An International Conference on East Asian Architectural Culture (EAAC), co-sponsored by the Architectural Society of China, Japan, and the South Korea, was held in Tianjin University (TJU) from Oct 13 to 17.

Over 150 attendees, including the chief of the EAAC organizing group and 25 experts convened to promote research and international exchanges on architectural history and culture of East Asia.

For more than a decade, the conference has been held every two years alternatively in China, Korea, Japan, Singapore and other East Asian countries and regions. Participants have expanded from East Asia to dozens of countries and regions in Southeast Asia, South Asia, North America, Australia and Europe.

This year, the EAAC was organized by the School of Architecture of Tianjin University. Themed on "East Asian Architecture: Values, Inheritance & Dissemination", the conference explores the protection and inheritance of the value of East Asian architectural culture in modern society and the promotional role it can play in social development.

Feng Shida, professor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong hosts the opening ceremony.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Xu Subin, president of the EAAC 2017 organizing committee and professor of TJU, and Feng Shida, professor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, co-hosted the opening ceremony. Hu Wenping, vice-president of TJU, delivered a welcoming speech in which he elaborated on the history and development of TJU as well as the School of Architecture and introduced distinguished alumni.

Hu Wenping, vice president of TJU, delivers a welcoming speech.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

On behalf of TJU, Song Kun, vice-president of the School of Architecture of TJU, outlined the agenda of the conference, emphasizing its value and significance.

Song Kun,vice-president of the School of Architecture of TJU delivers a speech.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The conference focused on issues and topics worthy of academic debate and discussion. What values of East Asian architectural culture need to be protected and inherited through the process of globalization? How can East Asian heritage be preserved and utilized as a cultural resource for future development? And how can these values be inherited and spread to the rest of the world?

On behalf of the EAAC founders, Zhu Guangya, a professor from the School of Architecture at Southeast University, delivered a speech. He reviewed the development of the conference and proposed three key words: values, inheritance, and dissemination.

Experts from Japan, Korea, Singapore and other countries and regions also made speeches.

EAAC, a biennial event for researchers who study East Asian architectural history, is the highest level international academic conference in all related fields in East Asia.