THEMES OF THE CONFERENCE

SOCIAL

Architecture and added value: Acknowledging other, non-monetary values

What is the real value of architecture to the consumer? By examining real examples, it will be shown that better architecture brings with it better results, notably in schools and workplaces and that the whole community benefits both in the short-term and long-term.

Quality of life and the production of wealth: The advantages of social investment

An analysis of quality in the broadest sense, of wealth in terms other than personal income and of happiness as it results from the integration of the individual in society. The new planning of our deprived areas and peripheries and true integration of communities.

ECONOMY

Construction for the long-term: Set a new timescale to understand real costs

Examine the need to carry out an evaluation of the built environment in terms of real value, not limited to a quick return on investment, but based on a set of criteria among which, more particularly, is the lifelong cost of the project. The debate will expose the reasons why long-term criteria do not necessarily form part of market criteria, which are usually based on the immediate search for profit. The investigation will also show the significant shortcomings that arise between a short-term political view and the need, in relation to development and urban planning, to work for the long-term.

Procurement and quality: Define guidelines for fair practice in order to protect public interest

This theme will look at the question of procurement, questioning the link between different forms of contract and the objectives targeted in relation to the quality of architectural projects and their response to sustainability.

ENVIRONMENT

Space as a limited element: Define the field of sustainability

It is no longer possible to consider that physical space, and earthly resources are infinite as has been the case up until now.

At the stage where, from now on, half of the world’s population lives in cities and faced with an exponential growth in urban areas, proper management of space seems impossible to achieve. How can this be addressed, what are the policies that, over and above a growing realisation will permit sustainable management of our environment and of our resources, and, in particular, what contribution can architectural policy and practice bring to this endeavour?

CULTURE

Architecture as a cross-cutting element in territorial and urban policies: Integrated approaches for public interest

The Bristol Accord on Sustainable Communities, the new strategic guidelines for the Cohesion Policy of the European Union and the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable Cities all recognise that architectural quality plays a useful role in contributing to the improvement of the attractiveness of cities and regions as well as being a factor in the creation of growth and jobs. Putting the citizen at the centre of future policies is an essential pre-condition if we wish to realise a true societal step-change, particularly by giving appropriate attention to the quality of public spaces. This implies that the true horizontal nature of culture, of which architecture is one of the most tangible and lasting expressions, has to be recognised.

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