Awardees of the First Asia Pacific Culture Prize Profile

• Architect

Dr.Pinyo Suwankiri was born in Songkla province in southern Thailand in 1937. He graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at Chulalongkorn University in 1964. In 1972, he received a Master's degree in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA. In 1980, he became assistant professor in the Faculty of Architecture at Chulalongkorn University and he retired in 1998 after serving as associate professor. Dr.Suwankiri has been distinguished himself for his work in the field of traditional Thai architecture for over 30 years. He has earned high praise for many of the structures into which he combined his own creative energy with Thai architecture. He has contributed significantly to research in Thai traditional architecture while imparting knowledge of traditional architecture to the young generation through his long years of being an educator. Due to Dr.Suwankiri's efforts, great strides have been made in deepening cross-cultural understanding through activities such as designing numerous Thai temples not only in Thailand but also in the USA, India, Nepal, Germany and elsewhere so as to spread and educate people about traditional Thai architecture.

• President, Association for Aid and Relief, Japan (AAR)

Ms.Yukika Sohma was born in Tokyo in 1912. She became involved in the Moral Re-Armament (MRA) movement in 1939. Using as moral support the concept of "in order to change others, first I have to change," she devoted herself to social movements after World War II. In 1977, Ms.Sohma established the Japan-Korea Women's Friendship Association to deepen mutual understanding between Japan and Korea through civil exchange. In addition, in 1979, she established the Association for Aid and Relief Japan (AAR) to provide relief to the exodus of refugees from Indochina at the time. Since then, AAR's target for relief has expanded to include various countries of Asia and Africa and its activities have extended from emergency relief to the operation of vocational training centers, medical assistance and rebuilding and construction of schools in the countries requiring assistance. Furthermore, in recent years, AAR has made great efforts in demining activities and through its many years of grassroots-level activities, it has greatly contributed to the realization of symbioses among diverse cultures.