International Union of Architects

WORDS Marine Leblond


The 25th International Union of Architects (UIA) world congress is coming to Durban from 3 to 7 August 2014. The congress is a major gathering of architects, which happens every three years in a different city – and this will be its first time in Sub-Saharan Africa. The South African hosts chose a resolutely positive African angle through the theme: “Architecture Otherwhere”.

Conventional approaches to architecture stemming from the West do not necessarily provide adequate answers in the context of Africa and in the developing world generally. “Otherwhere” alludes to alternative and innovative ways to make architecture a tool for social progress and the eradication of poverty. The event will be a platform for architects from around the world to exchange, debate and invent new ways of practicing architecture and building cities, through three days of keynotes, panel discussions and workshops. In parallel to the congress, the city of Durban has also offered itself as an experimental lab to test and demonstrate innovative approaches, through a range of urban spatial legacy projects developed and showcased for UIA2014.

Key speakers familiar to local audiences include Architecture for Humanity founder Cameron Sinclair, Ghanaian architect-entrepreneur Joe Osae-Addo, Indian architect and Harvard professor Rahul Mehrotra, and Burkina Faso community-committed architect Francis Kéré, along with several South African champions of socially engaged architecture. Also look out for Susannah Drake, whose inter-disciplinary New York firm creates strategies to commission their own public projects; Gerardo Salinas of Rojkind Arquitectos in Mexico, known for its radical facade designs; as well as two recipients of the prestigious Pritzker Prize, conceptual Japanese designer Toyo Ito and soulful Chinese architecture advocate Wang Shu, who should be the stars of the show.

The international speakers share a common ground: the challenging of conventions that may be outdated or out-of-place. All will seek an architecture that produces inclusive, progressive and relevant cities. 

R5 500 until 30 June, R6 500 thereafter, R750 for students, day passes also available, uia2014durban.org