Communiqués – 2020
24 December 2020 – Season’s greetings
17 December 2020 – Results of ideas competition in Thessaloniki
ALE Studio (Spain) has been announced as the winner of the ideas competition for the design of the new Central Business District of Thessaloniki, Greece. The competition was organised by ALUMIL S.A. an international company dealing in aluminium and advanced architectural aluminium systems based in Greece.
15 December 2020 – Meet Sara Topelson
Sara Topelson is a Mexican architect and urban planner. She served as UIA Council Member for Region III between 1990 and 1993 and presided as President of the International Union of Architects (UIA) between 1993 and 1996. A partner at Grinberg + Topelson Architects, she has more than 40 years of experience in the fields of urban planning, education, culture residential and low income housing.
7 December 2020 – UIA launches International Architecture Database
The UIA Architectural Practice Around the World (APAW) database is evolving to better respond to the needs of the Union’s Member Sections and architects around the world. An initiative of the UIA Professional Practice Commission (PPC), the database will provide valuable information concerning architectural practice in UIA Member Sections. It will be based on seven main categories for each country.
30 November 2020 – Al Nouri Mosque International Architecture Competition
UNESCO has announced that Ms. Shadia Touqan (Palestine), Architect, urban planner and director of ARC-WH (UNESCO Category 2 Centre) will no longer serve as jury member for the Al Nouri Complex Competition. She has been replaced by Doris Wälchli (Switzerland), Founder and Director of Brauen Wälchli Architects.
23 November – UIA-HYP 2020 International Student Competition
“OldCity Pacemaker” by Huang Luyao, Wang Jupeng, Liu Jixin and Zheng Xiaoqi under the guidance of advisors Wang Shiliang and Li Jingyi (Wuhan University of Technology, Henan University of Science and Technology, Hebei Engineering University, Quanzhou Normal University in China) has been announced as the winners of UIA-HYP Cup 2020 from among 448 projets submitted to the competition.
16 October 2020 – Maré-Cidade International Student Competition
The winners have been announced for the Maré-Cidade International Student Competition organised on the occasion of the 27th UIA World Congress, originally set to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this past July, but postponed to July 2021.
12 October 2020 – UIA Interview: Wu Liangyong
Wu Liangyong is a Chinese architect and urban planner and past Vice-President of the International Union of Architects (UIA) and of the Architectural Society of China. Among many other achievements, he led the architectural team for the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing and, alongside Professor Liang Sicheng, founded the Tsinghua University Faculty of Architecture in 1946. His academic career at the university spans 70 years. In 1996, Wu Liangyong was awarded the UIA Jean Tschumi Prize for his outstanding contribution to architectural education.
29 September 2020 – International Design Competition for the ConfEX Park in Thessaloniki
TIF-HELEXPO, a national exhibition and conference organizer based in Thessaloniki, Greece, is organizing an international multidisciplinary project competition with prequalification for the design of Thessaloniki ConfEx Park, located in the heart of Thessaloniki, currently home to 1.1 million people and Greece’s second largest city. The project seeks to redevelop the entire area around the fairgrounds, and includes the construction of an energy efficient Convention Centre and a new urban park.
28 September 2020 – World Architecture Day Webinar
Moderated by UIA President Thomas Vonier and UIA Secretary General Serban Tiganas, the webinar will begin with a virtual roundtable which will include the UN Habitat Assistant Secretary General and Executive Director Victor Kisob, Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO Ernesto Ottone Ramirez and Kai-Uwe Bergmann, Architect, Partner, Business Development of BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group.
25 September 2020 – Results for Landscape Design of Tuchkov Buyan Park in Saint Petersburg
Studio 44 (Russia) in collaboration with WEST 8 (The Netherlands) have won the International Competition for the Architectural Landscape Design Concept for the Tuchkov Buyan Park.
22 September 2020 – Results Piazza Transalpina Competition
Studio Associato di Architettura Baglivo Negrini (Italy) has been announced as the winner of the international architectural competition for the urban development of the “Piazza Transalpina / Trg Evrope” Square. The urban regeneration project linking the Italian city of Gorizia with the Slovenian city, Nova Gorica, and creating a shared central area to be known as Europe Square – Piazzale Della Transalpina and the hub EPICenter, was conducted as part of a campaign for the title of 2025 European Capital of Culture (ECoC).
14 September 2020 – IVA 2020 Regional Results
The International VELUX Award, a biannual international student ideas competition endorsed by the UIA since 2004, has announced its Regional Winners for the 2020 Edition.
8 September 2020 – UIA Interview: Diébédo Francis Kéré
Diébédo Francis Kéré is an award-winning architect from Burkina Faso and will be a keynote speaker at next year’s UIA World Congress of Architects (18-22 July 2021, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). He studied at the Technical University of Berlin, when he established the Kéré Foundation. In 2005, he founded Kéré Architecture, which has since been recognised nationally and internationally with awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2004) and the Global Holcim Award 2012 Gold.
1 September 2020 – World Architecture Day 2020 – UIA President’s Declaration
Created by the International Union of Architects (UIA) in 1985, World Architecture Day is celebrated on the first Monday of October in parallel with UN World Habitat Day, for which the theme this year is Housing For All: A better Urban Future. By choosing a different theme each year, this world day seeks to draw the attention of professionals as well as the public to problems concerning cities and habitat.
