Dear Colleagues,

The beginning of summer sees a mixed improvement in the worldwide coronavirus situation, with some countries on an apparent road to recovery and others in the middle of serious difficulties.

The AIA International Region (AIA IR) is an incredible organization, as evidenced by the depth and breadth of the 2021 Spring Conference in highlighting sustainability & resilience in the built environment. What the conference’s title did not include, yet was implied by it being hosted by AIA IR, is the diverse thinking and problem solving shown in the program by virtue of the organization’s expanding global span.

Once again AIA IR successfully organized the “Hello AIA” mini-conference on Thursday, March 11 at the Guangzhou WinDoor Façade Expo – the largest annual façade show in China.

Jaime Lerner, Hon. FAIA 1993, passed away Thursday 27 May at the age of 83. With a significant contribution to the urban environment in Brazil and in the world, he was one of the most recognized and influential urban planners of his time.

UIA Professional Practice Commission (PPC) Co-Directors Weimin Zhuang (China) and James Wright (USA) hosted a called meeting of the PPC Steering Committee and other interested participants in late March 2021. There were over 20 attendees at this two-hour meeting. All three of the PPC’s “sister” Commissions (Education, Competitions, Sustainable Development Goals) presented brief updates on current initiatives along with their thoughts on potential ways the PPC could better coordinate its activities with the other Commissions.

Dear colleagues,

2020 was a year with many adventures, but 2021 is exciting too!

The AIA Canada Society is pleased to share the chapter's main activities, as the chapter looks forward to transforming the daily practice of architecture to achieve a zero carbon, equitable, resilient and healthy built environment.

AIA Continental Europe and AIA NYC recently co-hosted the webinar “The Venice Biennale: Louise Braverman, FAIA, and Martha Thorne“ as part of the series "Cocktails and Conversation”, on June 4.

We have enjoyed a very active quarter in Hong Kong with the return of a limited roster of in-person events and continuation of our online programs. The second quarter saw the launch of our Young Architects Group (YAG) Mentorship program, a ‘hands-on’ workshop series with Graphisoft exploring deep-dive topics in BIM best practices and our new, #inspire series, where we look at architecture through the fresh lens of connected disciplines, which began with M+ Design and Architecture curator Shirley Surya on curating Architecture as knowledge production.

AIA Japan event highlight

On April 22, AIA Japan hosted Stephen Tanno of Schueco in a virtual event titled “Designing Buildings with Human Health, Welfare & Safety as a Priority”.

AIA Middle East Webinar Series - Sacred Nour: A visual introduction in the theory of lighting mosques and other Islamic structures

AIA Middle East hosted an online lecture on May 22 by Abdulaziz Al Azem. This was the third talk as part of the AIA Middle East x Rusafa collaboration to present cultural and architectural events.

Hi Everyone,

Leading a chapter like AIA Shanghai | Beijing is a fascinating challenge. As a chapter, we have a dual purpose – first to help connect our members to knowledge and resources, and second to show our community the value of what we do and the potential of excellent architecture to improve our world.

The AIA UK Virtual Building Tour series has continued to grow in popularity, with record numbers tuning in from the UK and abroad. On 11 March the series continued with ‘Cork House’ by CSK Architects with The Bartlett UCL. This project won two of our 2020 Design Awards, in the Professional and Sustainability Small project categories.

This week, the international architecture community mourns the passing of several luminaries in the field.

Dear Colleagues,

Following our very successful virtual conference last autumn, we are planning on a one-day virtual mini-conference on Monday, 26th April. Mark your calendars now for what promises to be a fantastic event! The theme will be around sustainability and climate change, and there will be presentations by all International Region chapters and many of our Country Representatives. AIA Gold Medalist Ed Mazria will be giving one of the Keynote addresses. Information will be posted soon on the International Region (IR) website.

In 1920 the first Pan-American Congress of Architects was held. There the Permanent Committee of the Pan-American Congresses was constituted, and in 1950, during the VII Congress, the creation of the Pan-American Federation of Associations of Architects was approved, with the task of formally bringing together architects from all American countries without racial distinctions, religious or political.

The American Institute of Architects International Region is proud to announce that three of its members have been elevated to the AIA’s College of Fellows!

This is the highest membership honor conferred on members for their exceptional work and contributions to architecture and society.

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic, AIA Continental Europe has had to further postpone the planned Porto and Cork Conferences to 2022.

AIACE has therefore started its preparations for a three day Virtual Chapter Conference in November 2021. The Chapter is excited to soon be able to announce the theme and format of the conference.

AIA Shanghai wishes everyone a happy peaceful Chinese New Year and looks forward to a prosperous year of the Ox.

We are planning an active year for our chapter and will kick off events starting in March.

AIA Hong Kong's 2021 theme, "Serve and inspire," celebrates distinguished service in our community to inspire a new generation of citizen architects. Following our recently completed 2021-25 Strategic Blueprint, the Chapter aims to support and grow our membership by investing in members' services.

Past Chapter Presidents gather for annual meeting

A Chapter tradition for the past several years, the annual AIA Japan President Club meeting was held via Zoom on February 11, with eight past presidents and 2021 President Segene Park in attendance.