ARCASIA (Architects Regional Council Asia) 39th Council Meeting

The 39th ARCASIA Council Meeting was held on the 11th and 12th of October 2018, in Tokyo, Japan hosted by the Japan Institute of Architects (JIA). The meeting was chaired by the ARCASIA President, S.M. Jahangir Khan (IAP) and conducted by the Honorary Secretary, Ramiz Baig (IAP).

The participants were actively engaged in the meeting which had a very extensive agenda. Apart from the regular proceedings, a few important elections took place, the results of which are the following:

• 1. Vice President Zone A – Ar. Lalichan Zacharias (IIA)
• 2. Vice President Zone B –Ar. Saifuddin Ahmed (PAM)
• 3. Vice President Zone C – Ar. Wu Jiang (ASC)
• 4. ARCASIA Fellowship Chair – Ar. Qazi Arif (IAB)

The 39th ARCASIA Council Meeting was attended by the Office Bearers and Committee Chairs of ARCASIA and a number ofOfficialDelegates from 20 out of the 21 ARCASIA member institute. Only the Bhutan Institute of Architects (BIA) was not represented.

Participants of the Council Meeting:

ARCASIA Office Bearers and Committee Chairs

The 39th ARCASIA Council Meeting was part of the the Asian Congress of Architecture for the year 2018 hosted by the Japanese Institute of Architects in Tokyo, Japan. ACA 18 was aimed at promoting discourse on environment and the role of architects within the ARCASIA regions and beyond. Key note speeches, symposiums and panel discussions, student competition, student workshops, technical papers, ARCASIA awards ceremony, award winning architectural displays, international networking events, showcase, architectural and urban trip tours were integrated into the 05-day program.

Before the official opening of ACA 18 committee meetings for ACAE, ACPP, ACGSA, ACSR, ACYA and Fellowship were arranged at the Meiji University on 10 Sep 2018., this was followed by a beautiful welcome reception organized by the hosts at Andaz, Tokyo.

Day 2 and 3 of ACA 18 consisted of the ARCASIA Council Meeting on 11th and 12th Sep 2018. All member institutes except Bhutan and were present at the council meeting.

A cocktail party with a talk show by architects titled ‘Design Talk’ was conducted by Klein Dutham Architecture on 11th Sep 2018 at The National Art Center, Tokyo. Part 1 of the event consisted of young architects from the ACRASIA regions presenting on the topic ‘My Favourite City’, Pecha Kucha presentations were made by Fawad Suhail from Pakistan, Daniel Setiawan from Indonesia, Tan Szue Hann from Singapore and Simon Hui from Hong Kong. Renowned Japanese contemporary architects, Kazuyo Sejima and Toyo Ito presented some of their inspiring projects in Part 2 of the event. The event closed with a question and answer session with the audience. The evening was a brilliant opportunity for architects from all over the region to interact and socialize in an informal setting.

The AAA dinner was held on 12th Sep 2018 at the beautiful Happo-en. In the spirit of its conception, the evening acknowledged exemplary work by Asian architects and encouraged the sustenance of the Asia spirit, the development and improvement of the Asian built environment and enhancement of the awareness of the role of architecture and architects in the socio-economic setting of Asian countries.

Day 3 marked the official opening of the Asian Congress of Architects 2018. Mr. Jahangir Khan (President ARCASIA), Keiichiro Tsuchiya (President Meiji University) and Masaharu Rokushika (President of the Japan Institute of Architects) in their opening remarks welcomed all participants, attendees and visitors at ACA 18. They showed their support and encouragement towards the co-existence within diversity amongst the ARCASIA member institutes and hoped for bigger, better and closer bonds among all the nations for a collective goal of working towards the betterment of the built environment.

The ARCASIA Friendship Night, held at the Hotel New Otani, was an evening of grandeur, socializing and cultural exchange between the ARCASIA member countries.

The ACA 18 Symposium was distributed into three theme sessions under three interlinked themes; Simplicity|Design, Simplicity|Multiplicity and Multiplicity |Technology. Each theme session invited world famous architects to present their work and ideas within the set themes, keynote speeches were made by Kai-Uwe Bergmann (Bjarke Ingels Group [BIG]), Fumihiko Maki (Maki and Associates) and Yasmeen Lari (Co-Founder and CEO, Heritage Foundation of Pakistan). Speakers among the theme sessions included:

• Takaharu Tezuka (Architect / President of TEZUKA ARCHITECTS / Professor of Tokyo City University)
• Rafiq Azam (Architect – Bangladesh)
• Eleena Jamil (Architect – Malaysia)
• Masami Kobayashi (Architect – Japan)
• Heng Chye Kiang (Urban planner/designer – Singapore)
• Caroline Bos (Architect – The Netherlands)
• Shin Sakurai (Architect – Japan)
• Kohei Shintani(Structural Engineer – Japan)
• Masahito Shimizu (Architect – Japan)

The two-day Symposium ended with a Short Talk Session on the theme of Sustainable Development Goals where enlightening presentations were made by;

• Ai Ohara (Director, Japan Innovation Network (JIN)
• Izumi Sakata (President of OSA Japan)
• Sudhir Balakrishnan Pillai (Architect – India)
• Tamae Utsuno (Chief, Overseas Business Division, IPP Business Group, Looop Inc)
• Vipavee Kunavichayanont(Architect – Thailand)
• Kazuo Iwamura(Architect – Japan)

After a successful two-day Symposium, the ACA flag was handed over to Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) for transition into ACA 19, at the closing ceremony. The closing ceremony was followed by two excursion tours arranged by JIA; Tokyo River Cruise & Hama-Rikyu Gardens and TOKYO SKYTREE® & Solamachi shopping tour.