Reforming from the Root

Professional StudiesReflections on the future

of the profession

Christian WrenContested PeripheriesMArch Year 6

Reforming from the rootCan a reorganized architectural education system revive the British architecture industry?

01.04.14

2 | PROFESSIONAL STUDIES | CHRISTIAN WREN

The refurbishment of Elm Court School in Lambeth by JM Architects was funded by the BSF initiative prior to the programme

being axed. It was highlighted as an exemplar project for the refurbishment of older schools.

Architecture is in the midst of an identity crisis. The last fifty years has seen the profession stagnate as the construction industry - to which architects were once pivotal - has developed to adapt to the changing social, political, ecological, economical and technological landscape. Architects have found themselves sidelined in the construction process, with contractors and specialist consultants gradually eating away at the professions responsibilities. As building work becomes more complex, Design and Build contracts become more prominent, and clients become more risk averse,1 architects have had to broaden their scope of work, or risk being left behind in the evolving construction industry.

‘In the face of a continuing erosion of traditional architectural skills to other players, the profession seems peculiarly vulnerable to a nostalgic backward glance at a bygone age in which the architect was the undisputed boss.’ The Future for Architects? report2

Amidst the background of economic uncertainty, clients have become pre-occupied with issues of cost and time, rather than design and material quality. Trust has been eroded in the profession as clients feel that the design priorities of architects don’t match the budgetary constraints imposed in a changing economic climate. To give a notable example, this was most evident in the stalling of the school building reforms brought in under the current coalition government.

The ‘Buildings for Schools’ programme was an initiative started in by the previous Labour

government that would have seen £45 billion invested in rebuilding and repairing hundreds of primary and secondary schools in the UK over a twenty-year period.3 Shortly after the 2010 General Election, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, scrapped the programme.4 This was in favour of reforms whereby ‘baseline design’5 templates deprived of ‘architectural extravagance’6 would be selected, and replicated on any site. Gove was outspoken in his criticism of the profession, telling a conference on free schools, “no one in this room is here to make architects richer”.7

“It shows an extreme lack of trust in the architectural and construction professions to deliver schools to budget… I can understand them wanting to turn the screw on the budget, but why do they not give architects who understand these things the ability to decide.” Peter Clegg, Senior Partner, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios8

The skepticism of architectural value in relation public spending is a new occurrence, with past governments utilizing architects to design responsibly with social housing schemes, inspirationally with public museums, and methodically with hospitals. If architecture is going to survive as a profession, architects need to better demonstrate what and where they add value in the design and construction process. This dissertation will discuss, how did architects slip into to this malaise of mistrust and marginalization, and what changes can be made to ensure the current and future generations of architects aren’t consigned to the role of an expendable sub-contractor?

As architects ponder the growing marginalization of their profession, architectural education reform is both the root

and answer to the industries problems, writes Christian Wren

CHRISTIAN WREN | PROFESSIONAL STUDIES | 3

Reforming from the root


The issues facing the industry today have their roots in the architectural education system. The current education model in the UK is split into three parts. Part 1 involves a three-year undergraduate degree followed by a year of practical experience. Part 2 requires a further two years of postgraduate study and another year of practical experience. Once the final qualifying examination, Part 3, has been completed, a student can register with the ARB as an architect.

This model has its origins in the RIBA’s Oxford conference in 1958. The context of the

profession during this time differed greatly from today. The task of post-war restoration and development fell to architects, who didn’t just have the trust of the public, but the backing of government.9 From the early 20th century until the 1970s the number of architects employed in governmental departments and local authorities grew to such a level, that by 1976, almost half of all registered architects in the UK worked in the public sector.10 This afforded the profession considerable influence on policymaking and affirmed its position at the forefront of the

construction industry. At a time when social reform was high on the political agenda, architects seized its opportunity, benefiting with the high turnover of social housing, schools and institutional buildings. More than a million new homes were built under Clement Attlee’s post-war government alone.11

Whilst the profession enjoyed the same levels of reverence as that of doctors, lawyers and engineers in post-war Britain, it was one that didn’t have a sole academic route of entry. The main route to architectural accreditation prior to 1958 was

learning directly from an established architect though pupilage or apprenticeships, and the consequent completion of the RIBA’s examinations.12 Whilst there were also university degree programmes that gave exemption from RIBA examination, it wasn’t until post-1958 that this became the dominant route.

