Following the International Chapter Architecture Awards, we’d like to share the speech that Institute CEO, Cameron Bruhn, delivered at the event.
I am honoured to be the CEO of the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ as we move towards the celebration of the centenary year of the Institute in 2029. This august, near one-hundred-year long history as the peak body for the architectural profession, supporting members across Australia and internationally is something to be collectively proud of. Membership of this community offers a unique platform for engagement, advancement and celebration, and day-to-day provides invaluable services for members and their businesses. Each year hundreds of Institute members volunteer their time in service of the profession and their peers.
The increasingly global market for built environment expertise has created new opportunities for Australian architects over the past 50 years and the work of Australian architects has been used by politicians to exemplify the economic success of the Australia’s professional services exports. Significant achievements from the foundational mid-century period include buildings in Canada and the United States by John Andrews, who is arguably Australia’s first internationally recognised architect. University and banking projects by James Birrell in Papua New Guinea from the early 1970s and the regionally sensitive buildings of Kerry Hill, who relocated his eponymous practice from Australia to Asia in 1971, started a new conversation between Australia and the Asia Pacific region at a pivotal moment in regional geo-politics. In the mid 1980s the construction of the new Australian Embassy in Beijing segued Denton Corker Marshall into work in the rapidly urbanizing cities of China and over the past forty years the practice has designed and built more than forty thousand apartments there. Here in Japan, Denton Corker Marshall completed the Australian Embassy in Tokyo in 1990. In parallel with this globalized market outlook, Australia has also produced a unique micro-internationalism, with several small- and medium-sized practices setting up offices or relocating offshore, including Terroir in Denmark, Kirk in Malaysia, Koning Eizenberg in Los Angeles, Lava in Vietnam and Atelier Luke in Japan. This body of work has expanded the reach of Australian architects and has reshaped our collective architectural identity. One of the key outcomes of the Institute’s International Awards is providing a view of the overall economic, cultural and personal impact of this internationalisation.
International engagement plays an important role in our work and the Institute’s commitment to the global practice of architecture extends back to the mid-twentieth century, with the establishment of the International Union of Architects (UIA) in 1948. We are proud to contribute to the global initiatives of the UIA and the Commonwealth Association of Architects, the CAA. The centrepiece of our international engagement is the International Chapter, which was established in 2018. The chapter has members across the world and has an energetic growth outlook. In the past two years there have been some noteworthy developments in mutual recognition of architects, with the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia renewing Mutual Recognition Agreements with Singapore, the UK, and New Zealand. Australia has a recognition agreement with Japan under the APEC Architect Agreement and on this visit, we will be meeting with the Japan Institute of Architects to explore future opportunities. The International Chapter is holding its 2025 annual in-person meeting of the Chapter in India in late November, alongside Design Mumbai with International Chapter Councillors contributing to the Design Mumbai speaker program.
I would like to thank the Chapter Councillors of the International Chapter for championing and organising this prestigious awards event. I appreciate the opportunity to celebrate the work of Australian architects on the world stage alongside friends, colleagues and our distinguished guests.
Cameron Bruhn Hon. FRAIA
CEO
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