A conversation between Yasser Elsheshtawy, curator of the UAE National Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition [...]

26 October | 6 - 7pm
The Atrium, Building 4, Dubai Design District (d3)

A conversation between Yasser Elsheshtawy, curator of the UAE National Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia 2016 and Adina Hempel, Architect, Assistant Professor at Zayed University. Drawing from the book "Transformations: The Emirati National House”, the discussion will focus on the exhibition, and the research of the transformations of the Emirati national house through the years.

Yasser Elsheshtawyis the curator of “Transformations: The Emirati National House”, the exhibition hosted by the National Pavilion UAE at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia 2016. Elsheshtawy is Associate Professor of Architecture at the United Arab Emirates University (UAE University), where he has been teaching since 1997. Elsheshtawy’s academic work focuses on the city aiming to capture, describe and analyse the urban experience of city dwellers. His emphasis is on the human component of city environments, which entails an examination of people’s behavior in urban settings, and the perceptual qualities of the urban and architectural landscape. His scholarship deals with urbanization in developing societies, informal urbanism, urban history and environment-behavior studies, with a particular focus on Middle Eastern cities.

Adina Hempel is an architectural consultant, urban researcher and Assistant Professor at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises at the Zayed University in Dubai, UAE. She is leading a newly established research cluster entitled ‘Pattern in the MENA region’ at Zayed University, exploring the notion of visual and organizational elements of material culture, community building and cultural representation in and from the MENA region.

She has conducted extensive research on the modern architectural history of the UAE, was appointed Head of Research as part of the curatorial team of the National Pavilion of the UAE at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition in La Biennale di Venezia and is currently the Head of Research for the Shindagha Historic District Wave 1 pavilions at GSM Project, Dubai.

Adina Hempel received a Dipl.-Ing. of Architecture (Master in Architecture) from the Technical University of Dresden in Germany, studied at Columbia University New York and New York Film Academy.