Bio
Isaac A. Meir was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1957. He studied at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, where he was awarded B.Arch.T.Pl. (1981) and M.Sc. (1984) degrees, and taught (1982-1984). He holds Ph.D. degree from the Archaeology Division, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), focusing on Building Technology in the Negev in the Byzantine Period (4-7c.CE) and its Adaptation to the Desert Environment. He joined the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BGU) in 1986. He is Associate Professor and has been Chair, Desert Architecture & Urban Planning, and Dept. of Man in the Desert (2005-2010).
He has published over a hundred papers, reports, chapters in books, books on appropriate design for arid regions, as author, co-author or co-editor, in English and Hebrew, Spanish, Chinese and Serbo-Croat. He lectures extensively in Israel and abroad, and has been Visiting Lecturer, Environment & Energy Studies, AASA, London (1992); Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University (2000-1). He has participated in the design of environmentally conscious and experimental projects, including private and public buildings and clusters in the Negev and the Arava deserts, and serves as a consultant to various institutions, among them the Israel Ministry of Construction and Housing, the Israel Ministry of National Infrastructures, the Israel Land Administration, and the Standards Institute of Israel. He was invited to participate at the EQUINOX 2000/THERMIE exhibition (RIBA/Westminster University, 2000). He is recipient of the Sheba Award of the Ben-Gurion Fund - for Desert Architecture (1988) and for Excelling Scientist (2006), and the Dori Award for Technology (1992). In recent years he has advised and contributed to radio programs (such as BBC’s “Life on the Edge”, 1999) and television documentaries (such as Geo/Arte’s “Mysteries of the Desert”, 2000).
Current research interests include sustainable, environment conscious design in arid zones; Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) and Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) in office buildings; the microclimate of open spaces; evolution and adaptation of building technology and types, with special focus on the vernacular and low-cost low-tech retrofit; urbanization among the Bedouin of Israel; proactive contingency planning; and alternative information dissemination and education. Within this framework he has been involved in a number of initiatives, among them acting as Provisional Head of the Energy and Environment Work Group, Association of United Architects in Israel (2000); member of the Professional Experts Committee and the Board of Directors - Sustainable Development for the Negev (Registered Association), Israel; member of international, steering and scientific committees of conferences such as TIA 2000, POE-Windsor 2004, IA2005; HB2006; PALENC2007 and 2010; DDDC 2006, 2008 and 2010; ECOWEEK 2011. He was invited as an expert to the Med-ENEC EU Workshop held in Tunis in Dec.2006; external assessor, Hellenic Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Hellenic Republic (2008); and an expert on the Green Label Directorate and technical committees of Israeli Standards for green buildings, and environmental quality in buildings (since 2005).
He has published over a hundred papers, reports, chapters in books, books on appropriate design for arid regions, as author, co-author or co-editor, in English and Hebrew, Spanish, Chinese and Serbo-Croat. He lectures extensively in Israel and abroad, and has been Visiting Lecturer, Environment & Energy Studies, AASA, London (1992); Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University (2000-1). He has participated in the design of environmentally conscious and experimental projects, including private and public buildings and clusters in the Negev and the Arava deserts, and serves as a consultant to various institutions, among them the Israel Ministry of Construction and Housing, the Israel Ministry of National Infrastructures, the Israel Land Administration, and the Standards Institute of Israel. He was invited to participate at the EQUINOX 2000/THERMIE exhibition (RIBA/Westminster University, 2000). He is recipient of the Sheba Award of the Ben-Gurion Fund - for Desert Architecture (1988) and for Excelling Scientist (2006), and the Dori Award for Technology (1992). In recent years he has advised and contributed to radio programs (such as BBC’s “Life on the Edge”, 1999) and television documentaries (such as Geo/Arte’s “Mysteries of the Desert”, 2000).
Current research interests include sustainable, environment conscious design in arid zones; Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) and Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) in office buildings; the microclimate of open spaces; evolution and adaptation of building technology and types, with special focus on the vernacular and low-cost low-tech retrofit; urbanization among the Bedouin of Israel; proactive contingency planning; and alternative information dissemination and education. Within this framework he has been involved in a number of initiatives, among them acting as Provisional Head of the Energy and Environment Work Group, Association of United Architects in Israel (2000); member of the Professional Experts Committee and the Board of Directors - Sustainable Development for the Negev (Registered Association), Israel; member of international, steering and scientific committees of conferences such as TIA 2000, POE-Windsor 2004, IA2005; HB2006; PALENC2007 and 2010; DDDC 2006, 2008 and 2010; ECOWEEK 2011. He was invited as an expert to the Med-ENEC EU Workshop held in Tunis in Dec.2006; external assessor, Hellenic Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Hellenic Republic (2008); and an expert on the Green Label Directorate and technical committees of Israeli Standards for green buildings, and environmental quality in buildings (since 2005).