The Oxford Conference was attended by fifty delegates, all male, and sought to improve the standards of architectural education by restricting entry into practice solely via the academic route.13 However, the result of this academia-focus

Cruddas Park, Newcastle. One of the thousands of residential buildings built by Newcastle council during the 1960’s


saw the banishment a number of practical skills previously core to an architects development. This effectively saw the abandonment of the apprenticeship scheme, a clear sign that the profession saw itself above that of a ‘trade’, and vested in the

realms of academia and professional services.14 The sanctimonious attitude of the profession led to the stripping of construction and structural engineering from the core facets of the architectural education, with greater focus on theory. This has

been reflected in practice by the marginalization of architects in the building industry, suggesting that the profession’s fall from grace can be traced back to the educational reforms of 1958.

The conference wanted practicing architects

to take the lead in education by giving their time to teaching, but this would be in an academic context, distant from the constraints faced in practice with practitioners having little input on course content. Instead, the development of aspiring architects

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“ Time and again, the projects seemed intent on fleeing the real world of people and places, scale and context; retreating instead into fantasy realms of convoluted forms with no seeming purpose… Clouds of lines and layers were regularly employed as a smokescreen to disguise the fact that there wasn’t really an idea at all: visual complexity masking conceptual thinness.” Oliver Wainwright, Guardian architecture critic15

“ The submissions to the current RIBA President’s Medals demonstrate once more that architectural education in Britain is operating in a parallel universe. The (best?) students of the current generation as well as their teachers seem to think that the ordinary life processes of contemporary society are too boring to merit the avant-garde’s attention. Instead we witness the invention of scenarios that are supposedly more interesting than the challenges actually posed by contemporary reality.” Patrick Schumacher, Director, Zaha Hadid Architects16

has been nurtured by academics, and as competition amongst architecture schools has intensified, the interests of academics have become more personal as schools sacrifice a holistic education for one tailored to the style a school wishes to project. This is most evident from entries to the RIBA President’s Medal, where schemes selected by universities as the elite, are merely self-indulgent proposals set in irrationally conceived dystopias. This is a view shared by a number of critics and industry leaders, lamenting the detachment of student projects from ‘the real world of people and places, scale and context’, because ‘ordinary life

process of contemporary society are too boring to merit the avant-garde’s attention’.

Whilst the profession has seen significant change over the last 55 years, the model and content of architectural education has remained static and insular, not responding the changing climate it’s students are released into. The introduction of tuition fees in England and Wales by the previous Labour government, and subsequent cap raising by the coalition government, means that students now have a greater right to question the value of the education they are receiving.

Oliver Wainwright

Patrik Schumacher


In December 2013, the RIBA announced plans to streamline the architectural education system as part of a two-year review of structure, content and delivery of the existing model. Under the plans, the ‘part’ system would be scrapped in favour of an ‘integrated award’ that would allow immediate registration as an architect following the completion of studies. Architectural education in the UK is subject to the EU Professional Qualification Directive, which facilitates common standards in qualifications across the EU. The directive came under review last year, with its reforms proposing the option of two routes to gain

architect accreditation. One route would permit five years of university study (5+0), with the other requiring four years of study with two years of professional practice (4+2).

Should the RIBA agree to the directive - which looks likely - it could result in graduates using the term ‘architect’ without having any practical experience. This would undermine both the RIBA’s education framework, and the use of the title in the UK. The prospect of accreditation being achieved without practical experience would create a two-tier system of graduate architects, raising serious doubts over the practical integrity of the profession, and exposing

the sector and public to the risks of working with an inexperienced architect.

