Sabiha Rumani Malik
Encyclopedia
Sabiha Rumani Malik is co-founder and president of Sanghata Global, an idea incubator for conceptualisation and implementation of models for alleviation of poverty in economically deprived areas. She is a Pakistan-born British
architect, designer, and a psychotherapist.
Sanghata Global, a non-profit organization registered in the United Kingdom, has developed and founded the Frontier Market Scouts Program, in collaboration with the Monterey Institute of International Studies. The Program transforms compassionate and capable young professionals into talent scouts and investment managers serving the most promising, innovative enterprises in the low-income regions and deprived urban areas of the world. Co-founders of Sanghata include Scott Horton and Yuwei Shi.
to a family related to Abul Kalam Azad, one of the foremost leaders of the Indian independence movement
and a renowned scholar and poet who supported a united Indian identity. Continuing the family tradition of scholarship and creative activism, Sabiha’s father studied at north India’s famous centre of learning, the Oriental College
, where he completed a degree in Persian and Arabic. He was one of a small group of idealist, highly educated young men led by Aligarh Muslim University
alumnus Muhammad Dhawqi Shah, a journalist, political activist, and the head of the Sufi Chisti-Sabri spiritual order. In the late 1940s the group was discussing the future state of Pakistan with its future founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah
, their shared hope for a secular state upheld by an elected parliament, qualified executive, independent judiciary and a free press. The dream did not materialize because Muhammad Ali Jinnah died in 1948, barely a year after the birth of Pakistan
. Thereafter, Sabiha’s father limited his activities to writing classical Urdu poetry
and teaching Persian.
As a young girl Sabiha Rumani Malik was a protégé of the great Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz's wife, the writer and social activist Alys Faiz
, and for a number of years Sabiha's poems were published in The Pakistan Times. Sabiha completed University of Cambridge
International A-levels at the age of 14, and too young to gain admission to Barnard College at Colimbia University, she spent a year in New York attending lectures on art and sitting in the visitors’ gallery at the United Nations General Assembly
sessions. When her family circumstances made it difficult for her to continue sculpture, painting, and architecture studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
in Paris, she transferred to an MPhil in art and design at Punjab University, and later also completed a BSc in clinical psychology
and an MA in psychotherapy
from De Montfort University in England.
At 16, she married Michel Aertsens, 37, the Rosey-educated son of a First World War hero. A year later, after the birth of her daughter India Knight
, she separated from Michel Aertsens and worked as a translator at Petrofina - a Belgian oil company - to financially support her daughter and herself and continue her studies. She was close to her parents-in-law and her older friends included Elena and Antoine Allard, an artist, peace activist and founder of Stop War, and the art collector Léon Lambert.
After nine years of separation, Michel Aertsens agreed to a divorce and in 1975 Sabiha Rumani Malik, age 25, married Andrew Knight
, 34, the newly appointed editor of The Economist
. Sabiha was influential in The Economist
’s turn to regular coverage of the Palestinian struggle for independence, and the establishment of the weekly ‘Asia’ section featuring developments in India, China and the Middle East. Sabiha and Andrew's home brought together wide-ranging connections that enlivened cross-disciplinary discourse and inevitably sparked the evolutionary developments within The Economist
. Among the eclectic mix of people at their home were Isaiah
and Irina Berlin, Alfred Brendel
, Peter Carrington
and his wife Iona, Hugo Young
, Kay Graham
, Netta and Arnold Weinstock
, Richard Rogers
, Ruth Rogers, Robert Armstrong
, Helen Suzman
, Yehudi Menuhin
, John and Anya Sainsbury
, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal
, Woodrow Wyatt
, Anthony Lester
, George Scultz
and Obie Schulz, and from Pakistan political figures Mumtaz Bhutto
, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi
, future writer Tehmina Durrani
, and the then captain of the Pakistan cricket team Imran Khan
. Woodrow Wyatt
, a friend and confidant of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
writes in his diaries that Prime Minister Thatcher
would insist that Sabiha accompany Andrew to meetings at 10 Downing Street.
