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The international audience of the World Congress of Architects, organised by the International Union of Architects (UIA) in Copenhagen from 2 to 6 July, was impressed by the regeneration of the International Exhibition and Congress Centre of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki ConfExPark), which was presented by TIF-HELEXPO.
In fact, Swiss architect Regina Gonthier, Co-Director of ICC, who was elected by the general meeting in the framework of the Congress as the new President of UIA, congratulated the TIF-HELEXPO team for the exemplary International Architectural Design Competition that it organised, as well as for the satisfying rate of progress of the work, given the timely delivery of the architectural preliminary design. She also referred to the presentation of the International Architectural Design Competition organised by TIF-HELEXPO in a special UIA publication, which concerns architectural design competitions, as an exceptionally successful case study.
In the framework of the presentation, the head of legal services of TIF-HELEXPO and member of the management team of Thessaloniki ConfExPark, Eni Dodou, spoke about the continuous vision of the company both to enhance the economic activity of the exhibition body, as well as to give back to the city of Thessaloniki through the regeneration of its exhibition facilities, thus contributing to the creation of a more sustainable and resilient urban future for its citizens. The regeneration project was presented with its initial commitment as it spearhead: achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and accelerating national efforts to implement them through local action.
The next person to present was partner at German architectural firm Sauerbruch Hutton, Juan Lucas Young, who highlighted basic points of the delivered architectural preliminary design of the regeneration, underlining the sustainable character of the project through an urban park, as well as the dominant position that it is taking in the “rebirth” of an entire city.
Architecture Professor at AUTh, representative of Greece at the UIA, and a member of its Council, Fani Vavyli, took to the podium and provided a foreword for the presentation.
The presentation was followed by a Q&A with the audience concerning the progress of the project, and answers were provided by TIF-HELEXPO CEO, Dr Kyriakos Pozrikidis.
This year’s UIA World Congress of Architects attracted more than 6000 participants from 135 countries, and included 150 presentations, 250 scientific projects, and 400 speakers. The event is organised every three years at a different venue.
The UIA is an international non governmental organisation, recognised by UNESCO as the only architectural association that is active on an international level. It was created in 1948 in order to unite architects all over the world through a coalition of their national organisations. From 27 delegations at the time, UIA now has among its ranks architectural organisations from more than 100 countries, interconnecting approximately 1.3 million architects.