International Architect Talk:
Alfonso Femia – Waterfront Creativity
Moderator: Cathy Simon, FAIA
Part of the 21st Annual Architecture + the City Festival
Wednesday, September 11 | 12-1:30 PM
Center for Architecture + Design
140 Sutter St, San Francisco
The talk will explore Alfonso Femia’s works at the waters edge: and will share insights on resilient design and other relevant topics related to waterfront development as demonstrated by projects designed by Alfonso Femia’s studio; including Porto Marghera, Reggio Calabria, Barcelona, La Spezia and Ravenna, as well as the “famous case” of the Marseille Docks, with water as an essential element, at the center of the architect’s research for years. Femia and his team have been working to transfer a theme, precisely water, which he himself defined as ” the true sentinel of climate change”.
Note: Participants will be filmed and recorded for possible use in AIAU coursework offerings and AIASF Knowledge Community free learning offerings on their websites.
**Networking gathering with the speakers and AIASF knowledge communities will occur immediately after the panel discussion.
This event is organized by AIA San Francisco International Practice Knowledge Community and the Center for Architecture + Design as part of the 21st Annuyal Architecture + The City Festival.
In collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute San Francisco.
Under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco
ABOUT
Alfonso Femia, Founder, Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia
Alfonso Femia was born in Taurianova, Calabria , on 7 December 1966. He graduated in 1992 from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Genoa . In 1995 he founded the studio 5+1 associated architects, which in 2005 would become the 5+1AA Architecture Agency and from 2017 would take his name, becoming Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia. He taught architectural design at Kent State University and at the Faculty of Architecture in Ferrara. Alfonso Femia has created significant works of urban regeneration in France and Italy and numerous interventions in various European cities. Among his best-known projects is the redevelopment of the Docks in Marseille, a historic nineteenth-century complex consisting of four warehouses structured around internal courtyards, six floors high for a development of almost 400 meters transformed into a real urban community project with 50 spaces shops, 20 restaurants, a market, an entertainment space, meeting areas and services open to the community. The Marseille Docks have won numerous national and Biography Career international awards, including the Mipim Award in Cannes, the Leaf Award in London, the Uli Global Award for Excellence in Dallas and The Plan Award.
Cathy Simon, FAIA (Moderator)
Cathy Simon, FAIA is an American architect. She is known for her adaptive reuse and urban design projects, many of which are in the Bay area. She recently authored a book on Waterfronts Occupation: Boundary ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND CULTURE AT THE WATER and was a design principal at Perkins and Will. She was one of five founding partners of the influential female-owned firm SMWM (Simon Martin-Vegue Winkelstein Moris), based in San Francisco. She and Martin-Vengue have spent more than 18 years “building one of the nation’s largest women-owned firms.” She has worked on major projects including the conversion of the San Francisco Ferry building, the San Francisco Main Library, the renovation of PG&E’s San Francisco headquarters, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.