Country Zone

ARCASIA provides an exceptional platform to generate substantial global impacts. The Asian region, representing 52.7% of the world’s population, shoulders a significant responsibility, contributing more than half of that population. Despite our shared cultural and historical similarities, we also celebrate our diversities, which lay the foundation for collaborative endeavors in the future.

Arcasia Zone-A created cross committee collaborative forum in Maldives representing all committee chairs to explore collaborative future through ACSR (Arcasia Committee for Social Responsibility), we can effectively assess regional social issues and find tangible solutions of our communities to address pressing concerns related to the social environment and the building industry. The Arcasia Heritage Preservation Group (AHPG), Arcasia Emergency Architects (AEA) and the Arcasia Committee for Green and Sustainable Architecture (ACGSA) play pivotal roles in this endeavor. Additionally, through ACPP (Arcasia Committee for Professional Practice), we can explore how to contribute to our regions more broadly, offering our services as more than just an institution but to achieve tangible impacts on a global scale on practice and profession during post covid challenges of the region. Through ACYA the future Architects and their continuity established through their innovation including future career challenges were discussed including how political the tools and technology in Architecture as important in Artificial intelligence juncture.

 Being the Chairman of Arcasia Covid-19 Task Force I personally persuaded 13 Arcasia Covid-19 Guidelines to achieve tangible impact to our future built environment with assistance of ACSR membership and AEA. As the Chairman of ACSR in 2019, I managed to create a visionary theme first time for future by publishing a booklet, in 2019 Design for Resiliency; Our Social Conscience in Hongkong. Further I created Arcasia Heritage Preservation Group to explore retrofitting and repurposing of existing buildings as a solution to reduce capital investment and face post Covid challenges of possible economic recessions in the region.   

As the Vice President of ARCASIA, I envision a future where our organization plays a pivotal role in enhancing collaboration within the region. We managed to establish Arcasia Sports forum to meet Architects in sporting activities to strengthen the ties of our membership and its interests in different arena to find more broader perspective of financial going concern of Arcasia through non-construction industry related well wishes and sponsors to be in one forum and more member participation in future Arcasia activities.  

Dhaka, the vibrant capital of Bangladesh, proudly stands as the nation’s most popular and renowned city, offering a fusion of modern and traditional experiences. Bhutan, celebrated for being home to the world’s happiest people, serves as a remarkable model of a carbon-neutral country, with the picturesque capital of Thimphu. India, home to one of the world’s largest populations and a dynamic economy, witnesses its bustling cities of Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai shining brightly. This region, with its extraordinary cultural and historical legacy, faces a complex urban transformation, notably in Kathmandu, Nepal. Pakistan, a nation with the world’s sixth-largest standing armed forces, stands tall, and its capital, Islamabad, symbolizes its strength and resilience. Sri Lanka, acclaimed as the world’s best tourist destination in 2019/2020, proudly showcases its splendor, and its buzzing Colombo.

 As most of our region comprises island nations, we find ourselves vulnerable to the impacts of climate change by 2050, with an estimated 50 million climate change refugees requiring our support. It is crucial that we formulate unique resolutions to address economic and social challenges, adopting a collaborative approach on a national scale.

We are also actively in the process of integrating the Maldivian Architects Institute into our region, enhancing our region’s vibrancy. The Maldivian architects face a genuine challenge with rising sea levels, making it a must that we, as a community, carve our unique path forward, rather than rigidly adhering to standard models. ARCASIA’s platform extends a compassionate helping hand towards our communities as they face the challenges posed by a changing climate. Also, these collaborative missions will help to enhance practice of architecture, new ideologies for our future generation through retrofitting, repurposing, and adaptive reuse of our built heritage as a remedy to save this planet from environmental pollution caused by new buildings as a key strategy for economic revival of the region is my vision for future, embracing sustainability, inclusion, and adaptability.

Arc.Russell Dandeniya

FIA (SL), RIBA, Int.Asso.AIA

Vice President Zone A