On 14 December, the Consejo Superior de Colegios de Arquitectos de España (CSCAE) organised a press conference to present the upcoming UIA Forum with the theme of “Affordable Housing Activation: Removing Barriers”. The Forum will address the concept of housing as a basic universal right as specified in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Scheduled to take place in Madrid, Spain from 18 to 20 May, the Forum will include roundtables, debates, presentations, conferences, seminars and workshops. UIA Member Sections and Working Bodies are invited to participate in the debates starting January 2022 by organising events which will be presented on the Forum platform. The UIA will also hold an Extraordinary General Assembly on 16-17 May.
This year marked the tenth anniversary of the UIA-HYP Cup International Student Competition in Architectural Design. Around 1500 groups of students registered for the competition, for which jury chair Rem Koolhaas selected the topic: “Countryside Dilemmas - New Rural Planning”.
The jury awarded First Prize to Zhao Chenchen, Ma Qirui and Zheng Qi from the School of Architecture, Tianjin University (People’s Republic of China) for their project, “Civilization to the Years” which imagined the rehabilitation of the countryside and the reinvention of education“ in a creative and sensitive manner”.
The International VELUX Award (IVA), a biennial ideas competition for students of architecture, has launched its 2022 edition. The 2022 jury includes Rainer Hofmann (Germany), Anupama Kundoo (India), UIA Representative Fuensanta Nieto (Spain), John Ronan (USA), and Martin Løkke (Denmark). The competition invites students from all over the world to create projects investigating the role of daylight in our everyday lives. Endorsed by the UIA since 2004, the theme of each edition is “Light of Tomorrow” and entrants submit their project to one of two categories: Daylight in Buildings or Daylight Investigations.
The UIA and the United Nations Human Settlement Programme, UN-Habitat have decided to extend the deadline for the first edition of the UIA 2030 Award, which promotes architecture contributing to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development together with the New Urban Agenda. The new deadline for submissions to the first stage of the Award is 14 January 2022. The winners will be announced at the World Urban Forum (WUF11) in Katowice, Poland, between 26-30 June 2022.
The competition for a logo design for the 2022 UIA Year of Design for Health has been successfully concluded. Almost 300 entries were submitted globally. The First Prize logo was designed by German graphic designer, Udo Schliemann, based in Canada. His design, consisting of an arch sheltering a heart perfectly expresses the holistic warmth inherent in the idea of health, within the framework of architecture. The UIA encourages its member sections to adopt the logo to their communications related to the UIA Year of Design for Health.
On 10 December 2021, Daniel S. Hart was elected the 97th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He succeeds Peter J. Exley for a one-year term. Resident of Austin, Texas, he is the executive vice president of architecture and serves on the board of Parkhill, a 380-person A/E firm, with offices throughout West Texas and teaches architectural engineering at Texas Tech University.
Rim Safar Sakkal has succeeded Manolo Maita as President of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Bolivia (CAB) for the 2022-2024 term. The first woman president of CAB, a practicing architect and UIA Council Member, she was director of the School of Architecture at the University of Aquino from 2008 to 2020. The investiture ceremony will take place on 15 January during the XXV CAB Congress.
The 29th edition of the largest Russian international architectural festival, ZODCHESTVO’, was held 1-3 October 2021 in Moscow with the support of the UIA. It ended with an awards ceremony for the winners of 6 competitions and the most significant projects completed over the past three years were recognised. The Union of Architects of Russia invites all UIA Region II architects to take part in the 2022 edition.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that it is bestowing its 2022 Royal Gold Medal, one of the highest global honours for architecture, upon Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi. Given in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence on the advancement of architecture.
On 20 November, the UIA Architecture and Children Work Programme celebrated 2021 World Children's Day with a webinar on the role and the place of children in planning, architecture and society. The topics addressed included Children and adolescents and their contribution to society, street children in Tunisia, children and planning in Cairo, hospitalised children’s rights, engagement with a world heritage site in Istanbul and participation in the planning process.
The UIA hosted a webinar on Affordable Housing on 15 December. Moderated by Martha Thorne, director of the IE School of Architecture & Design in Spain, with opening statements from theExecutive Director of UN-Habitat, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, and from the UIA President, José Luis Cortés, the event included Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, 2018 Pritzker laureat, former UIA President, Sara Topelson.See the videos of the event on the UIA YouTube channel in English, French and Spanish here
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FAFA GENERAL ASSEMBLY & FRANCOPHONE ARCHITECT DAYS
Following the Francophone Architect Days, organised from 25 to 28 November 2021 in Djerba, Tunisia by the Order of Architects of Tunisie (OAT), the Federation of Francophone Architects of Africa (FAFA) held its General Assembly and elected President Fodé Diop (Senegal). He succeeds Yolande Doukoure (Côte d'Ivoire) in the position. The UIA was represented by its President, José Luis Cortés, Treasurer Seif Alnaga, Region V Vice-President Tokunbo Omisore, and Council member and OAT President Mohamed Gorgi (Tunisia).
Le Consiglio Nazionale Architetti Pianificatori Paesaggisti e Conservatori (CNAPPC) organised the 27th General Assembly of the Mediterranean Union of Architects (UMAR), held online on 17 December 2021. The newly elected Executive Bureau (2021-2024), under President Wassin Naghi, will lead the process of restructuration.
British architect Richard Rogers has passed away at the age of 88. Rogers stepped into the limelight in 1972 when construction began on the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France one of the most iconic buildings in the world which he designed for a UIA-endorsed architecture competition with another emerging architect of the time, a certain Renzo Piano. Their design was selected following a design competition endorsed by the UIA. Rogers’ other major designs included London’s Millennium Dome and the Lloyd’s of London building. The UIA sends its condolences to his family and colleagues.
The International Union of Architects (UIA) is an international non-governmental organisation based in Paris. Established in 1948, it is the only organisation representing architects across the globe working to unify architects, influence public policies on construction and development, and advance architecture in service to the needs of society.
