13. International Architect Encounter Canova 2014
26 – 30 June 2014
Domodossola, Italy

I gave a keynote speech at the 13th International Architect Encounter Canova in Domodossola, Italy, organized by Associazione Canova / Canova Association that is an international non-profit organization founded in 2001, among other three keynote addresses who were: Peter Cox (Dublin, Ireland), Vice President ICOMOS Ireland, President ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Energy and Sustainability; Randolph Langenbach (Oakland, United States) Consultant UNESCO, Assistant Professor at Berkley University, UK; and Tom Schacher (Lagano, Swaziland), Holcim acknowledgment prize winner of the Award for the Asia Pacific Region.

The Canova International Architect Encounter took place in the Ossola Valley, an hour north of Milan and 15 minutes from the border of Switzerland, an area very much off the Italian beaten track, in the medieval village of Canova, a spectacular place for restoration and preservation projects. The association indicates that “Each year in the month of June four architects are invited, to spend four days in the Ossola Valley. Often, but not always, the participants are internationally known and their presence alone is a precious contribution to realizing the goals of the association.”

The presentation covered my academic studies and researches since 2000 and their application on a real life project with Vasia Markides, Emily Markides, Armando Garma-Fernandez, George Lordos, Fiona Mullen and Nektarios Christodoulou, which has got international interest all over the world The Famagusta Ecocity Project. The initial design ideas of the project were developed in cooperation with local architecture and engineering graduate and post graduate students and the South Florida School of Architecture students supervised by MIT professor Jan Wampler. The presentation covered architecture and identity, lose and attachment, ecological development and sustainability as a model for peace of architecture, which was formerly entitled with Vasia Markides at the former abstract of the presentation as “The Famagusta Ecocity Project: Turning a fragmented city and ghost town into a vibrant and unified model of ecology and peace”.

A full room of audiences watched the presentation that was given on 28th June 2014 Saturday to the public at Sacro Monte Calvario in Domodossola, a UNESCO site. There were enthusiastic local people among the audiences, as well as architecture students, local and international architects, representatives of the architecture associations besides academicians. The English presentations were translated to the Italian at the end of each slide.

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