The International Union of Architects (UIA), is a non-governmental organisation and a federation of national associations of architects. During its congress in Seoul, UIA will be promoting new and innovative architectural techniques and technologies. There will be numerous seminars, conferences, panel discussions, competitions, workshops for students, as well as other events for a wider audience.
The theme of this year’s congress will be Soul of City and the role of architects in finding it and bringing it out. The goal of the conference is to share and exchange knowledge on how to create diverse urban ecosystems in harmony with the cities’ souls, as well as to draw attention to the need for coherent visions for planning, urban development and design. The conference and academic programme will be divided into five thematic blocks: Culture, Future, Nature, Passion and Values.
The Sacred Spaces Scientific Committee was established in 1995 and is comprised of experts in sacral architecture from around the globe: Poland (4 representatives), France, Hungary, Slovakia, Malta, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Sweden, the United States, Brazil, Belarus, Serbia, Montenegro, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Japan, China, Morocco and Puerto Rico.
In Poland, sacred architecture has a rich history, and that includes contemporary history: more than 3,500 temples were built in the 1970s and 1980s – nowhere else have so many temples been built in such a short span of time. In its over one thousand year history, Poland had a very multicultural and very diverse society. Therefore its longstanding tradition of sacred architecture is the perfect starting point for a more general reflection on the subject.
The programme’s mission is to create a meeting place and a platform for discussion, a space for exploration and experimentation, for dialogue of many religions in architecture. Since 2008, Professor Jerzy Uścinowicz has headed the UIA Scientific Committee.
The Sacred – The Profane – The Sacred exhibition created by experts will focus on examples of transformations of sacred spaces – changing their purpose from sacred to secular and of conversion and repurposing objects in modern architecture and sacred art. The exhibition will also present significant contemporary places of religious worship and collective memory, which are open to ecumenical meetings and dialogue between religions. The Sacred – The Profane – The Sacred will also look closely at ‘borderland architecture’ as a space for dialogue for people of different faiths. Furthermore, it will look at sacred architecture place in world cultural heritage.
A seminar on the protection of places of worship in an age of secularisation will accompany the exhibition. The seminar will focus on the implementation of solutions, good practices and architectural guidelines for the transformation of sacred architecture is necessary today, more than ever.
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute, under its flagship brand Culture.pl, is a partner of the project.
Source: promotional materials, compiled by MK, 28 Aug 2017, translated by NR, 29 Aug 2017