January_1970 — Page 11

CAA Asian Conference

Firm steps towards ARCASIA

THE most important and most excit ing outcome of the recent Third Asian Regional Conference of the Common- wealth Association of Architects in Hong Kong was the affirmation of pro- posals to set up an Asian Centre of Architecture (Arcasia) and the likeli- hood that in due course the centre would be expanded to serve not only CAA member institutes but all coun- tries in the Asian region.

The conference approved the formation of a Foundation Council to promote and establish the centre and, on the last day of the conference, this council held its first meeting, at which Mr. Lim Chong Keat of Singapore was elected chairman.

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The council has 12 members from each of the six founding member institutes. Mr. Lim, together with Dr. Thomas Howarth the council consul- tant, and Mr. Visva Salveratnam a council member, are to visit Bangkok for exploratory discussions with 'aid organisations' to raise the necessary funds for the project. The next council meeting is expected to be held in May 1970.

Singapore has been adopted as the location for the new Asian Centre

to be known as the Centre for Environ- mental and Technical Advancement and there is a strong possibility that the centre will be offered a site within the new campus of the University of Singapore.

Feasibility study

The idea for an Architects Regional Centre for Asia was mooted at the first CAA Asian Regional Conference held in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. At the second conference in Colombo it was decided that a feasibility study on the financing and detailed manage- ment of the centre was needed. This study was carried out and presented to the third conference by Dr. Thomas Howarth, FRIBA, Dean, Faculty of Architecture, Urban & Regional Plan- ning and Landscape Architecture, University of Toronto.

The concept and objects of the centre are to establish an independent post-graduate research institute under- taking advanced studies on specific problems pertaining to countries in the

Far East BUILDËR, January 1970

region, commencing with studies on architectural education with specific reference to curricula and educational methods for schools of architecture, and to co-ordinate research work of member countries and collate, publish and disseminate professional informa- tion to member institutes.

Dr. Howarth, in his feasibility study, reported that during the course of his investigation it became quite clear that while each of the countries represented suscribed with enthusiasm to the idea of a central headquarters for Arcasia, there was strong feeling that national sub-centres should be es- tablished in each country.

This raised the important issue as to whether a decentralised rather than a centralised organisation might be preferable. The report continues:

Taking into account the difficulties of obtaining the necessary financial support; the paucity of first-class peo- ple who could be persuaded to devote

their time and energies to the critical issues that will exercise Arcasia in its early days; and the complexities of the organisational problems, it would seem unwise to start with decentralisation, although in the long term possibility of restructuring the organisation in this way should not be overlooked.

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Such sub-centres might, in the first instance, be based on universities possibly on schools of architecture - where there would be additional man- power available and physical facilities such as classrooms, laboratories and so forth.

In fact the establishment of an Arcasia sub-centre could well provide a much needed incentive for the concen- tration of academic and professional knowledge and skills in a particular region, and give a new sense of direc- tion to those who are now unable to make an effective contribution.

The proposed superstructure for Arcasia might be as below:

ARCASIA

Proposed Superstructure

HEADQUARTERS

(Singapore)

Sub-Centres

Phase One

Hong Kong

India

Malaysia

Ceylon

Corresponding members: Member nations of the CAA.

Australia

Indonesia

Sub-Centres

Phase Two

The Six Founding Countries

of CAA with the addition of

The Philippines

Pakistan

Singapore

Thailand

Taiwan

Corresponding members: North and South America (Pacific Areas) —

Cambodia Laos - Japan Korea - Viet Nam.

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Sub-Centres

Phase Three

The inclusion of all countries in the region.

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