The South African Institute of Architects, a national representative body serving the interests of architects and architectural firms successfully hosted the International Union of Architects (UIA) 25th World Congress 2014 in Durban.  The World Congress, which is the Architecture’s Profession equivalent of the Soccer World Cup was a resounding success, which saw more than 4,200 delegates from all over the world attending the event.

The UIA is a non-governmental organisation accredited by the United Nations, and it represents professional associations of architects in 124 countries, and approximately 1,3 million architects worldwide. Reflecting on the success of the Congress, SAIA President, Sindile Ngonyama noted that: “South African had staged the Congress to an unprecedented high level of quality and the architects that participated in all the various events had only good words of praise regarding the manner in which SAIA had organised the event”.

The key theme of the Congress was “Otherwhere: which had the sub themes of resilience, ecology and values.

“Against the backdrop of hosting of the UIA World Congress, SAIA has now shifted its focus to the implementation of its Strategic and Business Plans that were approved by the Board earlier this year. Our work is now really cut out for the next five years as we seek to attain our vision of ensuring that SAIA architects position themselves as the authoritative voice in the built environment”, said Obert Chakarisa, SAIA Chief Executive Officer.