“A more rounded, more streetwise, more savvy, service industry-led education would have been better than the esoteric, niche, quasi-monkish, introspective and frankly very expensive time I spent in la-la land.” J-J Lorraine, Director, Morrow Lorraine Architects17

The opposing option to the 5+0 route would be a transition from an academic-led to industry-led education. However, the difficulties in this would be stark, and may

still not address the key issues facing the industry. Firstly, it would be highly unlikely that architecture schools would be willing to relinquish any of their input, particularly if it resulted in less income. There is the option of the four-year study route for UK schools, but this is universally neglected in favour of an extra year of tuition fees from students. From the point of view of the practitioners, significant incentives would be required to encourage them to focus more of their resources on training students, and with the work of architect firms wide ranging in scope, there could be the issue of students receiving an imbalanced education dictated by


the work of the practice. Above all, if the industry is facing problems of it’s own in terms of identity and influence, would an industry-led education be a case of the blind leading the blind? In fact, in this scenario, could it be the industry that benefits more?

Change is needed in architectural practice, and it should be instigated through the next generation of graduates. To give an example, in

preparing the design and construction for their ambitious Yokohama Port Terminal scheme in Japan, Foreign Office Architects consciously assembled a design team of talented recent graduates. Their proposals were so radical and against the standard model, the older generation of traditionalist Japanese architects simply would not have been able to adapt their existing practices.

‘To give the power to “experienced” architects, as more of the conservative forces around us were claiming, would have been catastrophic, as it would have destroyed the cultural consistency of the team.”Farshid Moussavi and Alejandro Zaera-Polo, FOA18

Yokohama Port Terminal, Foreign Office Architects

FOA design team


An historical precedent of blurring the lines between education and practice to benefit both master and apprentice is Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin School of Architecture. Wright rose to prominence in the early 20th century as one of America’s leading architects, but personal turmoil led his professional career hit serious decline in the 1920s19. However, rather than settle into

a deserved retirement, in 1932 at the age of 65, Wright and his wife Olgivanna inaugurated a ‘fellowship of apprentices’, with twenty-three students coming to live and learn at Taliesin West, Wright’s winter home.20 It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, with students having the opportunity to study whilst working on real projects under the tutelage of Wright, who in turn was re-

energized to embark on what became the most celebrated period of his career. The school also gave Wright much needed financial reward, crucial in the period of great economic uncertainty, with the great depression and World War II.

The fellowship was as touted as a self-sustaining workshop, where practical construction skills were applied through built

experimentation in the isolated farming country of Arizona, before being implemented in Wright’s active projects.

22 With his schemes unconventional in structural conception, he would place trust in his students over contractors, often having an apprentice on site during construction who was responsible for the overseeing the construction operation. “If a detail didn’t work,

Frank Lloyd Wright with his Taliesin apprentices


we used our wits to make it right”, noted John Howe, one of Wright’s original apprentices.23 The opportunity to play an active role in the building process empowered the fellows, and should be seen as critical to the education of any aspiring architect.

Whilst the model of residency and pupilage may be outdated in an architectural context, the mutual benefit of student and practitioner cannot be overlooked. Will Hunter, Editor of the Architectural Review, shares this view, as is evident in his proposed London

School of Architecture.24 His alternative route of education would forge closer ties between education and practice, in what he defines it as ‘Proto practice’25, where ‘teaching as a form of practice in itself that can benefit a whole office’. As well as benefiting students, Hunter says this could provide an alternative route of income for practice whilst providing them with a research arm for architectural developments. A proposed network of 25 practices would provide 12-month paid placements for the first year?, who would go

on to do a year long thesis project.26 Whilst forming a productive link between practice and academia would no doubt be beneficial to both sides, there would need to be consistency and scrutiny on the quality of experience given to students in the placement year.