26 August 2020 – Beirut: Architects Take Action
Representing the UIA, Michel Barmaki (Secretary General 2011-2014) recently met with the Mayor of Beirut, Marwan Abboud, along with Jad Tabet, President of the Order of Engineers and Architects of Lebanon (OEA), Patrick Coulombel of Emergency Architects, and Lara Moutin of the “Windows for Beirut” campaign. Discussions centred around actions related to the emergency repair of housing and the protection and rehabilitation of Beirut’s built heritage.
20 July 2020 – UIA2021RIO – UIA President’s Declaration
UIA President Thomas Vonier marks the original dates of the 27th UIA World Congress of Architecture, now postponed until 18 – 22 July 2021 due to the global health crisis.
1 July 2020 – Interview with Hoang Thuc Hao
Vietnamese architect Hoang Thuc Hao has long been recognised in Vietnam for his commitment to vernacular architecture in rural communities. Born in Hanoi on 2 May 1971, Hoang Thuc Hao went on to study Civil Engineering at Viet Nam’s National University, where he continues to lecture on sustainable architecture, and the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy. His innovative work in marginalised communities has earned him international recognition.
10 June 2020 – Interview with Carin Smuts: 2017 winner of UIA Robert Matthew Prize
UIA Robert Matthew Prize for Sustainable & Humane Environments Spotlight on Carin Smuts (South Africa) – 2017 winner Established in 1978 and named after UIA Past President, Robert Matthew, this prize embodies the goals of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). It has recognized individuals and groups, including Hassan Fathy, Stefan Foster, Giancarlo de Carlo, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and most recently Carin Smuts, who we are spotlighting today.
29 May 2020 – European Parliament – International Architecture Competition
The European Parliament has initiated an international design competition for the renewal of its plenary building (SPAAK), located in a complex in the centre of Brussels. The open pre-qualification procedure for the selection of competitors among candidates was launched on 26 May 2020. Architects interested in participating in the renewal of the SPAAK building are invited to apply.
7 May 2020 – Interview with Tadao Ando, UIA Gold Medal 2005
With over 300 architectural designs to his name, Tadao Ando is treated as a national treasure in his home country of Japan. Renowned for his work with concrete and light, his œuvre has received international recognition, including the UIA Gold Medal in 2005 and the Pritzker Prize in 1995.
30 April 2020 – UIA COVID-19 Information Hub Launch
UIA Member Sections & Working Bodies all over the world are providing constructive and innovative guidance to architects working to serve their communities and keep their businesses afloat in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Architects play a key role in countering this pandemic, from improvising emergency healthcare facilities and producing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to developing projects on the front line.
6 April 2020 – Interview: Toyo Ito
Japanese architect Toyo Ito was awarded the 2017 UIA Gold Medal at the UIA World Congress of Architects in Seoul (Korea). A pioneer of conceptual architecture and postmodernism, constantly exploring the potential of new forms in the built environment, he was also awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2013.
30 March 2020 – UIA-HYP CUP 2020
The UIA-HYP Cup, today in its 9th edition, is the only student architecture competition in mainland China. The UIA has endorsed the competition since its conception in 2012. The subject of the competition, organised annually by the School of Architecture at Tianjin University and Urban Environment Design (UED) Magazine, is Architecture in Transformation, a theme which explores the tensions between architecture and the city as well as between architecture and nature in an increasingly interconnected contemporary world.
20 March 2020 – UIA2020RIO is postponed to 18-22 July 2021
The International Union of Architects, UIA, the Institute of Architects of Brazil, IAB, and the UIA2020RIO Executive Committee, in agreement with their institutional partners and other stakeholders, following the recommendations of national public authorities, inform that the 27th World Congress of Architects / Expo has been postponed by one year to 18-22 July 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
10 March 2020 – Ideas Competition for a new Central Business District in Thessaloniki
The UIA is endorsing ArXellence 2, an open, one-stage, international ideas competition for the Design of the New Central Business District of Thessaloniki, Greece. The competition is organised by ALUMIL S.A., an international company dealing in aluminium and aluminium products based in Greece. Its goal is to contribute to the regeneration of a declining urban area of Thessaloniki by presenting innovative designs for the new central business district.
25 February 2020 – International project and ideas competition Piazza Transalpina/TRG Europe
The International Union of Architects has endorsed an urban regeneration project linking the Italian city of Gorizia with the Slovenian city, Nova Gorica, and creating a shared central area to be known as Europe Square – Piazzale Della Transalpina and the hub EPICenter. The single stage, combined project and ideas competition, will be conducted according to the UNESCO Regulations for international architecture design competitions, as an anonymous, open procedure.
18 February 2020 – Rio de Janeiro, 2020 World Capital of Architecture Statement of the President, UIA / International Union of Architects
Rio City Hall, the Brazilian Institute of Architects, UNESCO and the UIA gathered at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris today to present this year’s UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture programme in Rio de Janeiro.
7 February 2020 – UIA at the World Urban Forum 10
“Investments in urban infrastructure, architecture and planning are keys to urban regeneration – design points the way to a better future for society and our planet. We need healthy cities, yet all over the world indiscriminate development continues to destroy natural habitat and agricultural land. Relentless reliance on automobiles runs nearly unabated, while many city centres are in disrepair.