UAR strengthens cooperation with professional associations of architects in Central European countries
On September 6-8, 2014, a meeting of representatives of professional associations from several Central and Eastern European countries took place in Budapest: Hungary (Magyar Építőművészek Szövetsége - Association of Hungarian Architects), Romania (Union of Romanian Architects), Croatia (Udruženje Hrvatskih Arhiteckata - Association of Croatian Architects), Austria (Bundeskammer der Architekten und Ingenieurkonsolten - Chamber of Architects and Consulting Engineers) and Slovakia (Spolok Architektov Slovensko - Association of Slovak Architects). Initiated and perfectly organized by our Hungarian colleagues, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss how to strengthen the cooperation between these organizations by setting up an association that would include as many countries as possible from this part of Europe, in addition to the countries mentioned above.
Numerous arguments were put forward in favor of this initiative, relating to a troubled history, sometimes with strong interferences over time, a culture and architecture often shared or with numerous reciprocal influences, a vernacular architecture, an architecture of wood, with striking similarities, covering territories far beyond national borders, a common interest and concern for the protection of the built heritage, or architectural directions, developed in parallel but pursuing the same ideals of ensuring an optimal environment for human existence.
During the discussions various possible forms of future cooperation were mentioned: exchanges of exhibitions and journals published by the respective associations, conferences and colloquia on topics of common interest, regular meetings, etc., etc. At the end of the discussions the text of a joint declaration was agreed:
Budapest Declaration
September 8, 2014
Preamble
Shared natural and cultural values, characteristics of historical heritage and similar identities in a cultural diversity lead us to establish further formal cooperation between our professional associations.
Intention
In the presence of the President of the UIA and the Vice President of the UIA - Region II , based on the initiative of the President of the Hungarian Architects Association, those present agreed to start the process of forming a new professional cooperation in order to expand and achieve the objectives mentioned in the preamble.
The Romanian Union of Architects was represented by Nicolae Lascu, vice-president, and Adrian Florin Balteanu, from the "Urban Observatory".
Throughout the meeting, the new President of the International Union of Architects, Esa Mohamed (Malaysia), elected at the recent UIA Congress in Durban, and Deniz Incedayi (Turkey), Vice-President Region II of the UIA, were present and signed the Joint Declaration.
The program of the meeting, held in the best and collegial conditions, also included visits to two exhibitions. The Hungarian Architectural Exhibition, the first event of its kind, is a vast and extremely interesting overview of our neighbors' architecture over the last 15 years. It has been organized to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Miklos Ybl (1814-1891) and the 100th anniversary of the death of Lechner Ödön (1845-1914), two of Hungary's most important architects. The architectural fair is also part of a cycle of similar annual events in the fine and decorative arts, design and photography. The second exhibition, entitled "Connecting Heaven and Earth", is a remarkable survey of the work of the great Hungarian architect Makovecz Imre (1935-2011).