Report on holding The Third International Conference on Art & Architecture, Advanced Technologies, and Construction Management (IAAC) in Khatam University

The third international conference on art and architecture, new technologies and construction management was organized by the Department of Art and Architecture of Khatam University.

According to the reporter of Khatam University’s public relations and the website, the third international conference on art and architecture, new technologies and construction management, was held on Wednesday and Thursday, 13th and 14th of November 2024, with the presence of thinkers, experts, activists and those interested in the field of art and architecture at Khatam University’s Theater Hall in Tehran.

Dr. Majid Ghasemi, the President of Khatam University, in his speech at this conference, referring to the responsibility that was assigned to him during the construction period for the reconstruction of the damaged power plants after the war, said: “During the war, 10,000 megawatts of the capacity of our power plants were bombed and only 2,500 We had megawatts of power plants and we needed to rebuild these power plants as soon as possible.”

“At that time, we tendered the Karoon 3 dam, which was won by a Brazilian company, but the tender amount was about 1.6 billion dollars, which the country could not afford, so the discussion of building it inside the country was raised, and finally It was built by domestic engineers at a cost of 400 million dollars”, he said, “Think big and let your mind fly.”

Before the words of the president of Khatam University, Dr. Amir Faraji, the faculty member and director of Art and Architecture Department of Khatam University in his speech, pointing out that Khatam University has been accepting students since 2015 at the master's level, since 2018 at the doctoral level, and since 2001 at the bachelor's level, "Fortunately, Today, the Department of Art and Architecture has become a faculty”, he said.

While reviewing the previous meetings and conferences of art and architecture, he enumerated the benefits of using technologies in architecture, “Currently, a group project to study new technologies in the construction industry is underway in the art and architecture department, and 75% of the work has been completed”, he added.

Next, a panel entitled "Essays in strategy from imagination to digital architecture" with the presence of Dr. Ali Ghasemi, architect and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eslim Gostar Design Consulting Engineers and Dr. Mohammad Najafi, the architect and chairman of the board of directors of Hafkan Consulting Engineers Company was held in which Ghasemi discussed the topic of implementing the strategy model (Tuckman model) with team building approach in the project of Pasargad Insurance Central Building.

Referring to the role of the leader in the different stages of this model, he listed them as follows: forming, storming, norming and performing, “12 years after the design of this model, Takman added another stage to them, which was adjourning”, he said.

Ghasemi further mentioned some innovations in the central building project of Pasargad Insurance: “One of these innovations was the implementation of stabilization and metal structure using the top-down method.”

In this panel, Najafi also emphasized the need to examine the philosophy of change in architecture: “If we do not understand the exact philosophy of work, we will not understand the change in the paradigm either. The sphere of art works with motivation and human also motivates by beauty.”

He also gave some explanations about the construction project of Bagh Asman hospital complex, which has been designed and implemented.

In the following, in a section entitled "Those who turn the soil into the alchemy", engineer Zainuddin, Simon Ayvazian, Mohammad saghafi and Dr. Saed Sami were honored. Also, appreciation of some of the best students of the Faculty of Art and Architecture was one of the other parts of the third conference of Art and Architecture.

After that, a panel entitled "Can artificial intelligence create artworks?" under the chairmanship of Dr. Ilnaz Rahbar, lecturer of Khatam University and researcher in the field of music with a speech by Dr. Behnam Karmi, architect and postdoctoral researcher in the field of architecture was held. In his speech, Kerami presented a definition of art at first. “Wittgenstein has a theory about the theory of family resemblances, meaning that if we want to give a definition of a concept, we have to provide examples of it as the desired definition. To define art, he believes that we introduce examples of artworks and say that these are called art”, he said. “Artificial intelligence probably reaches a definition of art by dealing with numerous examples of works of art. Art is not just a human activity, and other creatures besides humans can also enter the category of producing works of art. A hermeneutic shift can be detected in an artwork produced by someone other than a human.” This postdoctoral researcher in the field of architecture continued: “From the viewpoint of cognitive science, two processes are involved in the formation of artistic ideas: generating ideas and choosing the right idea from among the multitude of ideas. Artificial intelligence is actually nothing more than a language model and we should have a human-centered view of artificial intelligence because the task of choosing is still the responsibility of humans.”

Kerami said: “Even from Gadamer's point of view, the art produced by artificial intelligence can be considered an artistic reception. Because he believes that we can consider art as a game because more serious horizons appear on us. He believes in a dialectic between the artwork and the audience.”

The final part of the programs of the third conference of art and architecture on the first day, holding a research method workshop with the presence and speech of Dr. Shima Homayoun Aria, architect and researcher in the field of building systems and new technologies and lecturer of the Faculty of Architecture of Khatam University and Dr. Elnaz Ghasemi, architect and researcher in the field of new construction technologies.

