Three-Day Event co-organized by TEE/TKM, SADAS-PEA and UIA/Hellenic Section, May 28-30, 2025, Thessaloniki, Greece – DAY 2

Press Release

The Technical Chamber of Greece/Central Macedonia Section (TCG/CMS – TEE/TKM), in collaboration with the Association of Architects with Diplomas from Tertiary Education Institutions – Panhellenic Architects’ Association (AADTE/PAA – SADAS/PEA) and the UIA Hellenic Section, co-organized a three-day event in Thessaloniki-Greece on May 28-30, 2025, under the theme ‘Friendly & Inclusive Spaces’ and ‘UIA/Region II Presidents’ Meeting’.

DAY 2 – UIA/Region II Presidents’ Meeting

On Thursday, May 29, 2025, the UIA/Region II Presidents’ Meeting took place in the Engine-Habs room at TEE/TKM. This region includes Greece.

The meeting was chaired by Jerzy Grochulski (Poland), Vice President of UIA/Region II.

Presidents and delegations from Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Ukraine attended in person, while online participation was available for representatives from other countries.

Fani Vavili-Tsinika (Greece), President of the UIA Hellenic Section, welcomed the participants. ‘Facing dystopian situations as wars, poverty, social inequality, over-crowded metropolis, etc., we are obliged to rethink for the role of the architects! In the current neoliberalism world, an emerging huge problem in many parts of the globe is the housing one (ecology, materials, cost, the neighborhood, etc.). Supporting social movements for a habitable living environment and practicing architecture as an effective democratic tool for social change appear to be an ‘emerging need’ she said.

Rui LEÃO (Macau), UIA General Secretary, presented the UIA’s recent activities and future plans. He informed delegates about the new UIA headquarters in Paris and announced that the UIA Congress will take place in Barcelona on July 2026, to which all are warmly invited. He reported that, together with the President, he has completed the restructuring of the Secretariat. This includes the appointment of an Executive Director – a role that replaces and supersedes the former Secretariat Administrator – along with the hiring of two new full-time Secretariat staff members and four part-time coordinators. The UIA will will move to its new premises on Avenue de l’Opéra on June 17, 2025, after many years at Tour Montparnasse. He concluded by sharing his vision for the Union and its global role in the coming years.

Jerzy Grochulski (Poland), in his introductory speech, emphasized that the modern world is plagued not only by natural disasters but also by those caused by imprudent human behavior. He stressed that understanding the mechanisms behind such events should be an integral part of an architect’s profession. Architects, in their individual practice, should strive to eliminate the factors that may contribute to these disasters. Furthermore, architectural work should not be confined to isolated design decisions, but rather be part of a broader, continuous effort aimed at serving and improving the societies in which architects live and work.

In his main presentation, he presented the 2023-2024 Activity Report of UIA Region II, which includes Council members, member sections, regular activities, the ethics committee, professional events, and events organized by national member sections.

Anastasios Tellios (Greece), presented the work of the School of Architecture at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Nikolas Patsavos (Greece), presented the results of the workshops organized by the Department of Architecture at the University of Ioannina together with UMAR & UIA Hellenic Section.

Olga Pappa (Greece), representative of the Mediterranean Architects Union (UMAR), spoke about the activities UMAR has developed during its latest term.

Ayşen Ciravoğlu (Turkey) presented proposals on how to promote the relationship between students and young architects with the UIA. She has presented the work of the UIA Young Architects Think Tank which she is coordinating. The presentation included results of the survey that was conducted in 2024 along with several strategies to be implemented in order to involve more young professionals in UIA activities and governance.

Deniz Incedayi (Turkey), had a short report on behalf of the Chamber of Architects of Turkey (CAT). Also, she discussed the validation and accreditation of architectural programs and systems by UNESCO in collaboration with the UIA.

Edna Langenthal (Israel), presented the project ‘A Room of Her Own,’ which refers to a creative new model of support, adaptation, and recovery for refugee mothers and children from Ukraine. She also introduced the participation and activity of the Association of Architects in Israel in the UIA working groups.

Laszlo Miko (Hungary), presented the work of the Association of Hungarian Architects (AHA) and the traveling exhibition involving the V4 countries (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland), aiming to showcase the architectural achievements of countries with similar histories, traditions, and cultures. This year, Slovenia and Romania also participate in the program. He also referred to the conference ‘Social Transparency in Architecture,’ which took place in Budapest.

Oleksandr Chyzheuski and Olena Oliynyk (Ukraine), presented the Report of the National Union of Architects of Ukraine (NSAU) in the conditions of war (Autumn 2023 – Spring 2025).

Oleg Haman (Czech Republic), presented on behalf of the Czech Association of Architects the results of the UIA/Region II International Student Competition and the activities of the Association.

The work of the national sections of their countries was presented by Alexander Badalyan (Armenia), Ştefan Bâlici (Romania), and Jakub Hantak (Slovakia).

On behalf of the UIA Hellenic Section and its president, Kyriakos Pipinis, gave a historical overview of the Section’s participation in the UIA since its foundation back in 1948, supported by the Technical Chamber of Greece TEE-TCG, in close collaboration with many countries. He made special reference to the contribution of honorary UIA president V. Sgoutas and former UIA/R.II vice presidents L. Siola and N. Fintikakis. He also mentioned that over the past three years, the Hellenic Section has supported and assisted in the launch of three International UIA Competitions, which is remarkable considering the size of the country.

The discussion also included contributions from Martina Hovořáková (Czech Republic), David Abuladze (Georgia), Bassam Ali Hassan (Lebanon), Salim Nachabe (Lebanon) and Bartłomiej Kożuchowski (Poland).

The Greek delegation also included Dimitris Xynomilakis, President of SADAS-PEA, and architects Sotiris Papadopoulos, Nikos Fintikakis, Nikos Tsinikas, Katerina Toutouza and Dimitris Amponis.