The marriage with Andrew Knight
lasted 17 years, and Sabiha and Andrew had two daughters. In 1991, a few days after a divorce, Sabiha married a close family friend, the architect Norman Foster. The marriage lasted until 1995.
Sabiha Rumani Malik lives in London
. She has three daughters: India Knight
, Amaryllis Knight
and Afsaneh Knight, and a stepson Jay Foster.
Sanghata Global is an organisation for transformational change that designs and implements breakthrough conceptual models focused on serving humanity. It is a charitable company incorporated in the United Kingdom
.
Sanghata Global accelerates poverty alleviation
through wealth creation. By seeking talent and facilitating productive association between investors and enterprising people, Sanghata creates an ecosystem that channels management skills and investment funds to the most promising, innovative enterprises in low-income regions and in deprived urban areas.
One of Sanghata Global's main projects is the Frontier Market Scouts Programme in partnership with the Monterey Institute of International Studies in the United States. Sanghata Global provides operational support to a number of key strategic partners.
Diamonds for Humanity stands for the unrealized social and commercial potential of diamonds. In 2001, whilst designing jewelry for the De Beers-LVMH joint venture, Sabiha Rumani Malik became aware of the blood diamond wars and the military use of children
and she founded Diamonds for Humanity in 2004. In addition to actively recognizing the “victims” of the industry, Diamonds for Humanity encourages the industry’s role as a steward of a historic asset base at the frontier of a world that calls for injustices to be addressed.
In 2005, Diamonds for Humanity won the support of Ibrahim Gambari
, then the Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs at the United Nations, and of Olara Otunnu
, an advocate for childrens' rights at the United Nations
, the International League for Human Rights
, the Africa-America Institute, Survival International
, the Indigenous Landrights Fund and the Corporation for Economic Opportunity.
In 2005 a fundraising event was held at the Lincoln Center in support of the Africa America Institute.
In 1991 Sabiha Rumani Malik joined Foster Associates - an architecture firm that had produced remarkable work in its early years but whose fortunes were in decline by the late 1980s. Sabiha’s contributions came at a turning point in the firm’s history. She supported the transformation of the firm into a partnership (Foster and Partners
), and at a time when the firm had no major project on its books she worked strategically to confirm the firm’s position on the world stage by entering (without the knowledge of Norman Foster, the firm’s Chairman) the competition for the re-design of the Reichstag
building in Berlin. She produced the design concept for the competition entry in consultation with the historian Wilhelm Vossenkuhl, professor emeritus at the University of Munich, the environmental engineer Norbert Kaiser, two young German architects and a fellow director. She also initiated the founding of Foster Asia with a small office in Hong Kong although at the time the firm did not have any work in Hong Kong or China. Her interventions helped to stabilise the firm and enable the start of the process that led to its defnintive place in architectural history and the exponential growth of its fortunes. By 2007, media reports stated that Foster + Partners had been valued at over £300 million, and in May 2007 a stake in Foster + Partners was sold to 3i
, a recognized global leader in private equity “to generate new opportunities for the practice, particularly through the introduction to new markets for large scale infrastructure projects”.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
architect, designer, and a psychotherapist.
Sanghata Global, a non-profit organization registered in the United Kingdom, has developed and founded the Frontier Market Scouts Program, in collaboration with the Monterey Institute of International Studies. The Program transforms compassionate and capable young professionals into talent scouts and investment managers serving the most promising, innovative enterprises in the low-income regions and deprived urban areas of the world. Co-founders of Sanghata include Scott Horton and Yuwei Shi.
