DESIGN
Dialogue 1.1
SPORT
WHEN
18 September 2023
WHERE
Department of Innovative Technologies, SUPSI
WHO
Hossein Rezai and Cesc Fàbregas
DESIGN guest
HOSSEIN REZAI
Global design director at Ramboll and founding director of Milan Research Lab, Hossein is an engineer, a design visionary and an educator. He is one of the initiators of fusion engineering and the first and only engineer to receive the coveted title “Designer of the Year” from the President of Singapore, at the President*s Design Award 2016.
He is passionate about advanced computational design and a holistic approach to architecture, structure and environment. Dr Rezai’s high-profile contributions to industry discourse include serving on the Master Jury of the 13th cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
SPORT guest
CESC FàBREGAS
A legend of world football and, at the time of the Dialogue, coach of Como’s Primavera team, Cesc has graced all of football’s most prestigious stages and won an impressive series of trophies, among them the UEFA European Championship in 2008 and 2012 and the FIFA World Cup in 2010.
What stands out among his many qualities as a footballer is a clear tactical vision, creativity and the ability to dominate the playing space. His strong personality combines Spanish temperament with glacial English calm. Fàbregas is an extraordinary talent who continues to excite and delight football fans all over the world.
Keynote highlights
Dr Hossein Rezai inspired us with his keynote on the Future of Excellence, taking us across the spectrum from ignorance to genius. He showed us how excellence sits ambiguously at the crossroads between competence and curiosity, where existing knowledge perpetually meets the desire for more. A dynamic duality exists here between the comfort of knowing and the anxiety of not knowing.
JOURNEY TOWARDS EXCELLENCE
Dr Rezai also reminded us how rapidly our built environment has developed, in contrast to the natural environment, and illustrated the near destruction of terrestrial biodiversity, down to 30% of what existed in the 1970s. He stressed the urgent need to bend the degenerative curve of biodiversity loss and to explore new, innovative paths towards a regenerative future.
DECLINE IN BIODIVERSITY
Adapted from Dr Rezai’s presentation on 18 September 2023.
We enjoyed inspiring insights into the importance of collaboration, the role of new technologies and the process of continuous learning. Our guests showed us that excellence is not a target, nor a destination, but a journey and a state of being: not something merely to achieve, but something to pursue constantly.
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