INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECT ENCOUNTER

Every year, in the month of June, Canova organises an encounter of four architects of international fame. The Encounter, an informal event, aims to be a moment of professional and personal exchange between the guests, sharing the widest imaginable experiences from all corners of the globe. Another important aspect of the Encounter is the impact that their presence plays on attracting attention to the dire present condition of local medieval stone architecture and Canova Association's role in sensitising the local population and political administrators to address this issue. The participants, hosted in Canova for four days, are accompanied on local outings to discover for themselves the extraordinary beauty of the Ossola Valley and its rich medieval stone architecture.

2011 International Architect Encounter

Suad Amiry, Palestine

Suad Amiry is an architect and a writer. She is the Founding Director of Riwaq: Centre of Architectural Conservation, Ramallah Palestine (www.riwaq.org) which endeavors to protect and develop architectural heritage in Palestine. Prof. Amiry taught at the Department of architecture at Birziet University and the University of Jordan. She is presently the Vice-President of the Board of Trustees of Birziet University. Amiry is the author of "Sharon and My mother-in-Law" (Random House) which has been translated into 19 languages and won her the prestigious Italian literary Prize "Viareggio" in 2004. Amiry is the author of several architectural books and also has a political history. She was a member and the only woman appointed to the Palestinian Delegation to the Washington Peace Talks between Palestine and Israel 1991-1993. 

Adine Gavazzi, doctor in Architecture of the Politecnico of Milan with a specialization in American anthropology at the University Complutense of Madrid, studies Andean architecture since 1986. After a survey on the Inca settlement and planning system in Ollantaytambo, Peru her research has focused on sacred spaces, ceremonial centers and theocratic capitals. She works for CISRAP in Peru at Cahuachi, Nasca since 1996 and more recently at Tiahuanaco, Bolivia and for MTR of Sipan at Ventarròn, Chiclayo, where she has sequenced construction phases, defined a field methodology and framed the theoretical basis of a discipline, rendering with Studio Kaleidos of Milán the 3D models of the sites. She is now exploring the architectural typology of the Amazon maloca and the territorial occupation of coast, sierra and forest since the archaic period of cosmocentric societies. She is a researcher at the “Centro Studi e Ricerche Archeologiche Precolombiane� of Brescia, Italy and Nasca, Peru, member of the Unesco Chair research group at the University of Bergamo and affiliated to the organization Architects without Bordersâ€� and member of Apus Graph Ediciones. She has published essays on inca architecture, Cahuachi, Ventarra and on Andean sacred mountains. She is a Swiss citizen and resident of the Kanton of Zug and mother of a 11 year old pianist daughter. 

Ben Spencer was a Peace Corps volunteer until evacuated from East Timor in 2006 due to political unrest. He is currently Director and President Emeritus of Architects Without Borders-Seattle, an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington's College of Built Environments and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the University of Washington's Department of Global Health. His practice, research and teaching explore design activism in developing communities and champion design as a vehicle for environmental regeneration, social justice and cultural resilience. His current work focuses on two sites in Peru. In Ventarron, a town and archeological reserve in Northern Peru, he is working with the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan, the UNESCO Chair of Bergamo and the community of Ventarron to establish community-based cultural heritage tourism at the site and develop several associated design projects. In Lomas de Zapallal, a slum in Northern Lima, he is working with an interdisciplinary team from the University of Washington and the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and community leaders to design, implement and evaluate the impacts of small scale, ecologically intelligent interventions in community infrastructure. Ben lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife and 1 year old son. 

Bshara is a conservation architect and a designer He has been heading the Conservation Unit in Riwaq-Centre for Architectural Conservation since 1994. He was awarded Bachelor of Architectural Engineering (Birzeit University, 1996), and MA in Conservation of Historic Towns and Buildings (R. Lemaire Centre for Conservation/Catholic University of Leuven KUL, Belgium, 2001). Bshara participated in the 15th International Course on Stone Conservation organised by ICCROM in Venice 2003, the UCLA Summer Institute Constructing the Past in the Middle Eastâ, Istanbul 2004 and a Training Course on Project Design organized by the RMSU in Venice 2006. He a is the author and co-author of number of books and articles: Riwaqâ's Guidelines for Maintenance and Restoration of Historic Buildings in Palestine, 2005; Ramallah, Architecture and History, (co-author), 2002; Breeze from the Northâ, 2002; Job Creation through Restoration towards sustainable community, 2005; What Next? Scenarios for the Treatment of Vacant space resulted from Armed Conflict in Palestine's�, 2005; Bshara has been representing the Palestinian partner to Euromed Heritage networks such as CORPUS (The Mediterranean Traditional Architecture) 1998-2001; MEDINA (Mediterranean by Internet Access) 2002-2006 and REHABIMED (Rehabilitation of the Mediterranean Architecture) 2005-2007.