Personal Life and Background
Sabiha Rumani Malik was born in PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
to a family related to Abul Kalam Azad, one of the foremost leaders of the Indian independence movement
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
and a renowned scholar and poet who supported a united Indian identity. Continuing the family tradition of scholarship and creative activism, Sabiha’s father studied at north India’s famous centre of learning, the Oriental College
Oriental College, Lahore
Punjab University Oriental College, commonly known as Oriental College, is an old institution of oriental studies in Lahore. It is next in location to Government College, Lahore.It was founded by Adi Brahmo Samaj preacher Pundit Navin Chandra Rai in 1876...
, where he completed a degree in Persian and Arabic. He was one of a small group of idealist, highly educated young men led by Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
alumnus Muhammad Dhawqi Shah, a journalist, political activist, and the head of the Sufi Chisti-Sabri spiritual order. In the late 1940s the group was discussing the future state of Pakistan with its future founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
, their shared hope for a secular state upheld by an elected parliament, qualified executive, independent judiciary and a free press. The dream did not materialize because Muhammad Ali Jinnah died in 1948, barely a year after the birth of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Thereafter, Sabiha’s father limited his activities to writing classical Urdu poetry
Urdu poetry
Urdu poetry is a rich tradition of poetry and has many different types and forms. Borrowing much from the Persian language, it is today an important part of Pakistani and North Indian culture....
and teaching Persian.
As a young girl Sabiha Rumani Malik was a protégé of the great Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz's wife, the writer and social activist Alys Faiz
Alys Faiz
Alys Faiz was a British-born naturalized Pakistani poet, writer, journalist, human rights activist, social worker and teacher....
, and for a number of years Sabiha's poems were published in The Pakistan Times. Sabiha completed University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
International A-levels at the age of 14, and too young to gain admission to Barnard College at Colimbia University, she spent a year in New York attending lectures on art and sitting in the visitors’ gallery at the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
sessions. When her family circumstances made it difficult for her to continue sculpture, painting, and architecture studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...
in Paris, she transferred to an MPhil in art and design at Punjab University, and later also completed a BSc in clinical psychology
Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
and an MA in psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
from De Montfort University in England.
At 16, she married Michel Aertsens, 37, the Rosey-educated son of a First World War hero. A year later, after the birth of her daughter India Knight
India Knight
India Knight is a British journalist and author. She is known for her contribution to the British media, as well as her books: My Life on a Plate, Don't You Want Me?, The Shops, Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet and The Thrift Book , all of which are published by Penguin books...
, she separated from Michel Aertsens and worked as a translator at Petrofina - a Belgian oil company - to financially support her daughter and herself and continue her studies. She was close to her parents-in-law and her older friends included Elena and Antoine Allard, an artist, peace activist and founder of Stop War, and the art collector Léon Lambert.
After nine years of separation, Michel Aertsens agreed to a divorce and in 1975 Sabiha Rumani Malik, age 25, married Andrew Knight
Andrew Knight
Andrew Stephen Bower Knight is a journalist, editor, and director of News Corporation.-Career:He joined The Economist Magazine in 1966 on the international business and investment sections...
, 34, the newly appointed editor of The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
. Sabiha was influential in The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
’s turn to regular coverage of the Palestinian struggle for independence, and the establishment of the weekly ‘Asia’ section featuring developments in India, China and the Middle East. Sabiha and Andrew's home brought together wide-ranging connections that enlivened cross-disciplinary discourse and inevitably sparked the evolutionary developments within The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
. Among the eclectic mix of people at their home were Isaiah
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
and Irina Berlin, Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel KBE is an Austrian pianist, born in Czechoslovakia and a resident of the United Kingdom. He is also a poet and author.-Biography:...
, Peter Carrington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
and his wife Iona, Hugo Young
Hugo Young
Hugo John Smelter Young was a British journalist and columnist and senior political commentator at The Guardian.-Early life and education:...
, Kay Graham
Katharine Graham
Katharine Meyer Graham was an American publisher. She led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, for more than two decades, overseeing its most famous period, the Watergate coverage that eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon...
