Hanif Kara

Last updated

Hanif Kara
OBE
Hanif Kara at Digital Concrete 2018.jpg
Kara in 2018
Born
NationalityBritish
OccupationEngineer
Children3 daughters
Engineering career
Discipline Structural engineer
InstitutionsFellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Honorary fellow of the RIBA, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Practice nameAKT II

Hanif Mohamed Kara OBE is a structural engineer and is design director and co-founder of London-based structural engineering practice AKT II (previously Adams Kara Taylor). He has taught design internationally, is a member of the board of trustees for the Architecture Foundation and was a commissioner for CABE from 2008 to 2011 (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment). He is currently Professor in Practice of Architectural Technology at Harvard Graduate School of Design. He also taught as professor of Architectural Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm from 2009 until 2012. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.

Contents

Career

Kara was born in Bombo, Uganda. Following his graduation in 1982, Kara worked for a structural engineering company Allot and Lomax, where he designed tension structures, roller coasters, offshore platforms and power stations. Kara then joined Anthony Hunt in London from 1994–1996, before launching AKT in 1996 with Albert Williamson-Taylor and Robin Adams. In 2008, Kara was appointed as a commissioner for British Government watchdog Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, becoming the first structural engineer to be appointed to this position. [1] At CABE he has chaired the design review panels [2] and has been instrumental in raising the importance of engineering through chairing the Inclusion by Design Group and Energy for Waste Facilities Group. Kara was also appointed a member of Design for London Advisory Group to the Mayor of London, [3] 2007–2008. In 2010 he was appointed to the board of trustees for the Architecture Foundation. [4] Kara was a visiting professor of Architectural Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm in Sweden [5] from 2007 until 2012 and teaches design and engineering at GSD Harvard [6] as the Professor in Practice of Architectural Technology. He previously contributed to a quarterly column in the RIBA Journal on issues that affect the industry and has written in many technical journals and books relating to Engineering and Design. [7]

Awards and honours

Kara was the first structural engineer to be selected for the Master Jury [8] for the 2004 cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He is a fellow member [9] of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Royal Society of Arts. Kara was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2004. In 2009 he was curator for the first-ever solo exhibition of the work of AKT at the Architectural Association in London. In May 2011 the Association of Consulting Engineers awarded him the Engineering Ambassador award for his contribution to design consultancy and engineering. In 2014, Kara was made a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering

Kara was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to architecture, engineering and education. [10]

AKT II (Adams Kara Taylor)

AKT II is a structural engineering company based in central London. The company was founded in 1996 by Hanif Kara, Albert Williamson-Taylor and Robin Adams. AKT II is famous for its combination of engineering and design processes.

Selected projects

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zaha Hadid</span> Iraqi architect (1950–2016)

Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognized as a major figure in architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Hadid studied mathematics as an undergraduate and then enrolled at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 1972. In search of an alternative system to traditional architectural drawing, and influenced by Suprematism and the Russian avant-garde, Hadid adopted painting as a design tool and abstraction as an investigative principle to "reinvestigate the aborted and untested experiments of Modernism [...] to unveil new fields of building".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggie's</span> Drop-in centres for those affected by cancer

Maggie's centres are a network of drop-in centres across the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, which aim to help anyone who has been affected by cancer. They are not intended as a replacement for conventional cancer therapy, but as a caring environment that can provide support, information and practical advice. They are located near, but are detached from, existing NHS hospitals.

Arup is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment. It employs about 17,000 people in over 90 offices across 35 countries, and has participated in projects in over 160 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Heatherwick</span> English designer and architect (born 1970)

Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, is an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. He works with a team of more than 200 architects, designers and entrepreneurs from his studio in King's Cross, London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Cook (architect)</span> British architect

Sir Peter Cook is an English architect, lecturer and writer on architectural subjects. He was a founder of Archigram, and was knighted in 2007 by the Queen for his services to architecture and teaching. He is also a Royal Academician and a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic. His achievements with Archigram were recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2004, when the group was awarded the Royal Gold Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Graduate School of Design</span> Architecture school of Harvard University

The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, urban design, real estate, design engineering, and design studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neo-futurism</span> Architectural and art movement and style

Neo-futurism is a late-20th to early-21st-century movement in the arts, design, and architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phaeno Science Center</span>

The Phæno Science Center is an interactive science center in Wolfsburg, Germany, completed in 2005.

