In search of Carbon Neutral Cities

At one of our office Lunch & Learn seminars, we were reviewing Masdar Project in Abu Dhabi and all the technologies involved into making this “city laboratory” a carbon neutral city. The question of the day was;  “Given the prohibitive costs of all these technologies used in making this project carbon neutral, how can developing countries aspire to developing green …

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The Art of Renovating Hotels

It is usually assumed that designers have an easier job renovating a building than designing a new one, however having undertaken a significant number of hotels renovations, there is nothing further from the truth. In undertaking renovation Architects and Designers deal with a completely different set of rules than when starting a new project on a new site. Let’s discuss …

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Bangkok’s lost heritage

Driving last week end through Bangkok old China town roads, I couldn’t  help wonder like so many other times, why is nothing being done to preserve the old traditional buildings in this area? It’s heart breaking, some real gems are left to complete disrepair and neglect! I understand that restoration and preservation of traditional buildings can be a very expensive …

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Housing: The Need Part II

Continuing from last week blog I wanted to look at Algeria never ending housing shortage problem in a bit more depth before drawing conclusions as to what I believe is the reason Thailand is successing where Algeria is failing miserably. “Algeria is an important North African Maghreb state with 36 million inhabitants.  At 2 381 000 sq km, it is …

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What’s the future of waterfront cities?

I have written a couple of articles recently about climate change and waterfront cities; wondering  why are people still reclaiming part of the sea and building to no end, why are properties fronting water still fetching huge prices? I think we are not really totally convinced that there is a real problem; it’s called global warming and it’s signs and manifestations …

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The Lost Heritage, Kolkata

    I wrote  recently about the lost heritage in Bangkok and what I thought were the reasons behind the total neglect of these buildings.I just returned from Kolkata and believe me what I saw was beyond comprehension. Some amazing architectural pieces were at the verge of collapse.Kolkata was the first British Capital of India and thus has one of the richest …

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Underground Cities

From the early ages humans settled in places where there was water, fertile land, plenty oflight and sun and where they could defend themselves. But once in a while we find thesevery intriguing human settlements in the deep of earth; so why have ancientcivilisations built underground cities? The obvious answers seem it is for defense purposesOr for protection from natural …

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WaterWorld

For Centuries human settlements developed and expanded  near waterfronts. When roads were primitive, rivers were the highways for people and goods transportation.  No wonder most of the world greatest cities are built along major rivers and seashores. Bangkok, London, Paris, Venice, like many others waterfront cities have developed over the centuries to become major metropolitan thanks to their access to …

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The Changing Role Of The Architect

It has been a while since the architect was the master builder and was the ultimate authority for any building design and construction. A lot of factors contributed to this change;   The industrial revolution, new technologies, new materials meant the traditional craftsmen were not capable to handle the new complexity of the design and building industry.   We saw …

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About The Author

Dr. Chafia Ferhat

Born in Constantine and graduated from Constantine School of Architecture and Urban Planning in 1984, then completed a masters degree and PhD at The University of Leeds UK in 1989.

Joined RMJM International Design Group in 1991 and became managing Director in 1996.

Feature works include a large number of high profile buildings and projects: Dulwich International College, The Asian University of Science and technology, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Harrow international School, Bangkok International Exhibition and Conference Centre, to name a few.

Dr. Chafia Ferhat founded Fenn Designers studio in 2007 and continue working with architectural projects, open spaces, urbanism in Asia, Middle East and North Africa.

She also contributes to a number of architecture publications and spends some time as a visiting lecturer at Rangsit University, Chulalongkorn University, Thamassart University, KM IT.

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