UIA World Congresses 1978–1996

Text: Judit Osskó

Preparatory meeting before the foundation of the UIA, London 1946

Unique in its kind as a worldwide organisation of architects, UIA (Union internationale des Architectes) was founded in 1948 in Lausanne. Not many people know that its founder was Pierre Vago, a Hungarian-born architect. He was only twenty years old when he started to work as editor-in-chief for L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, launched just then. The progressive-minded company associated with this periodical had already organised an international discussion forums for architects as early as in 1932 in Moscow, then in 1935 in Rome, in 1937 in three European capitals, Vienna, Budapest and Prague, and in 1938 in Paris. This was how the Réunion Internationale d’Architectes (RIA) came into being after the war as a worldwide organisation which has held its congresses every third year since then at various international venues. The events and memories of these international meetings spanning over two decades have been recorded on films which are stored in the archives of the Hungarian Television. Thus we can have a glimpse into the congresses of UIA between 1978 and 1996.