Communiqués – 2021

27 December 2021 – Seasons greetings

17 December 2021 – A week with the UIA

The Coordinating Committee for the 2023 UIA World Congress of Architects met in Copenhagen, Denmark on 10 December. This was an opportunity for the Congress Scientific Committee to present its plans and activities for the event, whose theme will be Sustainable futures – leave no one behind (2-6 July 2023). The Copenhagen City Architect also presented what the city has planned for the UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture which will have more than 300 activities.

30 November 2021 – Launch: International Velux Award 2022

The International VELUX Award (IVA) is a biennial ideas competition for students of architecture. It 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”. The competition encourages students to approach the subject of daylight in architecture experimentally, and to explore questions of aesthetics, functionality, sustainability, and the interaction between buildings and environment.

29 November 2021 – Results: UIA-HYP Cup 2021 International Student Competition in Architectural Design

This year marked the tenth anniversary of the only student competition held on the Chinese mainland, the UIA-HYP Cup International Student Competition in Architectural Design. Around 1500 groups of students registered for the competition. The international jury for the UIA-HYP Cup met at Tianjin University to determine the winners of the 2021 edition, for which jury chair Rem Koolhaas selected the topic: “Countryside Dilemmas – New Rural Planning”.

2 November 2021 – The UIA at COP26

The UIA is participating in the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021. Represented in Glasgow by Immediate Past President Thomas Vonier as well as SDG Co-directors Natalie Mossin and Ishtiaque Zahir Titas. Around 15 speakers and panelists are attending the UIA program in COP26, physically and virtually. The UIA has also partnered with INBAR, China Corporate pavilion, the Nordic section and the World Urban Campaign (WUC).

22 October 2021 World Architecture Day – Thank you

The celebrations of the World Day of Architecture have been successfully concluded. Traditionally celebrated on the first Monday of October, the theme chosen this year was “A clean environment for a healthy world”. Among the various activities proposed around this theme, the UIA organised a webinar on 4 October 2021, bringing together experts in the fields of architecture and health. It is now available on the UIA YouTube channel and the speakers’ presentations are available on the UIA website. Thank you to all the speakers and participants.

19 October 2021 – Call for Nominations: International Contextual Architecture Award 2022

Antalya Kepez Municipality, in cooperation with the Antalya Branch of the Chamber of Architects of Turkey, has organised the “The International Contextual Architecture Awards in memory of Architect Turgut Cansever”. Endorsed by the International Union of Architects (UIA), these Awards seek proposals that exhibit original interpretations of Turkish architect Turgut Cansever’s design principles.

12 October 2021 – UIA 2030 Award Launch

The UIA, in partnership with UN-Habitat, today launches the UIA 2030 Award to promote the work of architects contributing to delivery of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development together with the New Urban Agenda. The biennial award, synchronised with the World Urban Forum, invites all architects around the world to submit entries for built projects which demonstrate design quality and have made significant contributions towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in six categories.

8 October 2021 – Results: The 5th Edition of the Baku International Architecture Award

The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Union of Architects of Azerbaijan (UAA) have announced the winners of the Fifth Edition of the Baku International Architecture Award. Endorsed by the UIA since 2015, competitors in the 2021 edition of the Award included 193 projects submitted from 38 countries around the world.

27 September 2021 – 2022 UIA Year of Design for Health

In July 2021, the UIA General Assembly declared 2022 the “UIA Year of Design for Health”. This commitment urges all UIA Member Sections to encourage architects and their clients to use evidence-based design to promote health in buildings and cities. The UIA will facilitate a series of initiatives to increase awareness of designing for health, including a digital information hub, an international research agenda and support for the creation of resources to help architects around the world conduct research on healthy environments.

24 September 2021 – UIA World Architecture Day Webinar

Created by the UIA in 1985, World Architecture Day is celebrated annually on the first Monday of October in parallel with UN World Habitat Day. The theme, “Clean environment for a healthy world” addresses housing, public spaces and global environmental issues in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UIA hopes to contribute to the global conversation on the 2030 Development Agenda.

20 September 2021 – The Design of the Surrounding Area of The Ancient Theatre A’ In Larissa, Greece

The Municipality of Larissa in Greece has launched an International Open Ideas Competition for the Design of the Surrounding Area of the Ancient Theatre A’ of Larissa. Participation is open to architects, or multidisciplinary teams consisting of at least one architect. Competitors are invited to submit proposals for the transformation of an inactive ancient open-air theatre dating from the 3rd century BC into a point of reference and identity for the modern city of Larissa, the fourth-most populous urban center in Greece.

10 September 2021 – 2021 UIA-HYP Cup International Student Competition Launched

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.

16 July 2021 – Copenhagen named UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture for 2023

The city of Copenhagen has been officially designated as World Capital of Architecture for 2023 by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, on the recommendation of the General Assembly of the International Union of Architects (UIA).

