Open week to draw leading minds in architecture to share ideas

The first UIA Rio Open Week is scheduled to run from March 22 to 25 online, as part of a series of activities under the umbrella of the upcoming 27th World Congress of Architects.

Chinese architect Xie Xiaoying will participate in the event to share her successful experience of revamping a culturally important community area in Beijing.

The International Union of Architects, also known as the UIA, holds the congress every three years, each time attracting thousands of architects from around the world to exchange professional expertise.

Beijing hosted the congress in 1999. Some 32,670 scholars and experts attended it for academic discussions. The 20th congress adopted the Beijing Charter, which noted the industry's development trends of harmonious coexistence of humans and the environment, and the mutual progress of both technologies and the humanities. The charter was drafted by Wu Liangyong, a renowned Chinese architect. Its adoption shows Wu's theories have been widely accepted and acclaimed in the global architect community.

The congress held in Berlin in 2002 attracted more than 5,000 architects, planners, officials and students from more than 90 countries and regions, including a 300-strong delegation from China.

At the 2011 session in Tokyo, 11 Chinese architecture institutions showcased their designs at the 300-square-meter China Pavilion set up by the ASC, the largest among the exhibition areas of trade associations.

The momentum continued when the following session took place in Durban, South Africa in 2014. The China Pavilion, comprising exhibitions by more than 30 domestic architecture institutions, was the largest among national pavilions during the congress.