an arid environment. It is designed to combine Bedouin aspirations, values and experience, with sustainability principles and cutting edge approaches to renewable energy production, resource recycling and arid land stewardship.

The project was initiated in order to showcase a breakthrough approach to environmentally sound sustainable development which could impact the Middle East region as well as other parts of the world. It is a joint initiative of the Sustainability Laboratory (www.sustainabilitylabs.org) , a US-based non-profit and the Hura Municipal Council, the governing body of a local Bedouin township.

Since its inception in early 2008, the project has attracted a significant group of partners representing key sectors of Israeli society. Foremost among them is a group of researchers from the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Theme Organizers:

Prof. Isaac A. Meir
Director of Human and Dryland Department, Ben Gurion University, Israel

Invited Guest:

Prof. Dr. Arvind Krishan
School of Planning and Architecture at New Delhi, India
Winner of the 2010 J. Cook Prize for Desert Architecture

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Prof. Arvind Krishan is an architect, planner and structural engineer with a Masters in Architecture from the University of Washington USA, a Masters in Structural Engineering and a Ph.D. in Energy Efficient Architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, India. He is former Dean of Studies and Department Head of Architecture and is presently senior Professor of the Department of Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, India. He is a leading architect in the country in the field of Climate Responsive and Energy Efficient Architecture having designed projects of diverse nature and magnitude in the country and abroad, with more than three decades of professional work. His professional work is supported by intense research in the field of Climate Responsive and Energy Efficient Architecture, funded through various national and international agencies such as the British Council, the European Union, and the Government of India. He is an international consultant to World Bank for their projects in China and a member of UNEP Expert group on Eco-cities. He is a member of the International Advisory Panel, UNESCO Sustainable Urban Development for Asia and the Pacific. He is an Associate of Passive Low Energy Architecture (PLEA) International and a member of the International Advisory / Scientific Committees PLEA, World Sustainable Building Conference SB-08. Krishan has won design awards in competitions and publication awards for research work and has lectured extensively in India and abroad. His work is widely published as books, research reports and papers through international publishers, research journals, national and international conferences. He is author and editor of the internationally acclaimed book Climate Responsive Architecture, published by Tata McGrawhill. The book has been translated in Chinese language, published by McGraw-hill and Chinese Architecture & Building Press, for teaching and professional use in China. Major review of his professional work has been published many professional magazines and research journals around the world.

Dr. Gabriela C. Pastor
CONICET - IADIZA

Title of Abstract: Desert observatories: a strategy for highlighting the cultural landscape of Mendoza's drylands

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