:: Photo information and credits:
1 > Ramot Neighborhood / 1000Residential Units and assorted facilities in Beer Sheva, Negev, Israel / AerialView from SW-DetailDec21 demonstrating solar rights in desne urban fabric.
Photo courtesy © Isaac A. Meir
2 > Ramot Neighborhood / 1000Residential Units and assorted facilities in Beer Sheva, Negev, Israel / AerialView froRamot Neighborhood / 1000Residential Units and assorted facilities in Beer Sheva, Negev, Israel / illustration
Photo courtesy © Isaac A. Meir
3 > Meir House South facade-Newe Zin Solar Neighborhood-Sede Boqer Campus-Negev Highlands-Israel
Photo courtesy © Isaac A. Meir
4 > Blaustein Institutes For Desert Research-Administration Building patio with evaporative cooling tower-Sede Boqer Campus-Negev Highlands-Israel
Photo courtesy © Isaac A. Meir
5 > Blaustein Institutes For Desert Research-Administration Building-Sede Boqer Campus-Negev Highlands-Israel
Photo courtesy © Wolfgang Motzafi-Haller
6 > Kibbutz Samar earth integrated Library- Arava-Israel
Photo courtesy © Isaac A. Meir
Most recent people interviewed (View all)
Toal O' Muire
Árpád Ferdinánd
Constantin Xenakis
Isaac A. Meir
Kim Herforth Nielsen
Most recent list of themes (View all)
on Architecture and Theory
on Architecture and Competent Authorities
on Architecture
on Architecture and Sustainability
on Educating Architecture
on Promoting Architecture
on Architecture and Events
on Guiding Architecture
on Architecture and Photography
on Architecture and Politics
on Architecture and Skyscrapers
on Architecture and Art
on Architecture and Travel
My point of view:
on Architecture and Sustainability
Interview Date: 21-09-2011
What is the importance of Architectural Tourism? What is the importance of traveling, especially for Architects and humans in general?
The idea of travelling is very essential, very important for architects, because that will allow them to see different environments, different climates, different buildings, different solutions probably to the same needs of people as these come into reality in different climatic and environmental contexts. But first and foremost I think that when you travel you get to know people and that make it easier to understand that all over the world we have actually the same needs.
What do you think is the added value that architecture creates within a city?
The added value within a city is by formatting an environment that is almost custom made to your needs. This is provided that the architect and the town planner an attitude that is responsive to culture and the needs of people. If you can format your environment in such a way that it makes living and functioning easier, more comfortable, more sustainable in terms of distances that you need to travel, things that you can do in the same area without using transportation etc. That makes life much easier and more comfortable. But, on top of all of that, good architecture and good town planning can make a place much more stimulating intellectually and socially.
:: You are a ‘Desert Architecture expert’ architect. You are former Chair of the Desert Architecture & Urban Planning, and Dept. of Man in the Desert of the Ben Gurion University (2005- 2010) and have published widely in several languages.
ECOWEEK 2011 theme is ‘URBAN COMMUNITIES + GREEN ARCHITECTURE’? In recent years attention turns to green urban regeneration. Do you think that it is imperative for the city or it’s just a new fashion with economic outcomes and covertly interests?
On the contrary, I think it is the only solution. To start with, existing buildings and clusters of buildings have already a lot of energy and material that have been invested in them. If the accepted solution is to turn them down once they are a bit old and then build instead of them something new, we’re actually wasting good materials, energy, embedded energy into the materials themselves, we’re creating a city that is a set of cutting bits and pieces where in some areas you may have a void which is being reconstructed. I think that by renewing the existing cities by adding new functions to existing clusters and buildings you give them a longer life, you make the history of the city much richer because you allow existing historical clusters and buildings to keep on living with different, newer functions but without forgetting where you come from, what is the history of the city, what are the previous cultures and how you actually develop and evolve through history. So, I think is vital not to destroy but rather to renew.
ECOWEEK 2011 theme is ‘URBAN COMMUNITIES + GREEN ARCHITECTURE’? In recent years attention turns to green urban regeneration. Do you think that it is imperative for the city or it’s just a new fashion with economic outcomes and covertly interests?
On the contrary, I think it is the only solution. To start with, existing buildings and clusters of buildings have already a lot of energy and material that have been invested in them. If the accepted solution is to turn them down once they are a bit old and then build instead of them something new, we’re actually wasting good materials, energy, embedded energy into the materials themselves, we’re creating a city that is a set of cutting bits and pieces where in some areas you may have a void which is being reconstructed. I think that by renewing the existing cities by adding new functions to existing clusters and buildings you give them a longer life, you make the history of the city much richer because you allow existing historical clusters and buildings to keep on living with different, newer functions but without forgetting where you come from, what is the history of the city, what are the previous cultures and how you actually develop and evolve through history. So, I think is vital not to destroy but rather to renew.