The programs of the second day of the conference were with a panel on "New Business Services in the Construction Industry" chaired by Dr. Mahnaz Rezaei, researcher and faculty member of Khatam University with the presence of Dr. Seyyed Mohammadreza Alavipour; CEO of ACEMI Institute and doctorate in construction and project management from America, Dr. Homan Malayeri, architect and university professor and CEO of Iranian-Swedish Speed Age Consulting Engineers and Builders and Dr. Saeed Saeedipour; Doctorate in business, university professor and entrepreneur was held.

At first, Alavipour, referring to the differences between project management and construction management, said: “In 1972, a study was conducted, based on its findings, about 60 to 70 percent of the costs of the construction industry are actually waste, of which 30 to 35 percent are waste that it is completely preventable.” He added: “Our country is struggling with special conditions in the field of financing projects and therefore, one of the best solutions is to reduce the costs of projects, and this is precisely the job of construction management. Technology can help us cut costs, but it can also fail.”

In response to a question about the importance of a degree in success in the job market, Saeedipour said: “The reality is that just having a degree can't help much in this field, although attending good universities like Khatam University can create insight in a student. It's slow, but we don't need to rely solely on the university to access data, all of them can be found in abundance on YouTube, and therefore, if your goal in studying for a master's degree or doctorate is to access data, it is not so fruitful.”

After that, Homan Malayeri pointed out the reasons for the need to design small-scale units and emphasized the impact of various economic, social and cyber factors and changes in this field.

Next, a panel entitled "Geometry as a machine of form" with a speech by engineer Mehrad Mehnia; Architect, researcher and activist in the field of industrial prefabs in architecture, head of The Alliance design office and co-founder of Tehran Fabrication Factory robot-assisted manufacturing laboratory.

He paid attention to the relationship between the construction field and the tools, and stating that this relationship has always been close. “We have always had a range of tools, for making and drawing or for thinking. A contemporary example who made his own thinking tool is Frye Etto, who created the hard shell of the Munich Olympic symbol using the soap bubble tool”, he said. He mentioned further several projects that relating he has built and implemented.

Next, Dr. Mehran Dashti, the architect, researcher and lecturer of Khatam University in his speech entitled "Iran, architecture, ... 0 or 1" said that “Architecture in our country is very young compared to medicine or chemistry, and taking into account the emergence of a new technology that affects the whole world Messed up, we have to see if technology is moving in the right direction in our country or not?”

“The construction of clay, brick and stone pieces is actually the first step in this direction that when we want to build a building, we should use more convenient tools”, he stated and mentioned very old examples of architecture such as the British Parliament building, Crystal Palace and Butal.  

Comparing the current state of Iranian architecture with its state in the past, Dashti emphasized: “What we have as Iranian architecture is not an architecture with an identity. If one of the missions of the Faculty of Art and Architecture is to find an identity for Iranian architecture, it must be acknowledged that no attempt has been made in scientific circles to explore in order to achieve an architecture with an Iranian identity.”

"Architecture of a city, a city without architecture" was the subject of another panel, with the speech of engineer Mustafa Mokhtari, architect and researcher of the doctoral course of Khatam University and lecturer of Islamic Azad Universities, as well as engineer Kimia Hedayati; Doctoral student of architecture of Khatam University and active in the field of designing and manufacturing 3D parts using 3D printing technology.

In his speech, Mokhtari pointed out that “After the introduction of automobiles in Iran, urban spaces were greatly affected by this issue”, and he went on to introduce a book titled "Environment for Social Life" which he published in his recent joint research with Kimia Hedayati. They have used it as the main reference. “Paths are one of the main and fundamental elements in urban spaces, and the repetition of small good events addresses the citizens and is very effective for their mental health and their moral and social behavior”, he said.

Also, Kimia Hedayati, in examining a case study to identify the route, introduced the route between the Faculty of Art and Architecture on Daneshvar Street and the main building of Khatam University on Hakim Azam Street, which was the subject of the research.

 The last panel of the 3rd art and architecture conference was a meeting entitled "Game Architecture: Introducing Academic and Professional Approaches in Linking Architecture and Game Design" chaired by Dr. Mahsa Yavari, architect, researcher and assistant professor of the Department of Art and Architecture of Khatam University and with the presentation of an online lecture by engineer Sadra Sharifi; Architect and researcher in the field of game design was held at Bahçeşehir University (BAU) in Turkey.

“Digital world is a new field that can be compared to the changes that have made digitization possible. One of the best manifestations of this case shows itself in games. In general, a game is a structured form of playing with specific rules, goals, and interactions that create a framework for playing a meaningful experience” she said. She added: “Games can have different outputs, one of which is the feeling of being happy. Games are also an educational tool to preserve and transmit culture. Game mechanics refers to the interactions that a person as a player has with anything in the game world. The dynamics of the game also means the fluency and rhythm that a person has with this tool.”

At the end of the programs of the third conference of art and architecture, the active members of the scientific and student association of art and architecture who made great efforts in organizing this event were appreciated.