Ian Ritchie is a British architect who founded Ian Ritchie Architects in 1981. His projects include the RIBA Award-winning Susie Sainsbury Theatre and Angela Burgess Recital Hall for the Royal Academy of Music, Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London and the American Institute of Architects Award-winning Royal Shakespeare Company Courtyard Theatre. Ritchie was the first foreign architect to receive the French Academie d'Architecture Grand Silver Medal for Innovation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW Central Building</span>

The BMW Central Building Located in Leipzig, Germany was the winning design submitted for competition by Pritzker Prize winning architect, Zaha Hadid. The central building is the nerve center for BMW's new $1.55 billion complex built to manufacture the BMW 3 Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAXXI</span> Museum in Rome, Italy

MAXXI is a national museum of contemporary art and architecture in the Flaminio neighborhood of Rome, Italy. The museum is managed by a foundation created by the Italian ministry of cultural heritage. The building was designed by Zaha Hadid, and won the Stirling Prize of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2010.

The year 2010 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

The year 2011 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

AKT II is a London based firm of structural, civil and transportation engineering consultants. It was founded as Adams Kara Taylor in 1996 by Hanif Kara, Albert Williamson-Taylor and Robin Adams. Now numbering over 350 employees, it is one of the largest structural engineers in London.

The year 2015 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parametricism</span> Modern architectural style

Parametricism is a style within contemporary avant-garde architecture, promoted as a successor to Modern and Postmodern architecture. The term was coined in 2008 by Patrik Schumacher, an architectural partner of Zaha Hadid (1950–2016). Parametricism has its origin in parametric design, which is based on the constraints in a parametric equation. Parametricism relies on programs, algorithms, and computers to manipulate equations for design purposes.

Jane Melville Wernick CBE FREng is a British structural engineer and a consultant to engineersHRW. Having founded Jane Wernick Associates in 1998, she gave the firm to an employee trust in 2010 and it was incorporated into engineersHRW in May 2015. Previously she worked at Arup (1976–1998). During her career with Arup, and later with Jane Wernick Associates, she was closely involved with projects including Stansted Airport terminal building and the London Eye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeSimone Consulting Engineers</span> American structural engineering firm

DeSimone Consulting Engineering is a structural engineering firm founded by Vincent J. DeSimone in 1969 in New York City. The firm provides structural engineering services to architects, owners and developers, and performs structural analysis and design for all types of buildings at all project phases. DeSimone also launched a Property Loss Consulting division in 2016. The company has offices in Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Foxborough, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, New Haven, New York City, San Francisco, London, Medellín, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. DeSimone has designed over 10,000 projects in 40 states and 45 countries.

The year 2021 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

Tristram George Allen Carfrae, FRSA, FREng, FTSE, RDI is a structural engineer and designer. He is currently Deputy Chair of Arup and an Arup Fellow.

References

  1. "Hanif Kara becomes Cabe's first engineer commissioner". Building. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  2. "[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Commissioners | CABE people | CABE". Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  3. Miller, Vikki (28 March 2007). "Design for London panel announced | Online News". Building. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  4. "Board of Trustees". Architecture Foundation. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  5. Sweden (24 April 2009). "KTH | Utbildning arkiv" (in Swedish). SE-AB: Kth.se. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  6. "GSD Course Bulletin SPR 2011". Gsd.harvard.edu. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  7. "Sex appeal". RIBA Journal. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  8. "2004 Cycle Cycle Master Jury Members - Aga Khan Award for Architecture". Akdn.org. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  9. "RIBA Honorary Fellowships 2005". Architecture.com. 21 April 2005. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  10. "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N13.