Architects Regional Council Asia (ARCASIA) and the Visegrad 4 Archiectural Foundation (V4AF) jointly hosted a series of events in April to commemorate the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations which had been in the works for the past few years.
The weeklong event started in Budapest, Hungary where the delegates returned to the site of the very first Roundtable organized by these two organizations last year, Klabelsberg Castle, located in the scenic hills of Buda.
The next day was the tour of the first out of 4 castles (one each in the 4 Visegrad Countries which are Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia and Poland), the Buda Castle with our host, Erno Kalman, President V4AF. The delegates enjoyed the various buildings which make up this grand complex and also saw in details much of the renovation and readaptive use work which is going on there. This was followed by the official signing of the MOU in one of the Government buildings inside Buda Castle. This event was very well covered by the local media.
The following day the delegates moved on via Bus to Prague, Czechia but stopped for a day trip in Bratislava, Slovakia where there was a visit to the Bratislava Castle and the old town. The Society of Slovak Architects were the hosts with their President Jurag Herman. The Bratislava Vrad or castle has had a deep history, starting from Roman times , through the middle ages, surviving barely through a fire , the world wars and of course the Communist era. It’s been wonderfully restored now and one can tell from its location atop the hill of its significance over the years as an outpost. The SAS office is ideally located in the old town and the visit there gave the delegates the unique opportunity to explore this scenic European gem.
Prague is one of the lucky cities of Europe which was not devastated during World War II and thus retains its historical structures without the need of extensive rebuilding and renovations that one sees in other European cities. In Prague we were hosted by the Czech Society of Architects and their Vice President Karel. Karel is also responsible for the Inspirelli Awards, which caters to young architects from all over the world and for the first time ARCASIA was a partner organization and many from the ARCASIA region not only participated but young architects entries from Korea and Vietnam stood 2nd and 3rd respectively in the competition.
There was also a visit to the Prague castle and the many buildings within its complex, some of which are still in government use. The dominant Gothic architecture here makes it stand out from the other 3. The delegates walked to the old town from the castle through one of most scenic pedestrian bridges, the manes bridge which sits atop the Vltava River with wonderful vistas all around.
The ARCASIA and V4AF Roundtable on Heritage II “The Royal Castles” was also held in Prague, Czechia. Here specialists from ARCASIA along with specialists from V4AF presented works related to re-adaptive use and restoration work done to castles of their region. From ARCASIA we had presentations by Ar. In Souk Cho (KIRA) ,Ar. Fauzia Qureshi (IAP), Ar. Kavita Jain (IIA) and Ar, Josephine Fu (HKIA) from V4AF we had presentations from. From V4AF there were presentations from Erno Kalman (President V4AF), Ing. Karel Smejkal (Czechia), Pawel Marian Kobylanski (Poland), Peter Fejerdy DLA (Hungary), Jurag Herman (Slovakia) and Csaba Sarkozi (Hungary). The President ARCASIA, Ar. S.M. Jahangir Khan also spoke of how he has promoted cross regional cooperation during his presidency and is happy to see the bonds forming which will surely bear fruit in the coming years. Honorary Secretary ARCASIA, Ar. Ramiz Baig gave a presentation on last year’s successful roundtable leading up to the very recent signing of the MOU between ARCASIA and V4AF.
The delegates then made their final stop in Krakow, Poland. A small city still very much dominated by the castle and old town. The castle houses various exhibitions ranging from historical artifacts to armor. Krakow in the last few years has started to attract millions of tourists which has had a tremendous impact on the local population. Other areas of interest which were visting included the Jewish Quarters as well as the old town where the office of the Association of Polish Architects is located (SARP).
Thus concluded a very successful cross regional event organized jointly by ARCASIA and V4AF. A strong partnership has already been developed between the two organizations and plans are already in place for the next event, this time brining the Central Europeans to Asia!
Write-up: Ar. Ramiz Baig, Honorary Secretary, ARCASIA
