6^th Forum – “Re-materializing Construction”

About The Event

LafargeHolcim Forum under the auspices of HE Assem El-Gazzar, Minister of Housing of Egypt

The 6th International LafargeHolcim Forum for Sustainable Construction will be hosted by the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and take place from April 4 to 6, 2019.

Speakers

Workshops
“Re-materializing Construction”

The 6th International LafargeHolcim Forum will be dedicated to the topic of “Re-materializing Construction”, and the format of the event will be similar to the previous symposiums, including four working streams with mobile workshops. The Academic Committee of the LafargeHolcim Foundation is responsible for content, contributions and the outline of the Forum.

Keynote speeches, workshop presentations, topical excursions in the vicinity of Cairo and discussion sessions in plenary or workshop groups will focus on strategies to “re-materialize” construction by reducing consumption throughout the material cycle from extraction to processing, transport, installation, maintenance, and removal – contributing to a leaner industry: one with a smaller ecological footprint and not driven by the long-standing pretense of infinitely available raw materials.

Construction is the place where opportunities for change reside

The quantity and quality of materials used in construction and the amount of energy consumed in buildings over their entire use-cycle point to the impact that better material protocols could have in lowering emissions and in reducing dependence on resource extraction from the natural environment.

Although increasing energy efficiency as well as the use of renewable energy sources have been an obvious first step in this process, it is now necessary to foreground material stocks and flows in order to further the objectives of sustainable construction. “Re-materializing Construction” suggests a shift in material production and use toward a regenerative pathway. In short, the LafargeHolcim Forum seeks to identify radical solutions in the use of building materials.

Academic publication

Ruby Press Berlin will release a publication inspired by the Forum, evaluating current architectural practices and models, and also introducing materials and methods to maximize the environmental, social, and economic performance of the built environment in the context of “Re-materializing Construction”.