Building Together Event — Hear From World’s Leading Experts on Multiple AEC Topics

Graphisoft has announced its full speaker list for its upcoming Graphisoft Building Together 2021 Digital Event. The schedule is packed with world-leading experts across a range of topics, including sustainability, integrated design, building lifecycle intelligence, and the future of architectural education.

“We’ve invited great minds and thought leaders to delve into important topics such as diversity in architecture, rapid rehousing, the future of cities, the changing role of architects, and the challenges of cultural heritage preservation,” said Huw Roberts, Graphisoft CEO. “We’re also making it easy to connect with other AEC professionals around the world thanks to an innovative networking platform that will connect participants to the discussions and each other,” he added.

Global Thought Leaders

Nearly 40 leading architects and experts from across the globe will be participating. Here are some highlights from the speaker roster.

• Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart — is a professor at the Leuphana University Lüneburg and founder of EPEA, Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency in Hamburg (Germany), ‘The cradle of Cradle to Cradle.’ He is also co-founder of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) in Charlottesville, Virginia, and founder of the Hamburger Environmental Institute (HUI). For decades, Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart has pioneered the Cradle-to-Cradle design concept.
• Tiffany Brown — is the Executive Director of the National Organization of Minority Architects, founded 400 Forward, an initiative that aims to seek out and support the next 400 minority women architects in the US, to address environmental injustices and social issues of the built environment. She will speak about how representation makes a significant social impact on firm practice, culture, education, and design thinking.
• Philip Allsopp — is Senior Sustainability Scientist at Arizona State University, will speak about the increasing need to rethink human habitats as ecological and technological systems providing energy, food, and water security, rather than mere real estate commodities.
• Oystein Elgsaas — is an Architect/Partner, Voll Arkitekter, will speak about Mjøstårnet, the world’s tallest timber building, located in Norway. An award-winning project designed using Archicad, Mjøstårnet represents a shift in sustainable green architecture.
• Masaaki Matsuoka — is a Designer/Architect at Osaka’s Takenaka Corp., will speak about tradition meeting innovation by embracing innovative computation methods throughout the design and construction process.
• Chris Ambridge — is an  Associate Principal, cox graae + spack; and Gabe Oliver, Vice President, GCS-SIGAL, will speak about the Archicad 25 signature building in a presentation entitled ‘Limitless lessons from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts — a story of collaboration.’ Learn how a single model workflow was taken to its ultimate level to create an iconic theater space and upgrade a landmark building to add significant academic areas as well.

The complete list of 39 speakers from around the globe, from Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United States is available here and will give the Building Together 2021 Digital Event an informed global perspective for all participants. They will participate in roundtables, keynotes, and short TREND Talks.

Graphisoft’s Building Together Digital Event takes place 14 – 16 September 2021. The event is free and open for registration.

An interesting panel discussion will take place focused on educating architects for BIM, plus data from Graphisoft’s Global Recruitment Survey: Hiring the Next Generation of Architects. A panel of experts in architectural education will discuss how we can best prepare students of architecture for technology-enabled workflows, integrated design, and the changing role of the architect. Questions will ask things like “what does the ideal, recently graduated job candidate look like?”

Building Together Design Challenge

To encourage people around the world who have registered for the event to work on an easy design task together using Archicad (no prior software knowledge is needed), Graphisoft will launch the Building Together Design Challenge on September 6, focused on each participant’s personal vision of what the words ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ mean.

The individual models will be imported into a single BIMx file. The challenge lasts through September 24, when Graphisoft will reveal a giant architectural puzzle made up of the submitted designs. Participants are invited to encourage their friends and colleagues to vote for their design — and to submit their own. The 50 designs with the most votes will win valuable prizes. For more information and to enter the challenge starting September 6, click the Design Challenge tab at buildingtogether.graphisoft.com.

Graphisoft will offer online networking for event participants. After signing in, users are invited to create a profile on the event platform and connect with others using the chat function.

For a full list of speakers and topics, and to register for free, please visit buildingtogether.graphisoft.com.