The University of Santo Tomas College of Architecture in partnership with the United Architects of the Philippines, the accredited professional organization of architects of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) hosted the 1st Asian Architects in the Academe Assembly, an international conference on architecture education held from May 30 to June 1, 2019 at the Dr. Robert C. Sy Grand Ballroom of the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building, UST.
The three- day event gathered 200 local and foreign architects involved in the academe. Its main objective is to establish international collaboration and networking among Asian architects in promoting quality education in the region to serve as leverage in achieving a relevant, market-responsive quality of architecture education in the country. Asst. Professor Jonathan V. Manalad, a faculty member of the College of Architecture served as the Assembly Director in his capacity as the current Executive Director of the UAP Commission on Education.
The assembly theme “Today’s Architecture and Beyond” came in four strands: Pedagogy, Technology, Ecology, and Design. Keynote speakers for each of the strands were internationally-recognized experts particularly in the Asian region led by 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Engr. Sonam Wangchuk from India. There were a total of 28 speakers including those that presented research papers from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and the Philippines.
Parallel to the conference was another highly significant event in the Asian architecture community. The ARCASIA Committee on Architecture Education (ACAE) Roundtable meeting which was convened by ARCASIA Committee of Architecture Education Chairman Ar. Gyanendra S. Shekhawat, from the Indian Institute of Architects (IIA). The roundtable topic “Architecture Education and the Changing Realities” was the reference of the representatives from the 21-member ARCASIA countries for their respective country reports.
This international meet also explored possible collaboration programs among architecture schools in Asia through the Matching and Exchange Conference where inter-country collaborations in the field of student exchange, faculty exchange, Asian pedagogy workshops among Asian architecture schools were formalized.
