International Union of Architects (UIA)

PRESS RELEASE / 30 SEPTEMBER 2019

Architecture…housing for all

 On World Architecture Day, Monday, 7 October 2019, the International Union of Architects (UIA) calls attention to the critical challenges of housing . . . for all.

More than one billion of the 7.5 billion human beings on our planet live in places they build for themselves, using whatever materials they can scavenge, on whatever land they can claim, often tenuously. Millions lack permanent shelter altogether, as refugees and persons displaced by conflict and calamity.

Let us turn our creative and political energies to providing decent housing for all. Let the 3.2 million architects across the globe help in efforts to reverse unbridled urbanization, finding ways to maintain viability in villages, small towns and medium-sized cities. Let us lead in finding new ways to make all cities safer and more equitable.

We can fight the rise in housing costs through innovative policies, new design solutions and an unwavering quest for social and economic balance. We can achieve equitable development and share in the responsibility to lodge all people, especially those who are least fortunate.

“Architecture—housing for all” is not just a tagline; it is a duty, a demand, and a commitment.

On 7 October 2019, World Architecture Day, please join the UIA and our partner, UN-Habitat, to show that design has an essential role in alleviating human suffering, reducing planetary burdens, and enhancing the quality of life for everyone.

THOMAS VONIER
President,
UIA / International Union of Architects

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The UIA marks World Architecture Day on the first Monday of every October, to celebrate the architecture around the globe. It is an occasion for our member sections throughout the world to stage events and actions that advance architecture in the public eye. This year, for the second time, the UIA held an international competition for design of the 2019 World Architecture Day poster. We received hundreds of entries, from which a distinguished jury of graphic designers chose the winner, Huda Gharandouqa (Jordan). Download the poster here.