January_1970 — Page 12

The proposed superstructure sug- gests that the number of countries par- ticipating in Arcasia might be gradual- ly increased as circumstances permit to include, ideally, all countries in the region. At the moment there are serious language and other barriers to the attainment of this desirable objec- tive, but there would seem to be no reason why a plan on this scale should not be considered.

Phase Two should include those countries in the region that have well organised professional institutes, or societies, and have a working know- ledge of the English language, so that communication at a fairly early stage of Arcasia's development would not be too difficult.

Phase Three might include virtually all countries in the region, some of which may not have a working know- ledge of English, and may, for political or other internal reasons, not yet be in a position to play a full part in a project of this kind. There may be problems of communication with Japan, Mainland China and Taiwan all of which would, no doubt, wish to participate as the project developed.

Organisation

The structure of the headquarters of Arcasia should be as simple and efficient as possible with a clear-cut definition of responsibility. Although it may be necessary to start with a Director and a skeletal organisation, every effort should be made to attain the full complement of staff as quickly as possible. The appointment of a Director, an executive secretary, a librarian and adequate secretarial staff should be considered essential at the

beginning of an operation of this size.

The wide range of subjects that could be considered to fall within the purview of the Arcasia project may be classified in three general categories - Educational, Professional and Techni-

cal.

It is suggested that an assistant director should be appointed to each of these groups. Under the general heading "Educational" studies would be made in such matters as a master plan for professional education in the region, graduate and undergraduate education in the environmental dis- ciplines (including curriculum struc- ture and teaching methods etc). Under this heading would come also ques- tions of intersocial and behavioural sciences etc.

Professional subjects would include management, organisational problems and inter-professional collaboration. Also included would be studies of the organisation and possible improvement of the constrution industry. Techno- logy, as the title suggests, would cover matters relative to the physical pro- cesses of creating a satisfactory human. environment with particular reference to regional conditions; this would im- ply studies of building in the tropics, materials and methods of construc- tion, building science.

The assistant directors, the libra- rian and the executive secretary to- gether with the director would, in addition to their normal duties, be charged with the responsibility of advising the Council or Board on the on-going development of research and educational programmes.

Researchers: Researchers would normally be appointed on a short or

ARCASIA

Headquarters at Singapore Proposed Administrative Structure

DIRECTOR

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Assistant Director (Educational)

Assistant Director

(Professional)

Assistant(s)

Librarian

2 Assistants

(i -- books, journals

ii

audio-visual materials).

14

Assistant(s)

Researchers

Teachers

Visiting Specialists

Student Participants

Assistant Director (Technical)

Assistant(s)

long-term contractual basis extending from one to three or more years de- pending largely on the subject and range of their activity. They would be supported by scholarships or grants.

Teachers: These would be aca- demic personnel, seconded from their home base for a term, an academic year or longer. Their salary would normally be paid by their employers, but travel- ling expenses and the cost of living might have to be met by special grants, or from Arcasia funds.

Visiting Specialists: Visiting spe- cialists would be experts in some par- ticular field who might be brought in for a few days, a few weeks or a term. They might be academic, or profes- sional people who were doing a lecture tour in the region or, alternatively, individuals who were invited to make a special contribution at a given time. In either case it could be assumed that travelling and local expenses, and an honorarium or fee would have to be covered by Arcasia although in some cases external grants may be available.

Students: Students would be either research scholars who would be in re- sidence for one or more years; grad- uate students undertaking special work for a higher degree at a regional, or foreign university; members of the architectural and allied professions at- tending courses, or participating in research work; teachers and educators undertaking special studies; people from allied disciplines and, possibly, laymen (for example politicians or government employees) who may be persuaded to attend courses and seminars on matters of special public concern such as housing, urban re- newal or pollution.

A policy decision will have to be taken sooner or later as to whether Arcasia should have its own labora- tories for research work in, for ex- ample, building science. Although one might wish that Arcasia should be in- dependent there may be merit in com- ing to an arrangement with, say, either the School of Architecture, or the Engineering Faculty at the Singapore University for the use of laboratories.

Since the cost of equipment and facilities of this kind is usually very high it may be difficult to justify the expense unless there are time-tabling, administrative, or other problems that would make sharing impracticable. Whether or not facilities were shared there should be no doubt whatever that both operations the Arcasia project and the professional schools at the universities would benefit im- measurably from close co-operation.

Far East BUILDER, January 1970