What is the importance of Architectural events, like ECOWEEK, worldwide? What are the profits for a city holding such kind of major events?
It brings different experts from different countries very close to the local students of architecture that might not find it easy or appropriate to travel for such an event to a different country. So, that makes the event itself a stimulating and educating event despite the fact that it’s not designed as such. It is designed as an interactive thing where younger and older architects exchange ideas and work together. It brings people from other countries to the venue of the event where they are exposed to the local problems. And they go away with a different perception of the place, a different perception of their future colleagues.I believe it makes the work much easier when you have been exposed to colleagues from different universities, from different countries and you understand how to share your experiences and how to share your ideas with them. I think that especially for the students of architecture this is very important and I say that because for professionals and academics there is many conferences that take place. It is important for the students to see such events and maybe find the event an attraction that they can maintain when they become professionals, so that they are updated and they renew their background.
What does the title ‘Desert Architecture expert’ mean?
That’s an interesting question. Deserts comprise about 40% of the world’s landmass. We tend to think that deserts are some remote places faraway from everybody else. The truth is that deserts are very big areas and with climate change they are expanding, they are moving closer to what used to be temperate climates, areas that are very similar to southern Greece, southern Spain, southern France and Italy.
So, an expert in desert architect is somebody who know how to adapt planning and design to the specific characteristics of the desert which are very wide temperature fluctuations – it can be very hot in the summer and very cold during the weekend- there’s very little rainfall which means that in many cases you have very limited ability to play with vegetation, so you have to find other solutions.
It also has to do with additional environmental problems like dust storms and sandstorms, loss of livelihoods, of people, like farmers, people who work in animal husbandry, in many such areas there are there are very unreliable infrastructures for water distribution, for energy distribution. So, we always have to deal with extreme situations that make the architect’s job much more interesting, I think. Usually you cannot create good architecture unless you have all sorts of constraints that you have to deal with. If you have no constraints then any design can be of the same value.
How important is the history of architecture? How do we evaluate architecture in historical terms?
Architectural history is vital because it allows us to understand every single culture and society that has developed a specific kind of architecture and in these terms it allows us to see local culture in a more comprehensive manner, in a more complete and holistic understanding. If you just read the literature, the poetry or if you just walk in the landscape you may understand a bit of the local culture but, if you see what kind of spaces people design for themselves in order to live in, to be educated, to entertain themselves in, that gives you a complete picture of the lifestyle of the people and through this lifestyle you can understand much better the culture and what formulates it.
Can an architecture book influence ordinary people, non architects, to deal with architecture and demand better urban environment? How can this be done?
I know of many interesting and important books that have influenced architects now but I’m not quite sure I know of any books that deal with architecture that have influenced others. There is the old and classic book called “Architecture without architects”, another which is called “Villages in the sun”. All these have been used by a lot of people that deal maybe with anthropology, sociology, and not necessarily everyday people.
It may be time that a book for layman is prepared, that explains to people the use and value of good architecture as opposed to bad architecture. And I say that not in terms of aesthetics but rather in terms of the inter conditions that are created in buildings. If people know that bad buildings affect them in terms of health, physical health but also psychological health. If people understand that when they raise their children in buildings that do not have proper ventilation, or do not have good lighting or built with unhealthy materials, then maybe they will start putting pressure on the architects, on the contractors, on the authorities to promote better buildings, healthier buildings for people.
I think that is a vital issue, especially when we take into account the fact that modern men, modern people spent about 90% of their lives in buildings. What we call the environment which is outdoors is something that we do not relate to very much. We live in air-conditioned buildings, we travel in air-conditioned cars and we go to our air-conditioned offices. That makes our life much unhealthier than it used to be in the past, funny as it may sound.
Does Architecture as a profession need empowerment? In which ways should this be done?
It needs a lot of empowerment and it should be done by the architects assuming the kind of responsibility that is due. In recent years, and I’m not talking about five or ten years but rather about the last fifty years, architects have been shaking from ourselves the responsibilities. We don’t do structures anymore, the civil engineers do that, we don’t do ventilation, that’s the air-conditioning engineer, we don’t do the lighting, we get a specialist in lighting, we don’t do pluming, we don’t do transportation, we don’t do town planning, and we don’t do industrial design.
