Speakers

Meet the experts from across the GCC:

  • Eng. Siham Ahmed Al Harthy, Director General for Planning and Studies, Ministry of Housing, Oman
  • Abdulla Al Nuaim, Chairman, Arab Urban Development Institute, and former Mayor of Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia
  • Casius Pealer, Senior Sustainable Buildings Advisor, Affordable Housing Institute, and former Director of Affordable Housing, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
  • Salim Talib Al Sheedi, Chief Executive Officer, Oman Society of Contractors
  • Jonathan Herps, Advisor to SBK Holding, Abu Dhabi Capital, and the private office of H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
  • Gary Bugden OAM, Chairman, ISS Consulting, and advisor to the Department of Municipal Affairs Abu Dhabi
  • Stephen Oehme, Freelance Consultant and Regional Director – Value Management & Sustainability, Hyder Consulting Middle East
  • Deepak Jain, Head of Strategic Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle MENA
  • Dr. Hichem Trache, Principal Urban Designer, Atkins
  • Dr. Alex Amato, Associate Director, Davis Langdon
  • Herald Jorch, Planning Advisor, Ministry of Higher Education, Oman
  • K.V. Praveen, GM & Business Unit Head - Affordable & Mass Housing, Larsen & Toubro Limited
  • Peter Zwaans, Managing Director, Rapid Building Systems Pty Ltd
  • Farid Ismail, Founding Partner, X Architects
  • Ivar Krasinsky, Principal Design Director, Burt Hill
  • Prof. Nikolaus Knebel, Department of Urban Planning and Architecture, German University of Technology in Oman(GUtech)
  • Wilfried Hofmann, Architect, bauplus - prof. nolte and partners, architects and engineers
  • Maysa Saba, Associate, Affordable Housing Institute
  • Eng. Salih bin Mohammed Al Farsi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Housing, Oman

Nikolaus is an architect involved in the research and design of affordable housing. He studied in Berlin, Singapore and Delft, and gained professional experience in the offices of Rem Koolhaas, Netherlands, and Toyo Ito, Japan. On setting up his own practice in Berlin he realized several projects and successful competition entries, all of which were published widely and awarded with prizes, such as e.g. Best Single-Familiy House, Emerging Young Architects Award. These works also gained attention and were exhibited as cost-efficient housing and office projects.

Nikolaus worked as a consultant to the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and the German Development Cooperation (GTZ) in Ethiopia. He then served as Guest Professor for Architectural Design at the Addis Ababa University, where he developed and published new approaches to affordable architecture and urban design in poor cities.

Nikolaus has lectured at many universities around the world with special interest in teaching design thinking. He is now Associate Professor of Architectural and Urban Design at the German University of Technology in Oman where he served as the first Head of Department of Urban Planning and Architectural Design.

Prof. Nikolaus Knebel
Department of Urban Planning and Architecture
German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech)


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