As if we didn’t have enough initials to keep up with, three little letters now demand remembering. You may never have heard of the Union Internationale des Architectes, or U.I.A., but don’t remain ignorant. This international organization, which holds a large gathering every three years, purports to represent the worldwide community of architects and their shared interests, a tall order in an increasingly global, though fractured, civilization. The U.I.A.’s recently concluded triennial Congress and Assembly, which was held in Istanbul, Turkey, from July 3 to 10, deserves a retrospective look from both sides of the Bosphorus.
First, a bit of background. Founded in 1948, the organization has wobbled from initially lofty goals to the present, with varying degrees of efficacy. In the past decade, its proceedings have occasionally seemed centered on arcane legalisms, though in fact, many topics have been of import to architects everywhere. Like the United Nations, the subject matter has sometimes been occluded by polemics, by political posturing and U.S. bashing, and plagued with financial woes (who pays for this uber-organization?). Few serious designers have given the U.I.A more than a lazy glance, but the world has changed.
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