The 6th International LafargeHolcim Forum for Sustainable Construction will be hosted by the American University in Cairo from April 4 to 6, 2019. The LafargeHolcim Forum is dedicated to the topic of “Re-materializing Construction.” Keynote speeches, workshops and site visits will focus on strategies to reduce consumption throughout the material cycle from extraction to processing, transport, installation, maintenance, and removal.
The Forum pursues the question of how the building and construction industry can adapt to be leaner: with a smaller ecological footprint and not driven by the pretense of infinitely available raw materials. Hence, the Forum seeks to suggest radical solutions in the use of building materials.
Keynote speakers include Christine Binswanger (Senior Partner, Herzog & de Meuron, Switzerland), Lord Norman Foster (Chairman & Founder, Foster + Partners, United Kingdom), Laila Iskandar (former Minister of Urban Renewal & Informal Settlements, Egypt), Mitchell Joachim (Co-Founder, Terreform ONE, USA), Francis Kéré (Principal, Kéré Architecture, Germany), Anne Lacaton (Principal, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, France), and Rt Hon Simon Upton (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, New Zealand).
Registration Opens
Around 300 experts from architecture, urban design, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, material sciences, and related fields are expected to actively participate in the LafargeHolcim Forum. Registration of interest to attend closes January 31, 2019. The Academic Committee of the LafargeHolcim Foundation will then select participants from the registrations made here.
Concurrent Workshops
Four workshops will foster interdisciplinary dialogue, bring forward new ideas, and examine potential solutions. Each workshop will be moderated by renowned experts and include input-presentations by more than 60 specialists from all regions of the world. Contemporary material used in construction will be scrutinized, and strategies will be identified to promote fundamentally sustainable practices.
- Changing paradigms: Materials for a world not yet built.
A sustainable built environment that is fully recyclable and constructed from renewable materials - Shifting the flows, pulling the strings: Stocks, flows, and their dynamics
Exploring interrelated temporal dynamics of materials, life cycles, lifestyles, and urban evolution - From manual to digital and vice-versa: Digitalization, labor, and construction
From best practices in manual and digital fabrication: consequential, collaborative solutions - Catch 22: Material needs versus material impact
The right material, the best material, and minimizing material use
More information on the Forum, workshops, speakers, and moderators, visit here.
Background information
About the LafargeHolcim Forum for Sustainable Construction
The International LafargeHolcim Forum is a tri-annual series of expert conferences for the professional exchange on the topic of sustainable construction. The LafargeHolcim Foundation conducts the Forum in close cooperation with its Academic Committee (based at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology – ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne). The three-day event is an interdisciplinary academic platform for architects, engineers, material scientists, and construction professionals of all generations to exchange information on creating a more sustainable built environment. Each LafargeHolcim Forum is complemented by an academic publication, edited by Ruby Press, Germany.
The LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction was created in 2003 to raise awareness of the important role that architecture, engineering, urban planning, and the building industry have in achieving a more sustainable future.
The Foundation is an independent legal entity that is supported by LafargeHolcim. LafargeHolcim is the leading global building materials and solutions company and operates four businesses segments: Cement, Aggregates, Ready-Mix Concrete and Solutions & Products, which includes precast concrete, asphalt, mortar, and building solutions. LafargeHolcim's broad portfolio is focused on solving the toughest challenges that masons, builders, architects, and engineers face, from urbanization to population growth and the demand for affordable housing. Headquartered in Switzerland, LafargeHolcim holds leading positions in all regions across the globe. It employs approximately 80,000 employees in around 80 countries and has a portfolio that is equally balanced between developing and mature markets.
Media contact
Please contact the Head of Communications, Marc Zutter, for:
- More information on the LafargeHolcim Forum for Sustainable Construction
- Interview opportunities with keynote speakers and workshop moderators
- High-resolution images and videos of previous conferences, as well as logos
LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction
Hagenholzstrasse 83
8050 Zurich
Switzerland
Phone: +41 58 858 82 95
Mobile: +41 79 375 60 28
E-mail: marc.zutter@lafargeholcim-foundation.org