, Netta and Arnold Weinstock
Arnold Weinstock
Arnold Weinstock, Baron Weinstock was an English businessman whom The Guardian newspaper called "Britain's premier post-second-world-war industrialist."...
, Richard Rogers
Richard Rogers
Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside CH Kt FRIBA FCSD is a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs....
, Ruth Rogers, Robert Armstrong
Robert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster
Robert Temple Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster GCB, CVO , son of the musician Sir Thomas Armstrong, is a British life peer and former civil servant.-Life:...
, Helen Suzman
Helen Suzman
Helen Suzman, DBE was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician.-Biography:Helen Suzman, a life-long citizen of South Africa, was born as Helen Gavronsky in 1917 to Jewish immigrants....
, Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
, John and Anya Sainsbury
John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover
John Davan Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover, KG is the President of J Sainsbury, a British businessman and politician. He sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Conservative Party.-Early and private life:...
, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal
Mohamed Hassanein Heikal
Mohamed Hassanein Heikal is a leading Egyptian journalist. For 17 years he was editor-in-chief of the Cairo newspaper Al-Ahram and has been a respected commentator on Arab affairs for more than 50 years.-Background and Books:...
, Woodrow Wyatt
Woodrow Wyatt
Woodrow Lyle Wyatt, Baron Wyatt of Weeford , was a British politician, published author, journalist and broadcaster, close to the Queen Mother, Margaret Thatcher and Rupert Murdoch...
, Anthony Lester
Anthony Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill
Anthony Paul Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill, QC is a British politician and member of the House of Lords, and a member of the Liberal Democrats....
, George Scultz
George P. Shultz
George Pratt Shultz is an American economist, statesman, and businessman. He served as the United States Secretary of Labor from 1969 to 1970, as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1972 to 1974, and as the U.S. Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989...
and Obie Schulz, and from Pakistan political figures Mumtaz Bhutto
Mumtaz Bhutto
Sardar Mumtaz Ali Khan Bhutto is the first cousin of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, chief of the Bhutto clan and chairman of the Sindh National Front and Sindh Qaumi Itehad...
, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi
Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi
Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was a Pakistani politician, and was the Acting Prime Minister of Pakistan for 3 months, from August 6, 1990 to November 6, 1990. Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi's ancestors were mureeds of the Pir's of Sarhandi....
, future writer Tehmina Durrani
Tehmina Durrani
Tehmina Durrani , a Durrani Pashtun, is the daughter of the late former Governor of State Bank of Pakistan and former Chairman of Pakistan International Airlines, Shahkur Ullah Durrani and grand-daughter of Sir Sikandar Hyat...
, and the then captain of the Pakistan cricket team Imran Khan
Imran Khan
Imran Khan Niazi is a Pakistani politician and former Pakistani cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics...
. Woodrow Wyatt
Woodrow Wyatt
Woodrow Lyle Wyatt, Baron Wyatt of Weeford , was a British politician, published author, journalist and broadcaster, close to the Queen Mother, Margaret Thatcher and Rupert Murdoch...
, a friend and confidant of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
writes in his diaries that Prime Minister Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
would insist that Sabiha accompany Andrew to meetings at 10 Downing Street.
The marriage with Andrew Knight
Andrew Knight
Andrew Stephen Bower Knight is a journalist, editor, and director of News Corporation.-Career:He joined The Economist Magazine in 1966 on the international business and investment sections...
lasted 17 years, and Sabiha and Andrew had two daughters. In 1991, a few days after a divorce, Sabiha married a close family friend, the architect Norman Foster. The marriage lasted until 1995.
Sabiha Rumani Malik lives in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. She has three daughters: India Knight
India Knight
India Knight is a British journalist and author. She is known for her contribution to the British media, as well as her books: My Life on a Plate, Don't You Want Me?, The Shops, Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet and The Thrift Book , all of which are published by Penguin books...
