On May - 12th, 1917, the first historic meeting was held in Mr. Foster King's bungalow, set in the sylvan surroundings of the School of Art compound. It was here, according to a tablet on the building, that the famous Rudyard Kipling was born on the 30th December 1865. One may well imagine what the scene must have been then, for some of the beautiful surroundings of trees and greenery are fortunately still preserved in the very heart of a great industrial and commercial city. In such a setting of beauty and peace, the child that was to grow up into the Indian Institute of Architects, was also born.
At the first meeting held, the members present decided to form themselves into an association of the past students of Architecture of Sir J.J. School of Art and it was decided to christen the infant "The Architectural Students Association". Late Mr. George Wittet, the then Consulting Architect to the Government of Bombay, was unanimously elected as the first "President" of the Association.