Urban Alchemy

The Transforming Power of Art and Architecture

Themes

• Sharing new ideas and creating greater understanding of the power which architecture and art hold in shaping and re-energising our environment

• Defining the value that high quality design and cultural activity bring to our cities

• Discovering how art and architecture can vastly improve the quality of urban living

Chaired by Frank McDonald, Environment Editor, the Irish Times, our keynote speaker will be Sunand Prasad (Penoyre and Prasad, London), one of the most successful, engaging and respected players on the UK architectural scene.  A former Commissioner for CABE (the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment), Prasad has campaigned vigorously for the importance of design in the PFI process.  Penoyre and Prasad's work with Todd Architects (Belfast) can be seen at the inspiring Arches and Bradbury Community Treatment and Care Centres in Belfast - testaments to the company's ethos 'whatever you do, a well-designed place helps you do better'. 

Biographies

Sunand Prasad MA, AA Dip, PhD, RIBA, FRSA

Sunand is President Elect of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a founding partner of Penoyre & Prasad, an architectural practice known for designing a diverse range of award winning buildings.

He was one of the founding Commissioners of UK Government’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, serving from 1999-2006. Amongst his contributions to CABE were launching the Enabling Programme, and guiding the Skills Programme. He established the Constructive Change group at the RIBA and played a leading role in the development of Design Quality Indicators for the Construction Industry Council. He is the RIBA Vice President for Policy and Strategy and a member of the Institute’s Council and Board. He will serve as President 2007-2009.

Sunand has contributed to many books and publications and continues a long-term involvement in Architectural Education. He lives in London with his family in a house designed and built together with friends.

Sunand Prasad

Frank McDonald

Frank McDonald is Environment Editor of The Irish Times, having been the newspaper's Environment Correspondent since 1986. He is also the author of “The Destruction of Dublin” (1985) and “Saving the City” (1989), two books that helped to change public policy on urban renewal. His third book on Dublin, “The Construction of Dublin” (Gandon Editions, 2000) became a non-fiction bestseller. Along with James Nix, he is also the author of “Chaos at the Crossroads”, a book about the environmental destruction of Ireland, published by Gandon last November.

He won the Award for Outstanding Work in Irish Journalism in 1979 for a series of articles entitled “Dublin - What Went Wrong”, a Lord Mayor¹s Millennium Medal in 1988 and two ESB National Media Awards; one for campaigning journalism in 1999 and the other (jointly with Kathy Sheridan) for a feature series on Dublin’s sprawl in 2003. He is a regular contributor to radio and television programmes and has given numerous illustrated lectures on environmental issues in Dublin and throughout Ireland, north and south.

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