KFAS, RIBA to hold happiness in the city symposium

In efforts to further explore the emerging issue of how urban design and architecture can foster wellbeing in our cities, the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) have collaborated with The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Department for International Trade (DIT UK), Kuwait University College of Architecture and Pace to hold a one-day symposium in Kuwait on the 14th October 2019. Set under the theme “Happiness in the City - Redesigning Urban Living”, the symposium will be held at the Regency Hotel, providing a unique platform for cultural, creative and technical minds to explore the concept of redesigning built-environments to better promote happiness and wellbeing.

Split into three work streams (Creative, Cultural, and Technical), the symposium will bring both local and international high-level speakers - with international and regional experts in fields such as place-making to physical redevelopment, talking in parallel, as a flagship event for the country with up to 250+ attendees.

In a word from KFAS Director-General Dr Adnan Shihab-Eldin, said: “We are so pleased to be working with RIBA, Pace, DIT and Kuwait University to hold this outstanding event next month. Our collaboration comes as part of our initiative to find new innovative solutions to address the challenges facing our county, made possible by developing the capacities of researchers, policy makers and business executives. Based on the findings of this symposium, we aim to study social sustainability of urban environments, and identify the specific ways urban structural characteristics contribute to the behavioral, experiential and well-being outcomes.”

RIBA Gulf Chapter Representative for Kuwait, and Director of Architecture at Pace, Ian Purser, stated: “Using the fast-paced redevelopment of Kuwait as a reference, the ‘Happiness in the City Symposium’ will provide delegates with a platform to debate how architecture and urban design can best support the wellbeing of our cities and the happiness of the people who live and work in them, as well as visit them. The symposium presents a unique opportunity for the attendees to discuss the relationship that ‘shared happiness’ has on the social and economic impact of our cities, with input from specialists in the field of architectural education, industry design and engineering, as well as sociology, environmental psychology and behavioral economics”.

Commenting further, Pace CEO, Tarek Shuaib, said: “Our partnership with RIBA goes back years, just as well as KFAS, and it pleases us as one of the leading architectural firms in the region with 50 years of excellence to once more be a part of a major architectural event set up by RIBA and taking place in Kuwait. As pioneers in design and urban development, we find it necessary to participate in the discussion on how to give designers, architects and planners a more concrete understanding of wellbeing in order to build a happy environment that is sustainable with a special focus on re-designing for equity, social inclusion and sociability that can help us all reconnect”. The agenda includes a series of round table discussions, workshops, seminars and an exhibition, which will offer opportunities for delegates to collaborate and engage with fellow delegates and wider design community as well.