The AIA International Region (AIA IR) is an incredible organization, as evidenced by the depth and breadth of the 2021 Spring Conference in highlighting sustainability & resilience in the built environment. What the conference’s title did not include, yet was implied by it being hosted by AIA IR, is the diverse thinking and problem solving shown in the program by virtue of the organization’s expanding global span. In fact, AIA IR’s strength stems from its ability to both react to the globe’s issues and draw on its expertise to bring forth intelligent conversations & awareness about critical topics.
In light of the above, the challenges we face as humans first and then as it relates to our architectural inclinations are plenty, yet it is those exact conversations & awareness created by such conferences that allow us to meaningfully engage. Although the conference addressed the very real & existential crisis with climate change, deeper within, it is our intuition towards being positive change agents exemplified as architects that brought us together at the conference.
One of the “aha” moments for me was the message of hope presented by our keynote speaker Ed Mazria about how we can affect real change in our lifetimes and correct course on the damage we have inflicted on the earth. In relatively very short spans of time, the world and the built environment have changed incredibly, like how quickly we arrived at the point of climate emergency we’re at now. On the flipside, with concerted collective action for the next 20 to 30 years, proven by precedence & data, we could bring earth to safety.
Further to our desire as architects to make the world a better place is to see a more just & equitable world. Climate action is an essential strand in that pursuit as we, among other things, help protect rural communities and limit disasters that create poverty & inequality. It is equally important to keep that orientation ever alive and be sensitive to those deeply human values. Perhaps architects are most known for problem-solving, but what precedes that is identifying those problems and a desire to see a more humane & equitable world. By keeping those values alive, architects act as early detectors or preventers of larger calamities.
The 2021 Spring Conference was a reminder that the passion & creativity in implementing change throughout the world, whether it be in a village home in Japan, a high-rise in Indonesia or a housing development in Nigeria, gives us hope that indeed we can. Scale, location or circumstances are resolvable. We’ve seen it & solved it; rather it is our deeper sense of aliveness, passion, commitment and resolve in implementing our creativity towards a more just & equitable world that make it more sustainable & resilient.
The conference's message & material are here to stay as the recordings are available to all to watch on the IR website, with the potential to earn continuing education units. My many thanks to those who made this honor & opportunity possible, namely Lester Korzilius, FAIA & Genie Khmelnitski of AIA IR, all the chapter representatives & coordinators, our honorable speakers, the event producers, the highly supportive AIAU team, and, of course, you: the attendees.
Ali Lari, AIA, PMP
President, AIA Middle East
Chair, AIA IR Spring Conference 2021
ali.lari@aiamiddleeast.org