, Amaryllis Knight
Amaryllis Knight
Amaryllis Knight, co-owns and operates Falcon Motorcycles LLC, based in Los Angeles, California, with her fiancee, motorcycle and industrial designer Ian Barry...
and Afsaneh Knight, and a stepson Jay Foster.
Sanghata Global
2009 - Founder.Sanghata Global is an organisation for transformational change that designs and implements breakthrough conceptual models focused on serving humanity. It is a charitable company incorporated in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Sanghata Global accelerates poverty alleviation
Poverty reduction
Poverty is the state of human beings who are poor. That is, they have little or no material means of surviving—little or no food, shelter, clothes, healthcare, education, and other physical means of living and improving one's life....
through wealth creation. By seeking talent and facilitating productive association between investors and enterprising people, Sanghata creates an ecosystem that channels management skills and investment funds to the most promising, innovative enterprises in low-income regions and in deprived urban areas.
One of Sanghata Global's main projects is the Frontier Market Scouts Programme in partnership with the Monterey Institute of International Studies in the United States. Sanghata Global provides operational support to a number of key strategic partners.
Diamonds for Humanity
2004 – Founder.Diamonds for Humanity stands for the unrealized social and commercial potential of diamonds. In 2001, whilst designing jewelry for the De Beers-LVMH joint venture, Sabiha Rumani Malik became aware of the blood diamond wars and the military use of children
Military use of children
The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities , or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in...
and she founded Diamonds for Humanity in 2004. In addition to actively recognizing the “victims” of the industry, Diamonds for Humanity encourages the industry’s role as a steward of a historic asset base at the frontier of a world that calls for injustices to be addressed.
In 2005, Diamonds for Humanity won the support of Ibrahim Gambari
Ibrahim Gambari
Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, CFR is a Nigerian scholar and diplomat. He was Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985...
, then the Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs at the United Nations, and of Olara Otunnu
Olara Otunnu
Dr.Olara A. Otunnu is a Lawyer and the President of the Uganda Peoples Congressand a Presidential Aspirant for the 2011 General elections in Uganda...
, an advocate for childrens' rights at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, the International League for Human Rights
International League for Human Rights
The International League for Human Rights is a human rights organization with headquarters in New York City.Claiming to be the oldest human rights organization in the United States, the ILHR defines its mission as "defending human rights advocates who risk their lives to promote the ideals of a...
, the Africa-America Institute, Survival International
Survival International
Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples, seeking to help them to determine their own future. Their campaigns generally focus on tribal peoples' fight to keep their ancestral lands,...
, the Indigenous Landrights Fund and the Corporation for Economic Opportunity.
In 2005 a fundraising event was held at the Lincoln Center in support of the Africa America Institute.
Foster and Partners
Director 1991-1995.In 1991 Sabiha Rumani Malik joined Foster Associates - an architecture firm that had produced remarkable work in its early years but whose fortunes were in decline by the late 1980s. Sabiha’s contributions came at a turning point in the firm’s history. She supported the transformation of the firm into a partnership (Foster and Partners
Foster and Partners
Foster + Partners is an architectural firm based in London. The practice is led by its founder and Chairman, Norman Foster, and has constructed many high-profile glass-and-steel buildings....
), and at a time when the firm had no major project on its books she worked strategically to confirm the firm’s position on the world stage by entering (without the knowledge of Norman Foster, the firm’s Chairman) the competition for the re-design of the Reichstag
Reichstag (building)
The Reichstag building is a historical edifice in Berlin, Germany, constructed to house the Reichstag, parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire. During the Nazi era, the few meetings of members of the...
building in Berlin. She produced the design concept for the competition entry in consultation with the historian Wilhelm Vossenkuhl, professor emeritus at the University of Munich, the environmental engineer Norbert Kaiser, two young German architects and a fellow director. She also initiated the founding of Foster Asia with a small office in Hong Kong although at the time the firm did not have any work in Hong Kong or China. Her interventions helped to stabilise the firm and enable the start of the process that led to its defnintive place in architectural history and the exponential growth of its fortunes. By 2007, media reports stated that Foster + Partners had been valued at over £300 million, and in May 2007 a stake in Foster + Partners was sold to 3i
3i
3i Group plc is a multinational private equity and venture capital company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has offices in 13 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas and had total assets under management of £12.7 billion as at 31 March 2011...
