Organised by Eastern Mediterranean University Arcitecture Faculty, the conference entitled “Unspoken Issues in Architecture Education” took place at Famagusta Rauf Raif Denktaş Culture and Congress Center between 3 and 4 April 2014. During the conference opening, EMU Architecture Department Chair Prof. Dr. Özgür Dinçyürek, EMU Architecture Faculty Dean Prof. Dr. Şebnem Hoşkara and EMU Rector Prof. Dr. Abdullah Y. Öztoprak delivered the opening speeches.
Following the opening addresses, education director of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Prof. David Gloster gave a presentation entitled “Investigating Absence: Architecture and Omission”. At the beginning of his presentation, Prof. Gloster stated that the conference is significant because it brought together two important institutions, RIBA and NAAB in the field of architecture.
Co-chaired by EMU Architecture Faculty dean Prof. Dr. Şebnem Hoşkara and Architecture Department chair Prof. Dr. Özgür Dinçyürek, the conference had the main themes of “Diversified Mediums”, “Dynamic Philosophy” and “Contradictory Education”. The international advisory committee of the conference was formed by 16 academics from 12 different countries including Hungary, France, Italy, Belgium, the U.K., Denmark, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, the U.S.A., Scotland, and Spain. The science committee of the conference had 32 scientists from 11 different countries including Egypt, the U.S.A., Canada, Turkey, Spain, Italy, TRNC, the U.K., Bangladesh, and Qatar. The conference which attracted great interest at the international level hosted 50 presentations from 21 different countries.
Among notable names who attended the event as the keynote speakers were the chair of the American National Architecture Accreditation Board Prof. Theodore Landsmark, education director of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Prof. David Gloster, chair of the former Oxford conference on “Architecture Education” Prof. Susan Roaf, the European Architecture Education Association executive board member Prof. Dr. Manuel Couceiro Da Costa and the European Network of Heads of Schools of Architecture director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Constantin Spiridonidis.
The international event which took place over two days hosted two concurrent sessions featuring topics on the mass, digital and social media and architectural education, architectural education for conflicted fronts, disaster management, energy consumption, conflict and war, and the role of accreditation in architectural education.
