Zak World of Façades i Oslo

Her er et opptak av eventet fra 30. november 2023:

Og her kan du en en bildekavalkade fra Zak World of Façades i Oslo

Vi har intervjuet Jonathan Kumar, kommunikasjonsansvarlig i Zak, om konferansen og historien bak den:

- What is Zak?
- Zak Exhibitions & Conferences is an event management firm with offices in India, Singapore, United Kingdom and UAE. Since its inception in 1994, Zak has provided event planning and creative delivery of trade fairs, conferences and exhibitions for a variety of industries including textile machinery, garment technology, glass technology, façade and fenestration, industrial engineering, jewelry, furniture, renewable energy, B2C sourcing products, etc.

Over the past two and a half decades, Zak has successfully organized more than 700 events in over 35 countries keeping in line with the objective of maintaining international standards in organizing high quality professionally managed and value-added events.

- What does the name “Zak” stand for?
- “Zak” is the shortened form derived from the name of our founder, Syed Zakir Ahmed.

Ahad Ahmed på Zak-konferansen i København i 2022. Årets arrangement i Oslo blir den 139. utgaven av konferanseserien, som han organiserer sammen med et 80 personers team fra hele verden. Foto: Zak World of Façades

- How did you come up with the idea of doing Zak World of Façades? When was that?
- The concept of Zak World of Façades was born in 2009 and materialized into its inaugural edition on July 27, 2012.

Ahad Ahmed organizes the Zak World of Façades conferences which is the largest conference platform for the façade industry globally. He enjoys networking and connecting façade professionals with one another and is very keen on showcasing and highlighting façade innovations to the global architectural community via his events.

Ahad has been in the business since 2009 and is well associated with designers, engineers, consultants, specifiers, contractors and suppliers dealing with building envelopes from across the world.

- Who exactly stands behind Zak?
- Zak Exhibitions & Conferences operates with a dedicated team of 80 people responsible for planning and executing events. The team consists of event managers, project coordinators, marketing and promotion specialists, registration and logistics personnel, creative designers, and administrative staff.

- Why the focus on façades as a central theme?
- While there are several exhibitions and conferences which focus on the complete building architecture, there are very few dedicated exclusively to the building façade. This prompted the creation of the Zak World of Façades. Following the success of the initial conferences, we remained committed to this niche domain.

- Who is the event aimed at and who is invited to come?
- It is primarily aimed at architects, contractors, industry professionals, and individuals interested in architecture and façades.

In order to maintain a superior level of participants comprising key industry stakeholders, attendance at the conference is restricted to pre-qualified individuals who can exclusively attend through invitation only.

- You will now soon start with the invitation process. What exactly does it look like? How and whom do you contact?
- Our registration team will proactively reach out to invite professionals such as Architects, Façade Consultants, Developers, Government Officials, Project Management Consultants, Main Contractors, Sustainability Consultants, Fire Consultants, Façade Contractors, Cost Consultants, and Important Specifiers to register for the event.

30. november blir en dag fylt med masse spennende innhold, ikke bare i form av faglig påfyll, men også ved en liten utstilling med bransjeledende leverandører som er partnere av Zak-arrangementet. Foto: Zak World of Façades

- What is your goal and desire with this series of events?
The goal is to highlight good practices in façade design and engineering by drawing from the experiences of domain experts.

- This year (2023) the event is coming to Norway for the first time. What are your expectations?
We anticipate the event will receive a positive reception and be valued for the quality and content it will present.

- Does Norway differ from other countries in terms of architecture and façades?
- Norwegian/Scandinavian architecture are unique because they take a sustainability first approach and are designed with occupant wellbeing as a key criteria. The use of natural materials, neutral color tones make the designs very distinct.

- Have you already seen a difference in Denmark (in 2022) and Sweden (in 2021)?
- No. To us, Scandinavian architecture appears similar. While there may be variations influenced by local traditions, as outsiders, we find a certain uniformity in the overall look of Scandinavian architecture.

- You have organized so many conferences. Don't you ever get tired of that and is there really still something to tell?
- We’re currently in 37 countries. No, we do not get tired of that as every country brings forth unique challenges. We get to meet new people, new cultures. The variations in façade design and engineering across different countries and regions are fascinating. So, it’s nice to exchange ideas between regions, implementing them in different contexts and vice versa.

Meeting new people and gaining insights into how façades are designed, engineered and built in each country is exceptionally exciting for us. We yearn to bring global trends to local contexts and introduce local trend to new places.

- What exactly will be the topic in Norway at the end of November?
- The topic will be “Buildability, Quality and Longevity”.

- What are you looking forward to in particular?
- We are looking forward to the event being well received and appreciated for the quality and content it will showcase.

- Why would an architect or contractor follow the invitation and come to the Radisson Hotel on November 30, 2023?
- They can expect interesting topics, speakers, panel discussions, and networking amongst industry peers.

- Thank you for a nice chat. We are looking forward to the conference.

Ved siden av mange inspirerende foredrag, får konferansedeltakerne også muligheten til å mingle med likesinnede fra arkitekturbransjen og knytte nye nyttige kontakter. Foto: Zak World of Façades