'To do more with less'

by Charmaine FERNANDO

"As a country we are at the cross roads of a new era and the need for expertise from architects is going to be unprecedented. We have picked on a theme appropriate with the times "Doing more with less", said Jayantha Perera, President, SLIA at a media conference at Galadari Colombo to announce the highlights of the oncoming event.

Architect 2009 to be held from March 4 to 8 at the BMICH is the only event of such a magnitude held consecutively for the 27th year.

The Sri Lanka Institute of Architects will mark their 27th Annual Sessions side by side with Architect 2009 exhibition.

The celebrations will start off with the Council Meeting of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation of Architects' Institutes in the SAARC region. It will be a special event for Sri Lanka as Architect Jayantha Perera, President of the Sri Lankan Chapter takes over the reins as President of SAARC.

The keynote speaker at the inauguration of the exhibition on the 4th will be the Nobel Peace Prize Winner of 2007, Professor Mohan Munasinghe. Ministers holding housing and construction related portfolios will be guests of honour.

The National Conference to be held on March 5 will have Architect Karan Grover, internationally renowned architect who was the first to design a platinum rated green building outside the US for Brandix in Sri Lanka, to deliver the keynote address.

Other internationally acclaimed guest speakers will be Engineer Mario Seneviratne, current Secretary General of the US Green Building Council, Professor Lau from the University of Hong Kong renowned for extensive research on energy efficient cities and Architect Indika Samarasinghe who designed the first platinum rated green renovation outside US for Brandix Sri Lanka.

Architect Chandana Edirisooriya will take over the reigns as the new President of SLIA at the AGM followed by the Fellowship Night on March 7.

This event will also see the launching of a book 'Creating Simplicity' by Architect Ratnavibhushana.