Joseph Kwan
Joseph Kwan is currently serving as the Global Chair of the RI International Commission on Technology and Accessibility (ICTA)
He is an experienced architect and access consultant with involvement in access to the built environment, transportation and inclusive tourism since 1987.
He has practiced architecture in Australia, United Kingdom and France; and was the Director of an access advisory service in Hong Kong from 1987 to 2005. He founded the practice UDA Consultants Ltd., a specialist consultancy on Universal Design and Accessibility.
Joseph Kwan is a Resource Person to the United Nations - Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific (UN-ESCAP) on training in Non-Handicapping Environments and also their Expert/Consultant on the promotion of Barrier-Free Tourism in Asia and the Pacific.
He is a Council Member of the International Union of Architects (UIA), and the International Director of the UIA Work Programme on “Architecture for All” since 1999. He is a Member of the International Standards Organization Working Group on the ISO Standard: “Accessibility and Usability of the Built Environment”, and a Member of the International Steering Committee for TRANSED (International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons) Conferences. He was a Resource Person to the Asia Training Centre on Aging (ATCOA) at the University of Chiang Mai, Thailand, of HelpAge International, U.K.
Joseph Kwan was a Member of the Hong Kong SAR Government’s Rehabilitation Advisory Committee Sub-Committee on Access, a Member of the Transport Department’s Expert Group Forum as well as the Working Group on Access to Public Transport by Disabled Persons; an appointed Member of the Building Department’s Advisory Committee on Barrier Free Access; and is the current Member of the Building Committee of the Hong Kong Housing Authority. He is also the Co-Convenor of the Ocean Park Disabled Advisory Committee. He was the Vice President of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects.
He is the author of a number of papers and articles on various aspects of designing for accessibility/disability and universal design, where he has extensive lecture experiences in this field at the local, regional and international level. He has been an External Reviewer for the Universities’ Schools of Architecture and School of Design in Hong Kong. He was an Assistant Professor of the Department of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong.
In 2000, he was a Recipient of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Hong Kong Citation “in recognition of distinguished achievement as a community based consultancy service in promoting and implementing barrier-free accessible environments for the elderly and people with disabilities in Hong Kong”. On 1st July 2001, he was awarded the “Medal of Honour” (MH) by the Hong Kong SAR Government for “his valuable contributions in improving a built environment that caters for the needs of people with disabilities”.