In 1920 the first Pan-American Congress of Architects was held. There the Permanent Committee of the Pan-American Congresses was constituted, and in 1950, during the VII Congress, the creation of the Pan-American Federation of Associations of Architects was approved, with the task of formally bringing together architects from all American countries without racial distinctions, religious or political.
In its long evolution, FPAA has become a regionalized Pan-American body with genuine representation of the regions before its Executive Committee. The Federation currently comprises 32 National Sections grouped into five geographic regions: North Region, Central America Region, Caribbean Region, Andean Region and Southern Cone Region.
FPAA today is an essentially democratic institution with a conception of American integration, through reciprocal knowledge and mutual aid, representing the aspirations of the National Sections that compose it constituted in a Sovereign Assembly.
Main objectives
Establish an effective link, for professional, cultural, artistic, and scientific purposes, between all the Architects of the Americas and the world.
Make known, disseminate the scope of the profession, and its position within the field in which it operates.
Make the architect connect actively with the socio-economic problems of the time and participate in its dynamics.
Encourage the action of existing regional groups, which dedicate their efforts to similar purposes to those of the FPAA, within certain geographic areas, to act in it, and promote their creation.
Organize the Pan-American Congress of Architects, ensure that their conclusions are disseminated and put into practice, and encourage the holding of meetings, congresses, conferences, round tables, etc., of regional interest.
Make periodical publications to disseminate the purposes of the FPAA and its activities, as well as the entities that constitute it, promoting the exchange of ideas and purposes of common interest.
Collaborate with the authorities responsible for the teaching of Architecture, to contribute to the broadest training of graduates by their teaching bodies; harmonize or complement their efforts with those of other disciplines.
John A. Padilla, AIA
AIA Vice-President 2011-2012 AIA Secretary 2015-2016 Richard Upjohn Fellow 2018/2020 Vice-president FPAA North Region Pan American Federation of Associations of Architects Honorary FCARM