Even if we go back to Bauhaus in the 1920s, that was the whole idea. That the architect learns how to do all of those things, an architect, is the first mason, the chief mason that knows everything about design and planning. If all architects are left with is “design”, which is nothing to do with technology systems, psychology, sociology, economics, soils, water and everything else, then we are left with no job. Empowering architects it’s the architects’ job. They have to start by studying more about everything that has to do with buildings and cities.
At the end, can you please provide your personal proposal for 10 buildings (constructed and visitable) which you think as the most important worldwide that someone must visit anyway?
It may be time that a book for layman is prepared, that explains to people the use and value of good architecture as opposed to bad architecture. And I say that not in terms of aesthetics but rather in terms of the inter conditions that are created in buildings. If people know that bad buildings affect them in terms of health, physical health but also psychological health. If people understand that when they raise their children in buildings that do not have proper ventilation, or do not have good lighting or built with unhealthy materials, then maybe they will start putting pressure on the architects, on the contractors, on the authorities to promote better buildings, healthier buildings for people.
I think that is a vital issue, especially when we take into account the fact that modern men, modern people spent about 90% of their lives in buildings. What we call the environment which is outdoors is something that we do not relate to very much. We live in air-conditioned buildings, we travel in air-conditioned cars and we go to our air-conditioned offices. That makes our life much unhealthier than it used to be in the past, funny as it may sound.
Does Architecture as a profession need empowerment? In which ways should this be done?
It needs a lot of empowerment and it should be done by the architects assuming the kind of responsibility that is due. In recent years, and I’m not talking about five or ten years but rather about the last fifty years, architects have been shaking from ourselves the responsibilities. We don’t do structures anymore, the civil engineers do that, we don’t do ventilation, that’s the air-conditioning engineer, we don’t do the lighting, we get a specialist in lighting, we don’t do pluming, we don’t do transportation, we don’t do town planning, and we don’t do industrial design.
Even if we go back to Bauhaus in the 1920s, that was the whole idea. That the architect learns how to do all of those things, an architect, is the first mason, the chief mason that knows everything about design and planning. If all architects are left with is “design”, which is nothing to do with technology systems, psychology, sociology, economics, soils, water and everything else, then we are left with no job. Empowering architects it’s the architects’ job. They have to start by studying more about everything that has to do with buildings and cities.
At the end, can you please provide your personal proposal for 10 buildings (constructed and visitable) which you think as the most important worldwide that someone must visit anyway?
One would definitely have to say the Parthenon, because it is the highlight of purity in architecture, even though the Parthenon was not a functional building. It was a building for religious purposes. The aesthetics behind it are very important but the technology is not less important. The understanding of how so many years ago people worked with a very hard material such as the stone in such a delicate manner. One would definitely have to see also the Pantheon in Rome because it is an achievement of architectural technology with probably one of the biggest domes still in existence today.
Another one would be the Taj Mahal, because if you haven’t seen the Taj Mahal you haven’t seen a building that changes as the sun moves. And the Taj Mahal again is not a functional building, it’s a mausoleum.
Now, having put aside all those historical icons, I’m not quite sure I can think of very many buildings around the world that are worth such a high place on my list. There are many buildings that architects should see in order to understand how not to design buildings. Many of them would be most of the modern high-rise buildings that are made out of steel and glass facades which are horrible buildings, unhealthy, climatically unsound. I think architects wouldn’t have to travel very far, no matter where they come from. These buildings have become sort of a worldwide epidemic.
So, I will finish my list with the following buildings:
Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona (as well as the rest of his buildings: Casa Batlo, Casa Mila, Park Guel etc.)
St. Paul's Cathedral, London
Agia Sofia, Constantinople
The Eiffel Tower, Paris
The Opera House, Sydney
Chrysler Building, New York
St. Peter's Cathedral, the Vatican
Another one would be the Taj Mahal, because if you haven’t seen the Taj Mahal you haven’t seen a building that changes as the sun moves. And the Taj Mahal again is not a functional building, it’s a mausoleum.
Now, having put aside all those historical icons, I’m not quite sure I can think of very many buildings around the world that are worth such a high place on my list. There are many buildings that architects should see in order to understand how not to design buildings. Many of them would be most of the modern high-rise buildings that are made out of steel and glass facades which are horrible buildings, unhealthy, climatically unsound. I think architects wouldn’t have to travel very far, no matter where they come from. These buildings have become sort of a worldwide epidemic.
So, I will finish my list with the following buildings:
Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona (as well as the rest of his buildings: Casa Batlo, Casa Mila, Park Guel etc.)
St. Paul's Cathedral, London
Agia Sofia, Constantinople
The Eiffel Tower, Paris
The Opera House, Sydney
Chrysler Building, New York
St. Peter's Cathedral, the Vatican