, a recognized global leader in private equity “to generate new opportunities for the practice, particularly through the introduction to new markets for large scale infrastructure projects”.
Work initiated within Foster+Partners
- award-winning competition entry for the reconstruction of the ReichstagReichstag (building)The Reichstag building is a historical edifice in Berlin, Germany, constructed to house the Reichstag, parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire. During the Nazi era, the few meetings of members of the...
, Berlin - design concept for the competition entry for the Memorial Tower Oradour-sur-GlaneOradour-sur-GlaneOradour-sur-Glane is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in west-central France.The original village was destroyed on 10 June 1944, when 642 of its inhabitants, including women and children, were massacred by a German Waffen-SS company...
, France
Team projects
- the Musée de Préhistoire des Gorges du Verdon
- landscape design concept for CommerzbankCommerzbankCommerzbank AG is the second-largest bank in Germany, after Deutsche Bank, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.-Activities:Commerzbank is mainly active in commercial bank, retail banking and mortgaging. It suffered reversals in investment banking in early 2000s and scaled back its Securities unit...
, Frankfurt - New Wing and restoration of Joslyn Arts Museum, Omaha
- Warehouse and Showroom for TECNO, Valencia
- competition entry for the New York Police Training Facility
- shops and Franchises for Cacharel, France
- competition entry for the International Medieval Centre, Chartres, France.
Furniture design
- TECNO, Milan
- the Carré d'ArtCarré d'ArtThe Carré d'art at Nîmes in southern France houses a museum of contemporary art and the city's library. Constructed of glass, concrete and steel, it faces the Maison Carrée, a perfectly preserved Roman temple that dates from the 1st century BC. In 1984, twelve architects, including Frank Gehry,...
, Nimes, France - the Cranfield Institute of Technology
- a house in Japan.
Additional Involvements
- Co-Founder : Sanghata Institute for Social Entrepreneurship and Investment, a non-profit organization based in the United States.
- Associate Founder, Singularity UniversitySingularity UniversitySingularity University is an academic institution in Silicon Valley whose stated aim is to "assemble, educate and inspire a cadre of leaders who strive to understand and facilitate the development of exponentially advancing technologies and apply, focus and guide these tools to address humanity’s...
, an interdisciplinary university based at NASA Ames in Silicon ValleySilicon ValleySilicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
. - Advisory Board Member of the Human Resources and Futurists boards of the Lifeboat Foundation, a US nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging scientific advancements while helping humanity survive existential risks and possible misuse of increasingly powerful technologies.
- Member, Frontline ClubFrontline ClubThe Frontline Club is a media club near London's Paddington Station. With a strong emphasis on conflict reporting, it aims to champion independent journalism, provide an effective platform from which to support diversity and professionalism in the media, promote safe practice, and encourage both...
- Member, Next Century FoundationNext Century FoundationThe Next Century Foundation is an elite organisation that operates in various conflict zones across the globe. Originally established in 1990 to provide a forum for off-the-record discussions between Palestinians and Israelis, in addition to maintaining its original focus on the Middle East Peace...
Writing
- Art columns for the Hong Kong Economic JournalHong Kong Economic JournalThe Hong Kong Economic Journal is a Chinese language daily newspaper published in Hong Kong by the Shun Po Co., Ltd. Available in both Hong Kong and Macau, the newspaper mainly focuses on economic news and other related issues...
. - Art columns for Wallpaper magazine.
- A book, Islam + Architecture, published in 2005 and reviewed as "a rewarding and topical book" with "a deep and unique perspective on both subjects".