Top Asian master builders gather in Tokyo
SIMPLICITY/Multiplicity was the theme for this year’s meeting of members of the Architect’s Regional Council Asia or ARCASIA.
Held from September 10 to 14 in the bustling city of Tokyo, Japan, the event was a gathering of the biggest representatives of Asian architects.
At the same time, ARCASIA hosted the Architects Congress in Asia or ACA-18 in Japan’s capital.
The congress of Asian architects happens every two years. This year, the Japan Institute of Architects (JIA) got to show their best in Asian hosting, council and committee meetings, as well as camaraderie and friendship building.
They took care organizing the ACA- 18, ARCASIA Office Bearers meetings, committee meetings, exhibits, congress activities, forums, student Jamboree, and the council meetings of the Asian architectural institutes .
The ARCASIA Council is made up of 21 Asian Countries called regional institutes. They are broken down into three zones in Asia.
They are further subdivided into six ARCASIA committees that tackle various issues and pressing concerns n on the practice of the profession in the region.
The six committees are the ARCASIA Committee on Academic Education (ACAE), ARCASIA Committee on Professional Practice (ACPP), ARCASIA Committee on Corporate Social Responsibilities (ACCSR), ARCASIA Committee on Green and Sustainable Architecture (ACGSA), ARCASIA Committee on Young Architects (ACYA), and the ARCASIA Fellowship Committee.
A seventh committee on Emergency Architects is up in the works as the introduction to disaster training got underway last year in light of the recent natural calamities in Indonesia, Philippines, China and Japan.
Ano ther committee on Heritage is likewise being pushed.
Asian architects feel there is now a need for the two additional committees considering environmental concerns happening at present times.
ARCASIA aims to unite different country member institutes of architects on a democratic basis throughout the region to foster friendly, intellectual, artistic, educational and
It also after ways to foster and maintain professional contacts, mutual cooperation and assistance among its member institutes.
ARCASIA has worked out to represent architects of member institutes at national and international levels to promote and recognize the architect’s role in society; to promote the development and education of architects and the architectural profession in their service to society; and to promote research and technical advancement
Meanwhile, the gathering included representatives outside of Asia such as the president of the Union of International Architects (UIA), architects from Africa, Europe and the United States and Australia.
The United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), being the integrated and accredited professional organization of architects in the country, and professional development, the UAP, being the prime professional organization of architects in the country, is mandated to establish a global partnership with international organizations in the discussions of various ARCASIA committees, office bearers and committee chairs meetings, professional practice forums, urban teachers training workshops, heritage roundtable discussions, green and sustainable architecture meetings, Emergency architects trainings, conferences and the MOUs signed between ARCASIA and the American Institute of Architects, the African architects, the Australian and New Zealand groups and the European architects groups.
Applicable projects and workable programs are also being pushed for implementation among the 21 country member institutes to accelerate collaborative growth in the region.
ARCASIA is now geared towards promoting the practice, protecting the professional and enhancing the professional product collaboratively among member institutes and architects.
Come March 2019, UAP, under its present leadership, has committed to invite ARCASIA’s foreign Architects into the Philippines for a roundtable discussion on the professional practices around the region.
This will be a good opportunity for UAP architects to listen, learn, and interact with their Asian counterparts about the pressing concerns in Asia. The ARCASIA Committee on Green and Sustainable Architecture (ACGSA) is one of the six committees under the regional council. Two more committees are being formed for Emergency Architects and Heritage.