Moriyama Teshima Architects Partners Diarmuid Nash and Brian Rudy traveled to Copenhagen earlier this month to attend the International Union of Architects (UIA) World Congress event. This multi-day conference occurs once every three years, bringing together professionals within the architecture industry from across the globe to convene, network, and share their knowledge. This year, the central topic of discussion was sustainability and the grave consequences of climate change.

“It was a remarkable collective experience with over six thousand participants, architects, activists, and politicians… from the very famous, to hundreds of emerging talented and committed individuals. As a participant, I found the sessions to be thought-provoking, focused and quite purposeful, with both a sense of gravity and urgency. Each day, I felt the message that we must act now, that time is running out. The way we think about architecture and practice needs to change, from the early stages of the design process to the closing out of a building. The UIA Congress had a clear message – that we were in a crisis and that action is necessary.”
– Diarmuid Nash

The UIA is an international non-governmental organization recognized by UNESCO as the only architectural union operating at an international level. Founded in 1948, the UIA has grown to include the key professional architects’ associations in more than 100 countries, organizing an estimated 1.3 million architects.