Foundations 19 – Infrastructure Space

Infrastructure? Hearing this word, one instantly thinks of roads, pipe systems, cable networks, bridges, public places. But infrastructure also ap- pears in less tangible forms: in systems for traffic management or capital flow, as a part of public security, as information technology, and in countless other forms. Taken as a whole, infrastructure is nothing other than a lubricant for societies and economies. The way it is designed fundamentally affects our lives and the space in which we conduct our activities. And because infrastructure is often laid out for the long term, it also affects future generations and the way society develops. It is thus a crucial issue in any anal- ysis of how to shape the built environment in a sustainable way. Space! At the 5 th International LafargeHolcim Forum, which took place from April 7 to 9, 2016 at Wayne State University in Detroit, USA, professionals from the fields of architecture, civil engineering, urban planning, social sciences, business, and industry examined the question of how infrastructure must be designed for the long term in order to meet the needs of present and future generations. The roughly 300 Forum participants came from 40 countries on all continents. Equally diverse were the points of view they injected into the eminently important discussion. The exchanges among the experts took place as part of keynote speeches, stationary and mobile workshops, and panel discussions – and of course also at the various informal gatherings during the three days.

The participants were greeted at the conference hotel by the team of the LafargeHolcim Foundation.

Robert Fishman, Acting Dean of the Taubmann College of Architecture & Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, welcomed the participants.

300 experts from all continents attend- ed the plenary sessions of the Forum.

The participants visited the Diego Rivera Court at the Detroit Institute of Arts: gigantic frescoes depict life and industry at the Ford Motor Company in the 1930s.

Left: The LafargeHolcim Forum 2016 took place at Wayne State University’s Community Arts Auditorium & McGregor Memorial Conference Center. The latter was designed by Minoru Yamasaki and completed in 1958.

5