20 May 2021 – International Competition: EU Commission Joint Research Centre

The European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) has announced an international multidisciplinary project competition with prequalification for the design of the new JRC Site Headquarters in Seville, Spain. It is endorsed by the International Union of Architects (UIA) as being in accordance with the UNESCO-UIA Regulations for International Competitions in Architecture and Town Planning.

18 May 2021 – The Daylight Award 2022

The Daylight Award 2022 launched on 16 May, the UNESCO International Day of Light. The Award honours and supports daylight research and daylight in architecture, for the benefit of human health, well-being and the environment. It places specific emphasis on the interrelation between theory and practice. Established by the philanthropic foundations, VILLUM FONDEN, VELUX FONDEN and VELUX STIFTUNG, and endorsed by the UIA, it is conferred biennially in two categories: The Daylight Award for Research and The Daylight Award for Architecture.

7 May 2021 – 2021 UIA Golden Cubes Awards

The UIA Architecture and Children Work Programme has announced the results of the 2020-2021 UIA Architecture & Children Golden Cubes Awards, now in its fourth edition. Founded to honour people and organisations that help children and young people to understand architecture, the Awards are attributed in four categories: Institutions, Schools, Written Media and Audio-Visual Media.

4 May 2021 – Winners: 2021 UIA Gold Medal & Prizes

To encourage merit, recognise talent and reward achievement, the International Union of Architects (UIA) awards a Gold Medal and five prizes during the triennial UIA World Congress. The 2021 UIA World Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is the first to be held virtually.

29 April 2021 – 2021 Friendly & Inclusive Spaces Awards Results

The 3rd edition of the UIA Friendly and Inclusive Spaces Awards attracted 91 entries from 35 countries across the world. Despite widely varying economic, political, social and cultural contexts the submissions demonstrated how sensitive architectural design and collaborative processes can create inclusive, friendly and enabling environments.

26 April 2021 – Solidarity with Brazil: UIA2021RIO

Due to the current health crisis and government restrictions on public gatherings, the UIA2021RIO Executive Committee has been forced to reorganise the Congress in a new online format, with pre-recorded videos and live transmissions. The International Union of Architects applauds the efforts of Brazilian architects to celebrate its Congress.

20 April 2021 – Daylight Talk #3 with Hemma Fasch

Organised by the VELUX Group in collaboration with individual schools of architecture and endorsed by the UIA and the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE), the Talks explore the significance of natural light in architecture and will present prominent architects and educators working consciously and qualitatively with daylight in their projects and educational programmes.

16 April 2021 – Al Nouri competition: winners announced

An entry by eight Egyptian architects has been announced as the winner of the international architecture competition for the Reconstruction & Rehabilitation of the Al Nouri Complex in Mosul, Iraq. The UIA-endorsed competition is a major component of UNESCO’s ambitious project for the rehabilitation of the ancient city, Revive the Spirit of Mosul. It has two main components: the Rehabilitation of Al Nouri Mosque Complex and the Reconstruction of Al Nouri Prayer Hall

12 March 2021 – Daylight Talk with Boonserm Premthada

8 March 2021 – International Women’s Day 2021

The aim for the UIA International Women in Architecture Committee is to highlight the contributions of female architects to society, to share knowledge and advice, to encourage the young, and to foster camaraderie among women professionals and students. Congratulations and thanks to the five UIA Council members, one from each of the UIA regions, who have launched this effort

5 March 2021 – Beirut Live Forum: 12-14 March 2021

With the support of the French government, UNESCO-LiBeirut and the UIA, the forum will address transport and urban mobility, housing, Beirut’s harbour and the preservation of heritage with the aim of creating a master plan for the districts devastated by blast.

23 February 2021 – Meet Louis Cox

Louise Cox practiced architecture at McConnel Smith and Johnson (MSJ) starting in 1968, becoming a director in 1980 and leading the advancement of heritage and health care design through the delivery of many significant projects in Australia and Malaysia. Louise dedicated sixty years of service to profession through many organisations and government boards. After joining as a student member in 1963, from 1986 to 1996, she was highly involved in the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA), serving on numerous local and national committees. In 1996, she was a UIA Council member and was elected UIA President from 2008 to 2011.

8 February 2021 – Baku International Architecture Prize, 5th Edition

The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Union of Architects of Azerbaijan (UAA) have launched the fifth edition of the Baku International Architecture Award, an open, biennial award with the support of the UIA. This biennial award, open to qualified architects everywhere and endorsed by the UIA since 2013, seeks to recognize architectural diversity and to encourage new ideas and research, new realisations and exemplary new implementations of urban planning and architectural projects globally.

7 January 2021 – Interview with Jan Gehl

Danish architect and urban design consultant Jan Gehl is recognised worldwide for his commitment to people-centered, humanistic urban planning. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark on 17 September 1936, his career has focused on improving the quality of urban life by re-orienting city design towards the pedestrian and cyclist. A founding partner of Gehl Architects, he was awarded the UIA’s Patrick Abercrombie Prize in 1993 for Town-Planning or Territorial Development. In 2020, he celebrated his 60th anniversary as a practicing architect.