Architecture Asia - ARCASIA Awards for Architecture 2018

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Convener’s Report
It is my honour to be appointed Convener of the ARCASIA Architecture Award (AAA) 2018. As the Past President of the
ARCASIA, a former member of the ARCASIA Council, a Chair of the ACAE, I have witnessed excellent works of the architects
in Asia since 1997. The progress of the architectural profession is phenomenal in Asia, with the region contributing
to driving much of the world’s economy in the past quarter century. The infrastructure had to be constructed to run such
mega-operation in countries like China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. Consequently,
demand for architects became high and the educational institutions are producing young graduates each year to enter
the profession. The profession, on the other hand, began to mature in many Asian countries. Home-grown architects
have spawned in great batches and are producing excellent works across the region. The AAA Awards is run each year to
recognise such Asian talent and the quality works they design and produce.
This year, the AAA Award programme was launched in March with high hopes to receive quality architectural designs from
across Asia region. For the 2018 AAA panel, we have invited a prestigious group of architects from three ARCASIA zones –
a principal architect of an award-winning office of SNOHETTA and an internationally acclaimed curator from Japan, who is
the Director of a prestigious museum in Tokyo. The jury was headed by Ar S.M. Jahangir Kahn, President of ARCASIA.
On the early morning of 30 June 2018, the 2018 panel came together at the JIA Headquarters Building in Tokyo to deliberate
and decide the winners of the ten categories of the AAA Award. Although the adjudication was a one-day affair, the
members were given one month to review a large number of submissions before arriving in Tokyo.
This year, there were 405 projects submitted in ten categories of the AAA Award. Breakdown by countries are as follows:
China 184, Japan 44, Thailand 34, Hong Kong 30, Vietnam 26, Malaysia 21, Bangladesh 20, Sri Lanka 15, Korea
15, Indonesia 7, Pakistan 4, Singapore 3, India 1 and Other 1. The contribution of China to the AAA Award programme,
with 184 entries, represents the popularity of the AAA, as well as the healthy competitive environment in the architectural
profession in China. Looking at the breakdown by the award categories A1(54), A2(30), B1(39), B2(32), B3(141), B4(14),
C(20), D(29), E(27) and F(15), we see that Category B3, Public Amenity/Social Institutional Buildings, was extremely competitive
with 141 entries. Further, as expected Category A1, Single Family Residential Projects, was second with 54 entries
from across Asia region.
The jury, headed by Ar Kahn, went through each category of submissions to carefully select the finalists. Most categories
had three finalists. Categories A-2, B-4 and F had one finalist each. Categories B-2 and C had two finalists. On the other
hand, Category D had four finalists. Every project, selected to be the finalists, are significant quality architecture, symbolising
the progress of the architectural profession in Asia in the last quarter century.
On 12 September 2018, the winners will be announced at the AAA Awards Dinner to be held in Happo-En in Tokyo. It is
hoped that all the finalist will join the Awards Gala to celebrate the sublime of the Asian architectural design and profession.
AR GEORGE KUNIHIRO, FAIA, FJIA
CONVENER
ARCASIA AWARDS FOR ARCHITECTURE 2018
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ARCHITECTURE ASIA ISSUE 3 2018