Yew Kee Cheong, AIA International President, takes part in the lighting of the traditional oil lamp to open the conference.
The 2025 AIA International Conference, our signature annual event, was held at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo on October 9-11, 2025. With more than 3 days packed with talks and activities, the event brought together over 150 international and local architects to explore the theme of The Art Within Architecture, focusing on creativity, innovation, and outstanding design practice.
The event was hosted by the AIA International Country Representative for Sri Lanka and Conference Chair, Nela De Zoysa, Hon. FAIA. She was ably supported by Roshun Meezan (Deputy Chair), Nandaka Jayasinghe (Secretary), and Jayomi Yatawara (Treasurer), along with committee members Suzette Whehella, Lal Abeyratne, Sudarshan Senadeera, Michele Fonseka, Priya Mapitigama, Pavithra Subasinghe, Shashikala Ranasinghe, and Nadun Senadeera. Our thanks go out to all the organising committee and volunteers for their incredible hospitality!
Day 0 featured optional tours of the city, taking participants to see some major historic and cultural landmarks. In the evening, we held a meetup poolside at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel’s Breeze Bar, a chance to greet friends old and new and look ahead to what the conference had in store for us.
Day 1 marked the official opening of the conference. The welcome procession, featuring traditional dancers, and the lighting of the traditional oil lamp made us all feel that we had truly arrived in Sri Lanka. Guests of Honour at the inauguration included the Mayor of Colombo, Vraie Cally Balthazaar, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prof. Maithree Wickremesinghe, Italian Ambassador H.E. Damiano Francovigh, and British High Commissioner H.E. Andrew Patrick. We were also delighted to have AIA leadership present, with Evelyn Lee, AIA President, and Kevin Watkins, Chief Membership Officer joining us in Colombo.
After this spectacular welcome, we got down to the business of the conference - 3 days full of talks and tours. We enjoyed keynote presentations by leading architects Moshe Safdie, Massimiliano Fuksas, and Simon Yu of Zaha Hadid Architects in Hong Kong. More international speakers represented a wide range of regions and perspectives, including Elizabeth Chu Richter and David Richter (USA), Billie Tsien (USA), Dato Dr. Ken Yeang (Malaysia), Nadia Tromp (South Africa), Brinda Somaya (India), Neil Leach (USA), Fawad Abbasi (Pakistan), Adrianta Aziz (Malaysia), and Rafiq Azam (Bangladesh). Finally, we were excited to learn from Sri Lankan architects including Channa Daswatte, Russell Dandeniya, Philip Weeraratne, Murad Ismail, Shayan Kumaradas and Palinda Kannangara, who ably highlighted the local architectural tradition. We will be making their talks available to watch on demand via the AIA International website soon.
The afternoon tours, typically a highlight of the conference, also did not disappoint. Participants were able to enjoy some works by Geoffrey Bawa, the father of Tropical Modernism, whose legacy is so present in Sri Lankan architecture; the sites visited included his own Colombo house and office. One of our speakers, Palinda Kannangara, also generously opened his own houses to us; following his talk, a group was fortunate to experience his award-winning Studio Dwelling and Soul Dwelling in person.
On Day 3, the conference wrapped up, though some participants stayed to enjoy extension tours on the island designed by Nela de Zoysa, courtesy of Jetwing Travels. We were pleased to present the 2025 AIA International Design Awards on Day 3, which recognised 18 projects worldwide, and even more pleased to have seven winners attend and receive their awards in person. In another exciting announcement, AIA President Evelyn Lee presented the AIA International Country Representative for Australia, Simon Wells, with a certificate to mark the formation of a new AIA International Section, AIA Oceania!
That evening, the conference concluded with a Kadamandiya-themed Gala Dinner, inspired by a traditional Sri Lankan village market, with more local cuisine, music and dancing for us to enjoy.
We would once again like to thank the organisers, our sponsors, and the conference participants for contributing to make this a very special event.
If you would like to learn more about the Sri Lanka Conference experience, we invite you to read Klaus Philipsen’s reflections on it here.