The business model of the architecture school would see tuition fee costs reduced by not having a permanent home, and thus removing expensive overheads.27 However, the benefits of such an institution could easily be provided in a university system

that would also have permanent access to a library, workshops, print facilities and facilitate collaboration with other departments within the university. In terms of course content, Hunter encouragingly says that projects will engage with ‘real social issues,’ but fails to explain the methodology behind the approach. If issues such as construction, environmental strategy and project management aren’t central to the learning, the whole venture will barely develop the education discussion.

“Surrounded by bright, committed and energetic apprentices, Frank Lloyd Wright’s career as an architect found new vigour, and soon the students could learn as they worked on some of the most innovative buildings in America. The celebrated master of the Prairie School had expanded his vocabulary, and apprentices under his direction created renderings, made models, did the engineering and produced construction drawings. Young men and women could come to Taliesin and get first hand training working with outstanding architects on some of the nation’s most visible and important projects.”Taliesin School of Architecture21

Will Hunter


The changes required to architectural education in the UK do not need to be radical, simply an adjustment of the content, execution and focus of the students output. The sole route of entry should be 4+2 structure proposed by the EU and RIBA, which will provide the invaluable practical experience, as well as two years of salary and a year less of tuition fees. Whilst industry integration will be critical, it is unrealistic to expect total detachment from academic system.

Architecture as a profession involves huge scopes of interdisciplinary collaborations, which are rarely reflected in architecture courses. A student can expect to go through a whole project without speaking to a single expert in a field other than architecture. The first way to address this is with greater collaboration with other university departments such as engineering. This should become the cornerstone of the course, with projects imitating the processes of real life construction.

Once a brief has been selected, the student must speak with political, economic, ecology and anthropological students to grasp the social implications of their project. Once a site has been selected, the student must consult with geology and surveying students to get an in depth understanding of context. During the development of the scheme, ongoing meetings must be held with engineering and business students to ensure the project is both financially

responsible, and structurally viable. The final output is a scheme of vast consideration, ground in practical reasoning, benefiting all departments involved. Projects will not be marked primarily on their visual output, but the strength of the design, potential for construction and the relationships formed amongst collaborators. Should a student wish to concentrate their energy on high quality imagery as is expected with todays students, they should consider pursuing

As architecture draws upon the skills of numerous fields, the university environment should be the perfect arena for cross-field multidisciplinary collaboration and experimentation. Not only would the new education model facilitate multiple careers paths, but it would also addresses the critical question of how the architect adds value. In design terms, the architect adds value by creating the most holistically considered proposal possible, drawing on their knowledge of multiple disciplines. By moving away from the current inwardly looking

educational model to one of greater departmental collaboration, substantiated by two years of practical experience, the next generation of architecture students will enter the work place fully equipped with the diverse skills required to not just survive, but thrive in a construction industry that has swallowed the generation that preceded it.


a degree in computer visualization.

The second aspect to the proposal would see students take part in community design projects that would result in constructed schemes. This model already exists in America, with the University of Houston Design/Build Studio one of a number of courses that give students the opportunity to apply the realities of construction to their designs.

‘Master of Architecture students are offered the opportunity to see their ideas evolve from initial conception to completed construction. The studio demonstrates the full-scale implications of the students’ aspirations and measures the quality of their design thinking against the rigorous standard of built reality.’ UH Graduate Design/Build Studio28

A similar program is run by the Architectural Association. Not only would such a project give students invaluable construction experience, but it would help to enhance relations between the university and local community. A project would start with the identification of local needs through community consultation, before the outlining of a brief that is deemed reasonable in scale and execution. Communication and organizational skills would be key to such an active project, with students needing to nurture the client relationship, whilst drawing on the skills of students from other departments. Live projects, mirroring real world construction processes, benefiting the local area.

‘If architecture education does not focus on constructing, it becomes irrelevant for the building industry’ Peter Zumthor29

‘It is clear that many young graduates

see nothing but opportunity in

these extraordinary times.’

The Future for Architects? report30

AA Design and Make studio


1 RIBA. The Future for Architects, March 2011. http://www.buildingfutures.org.uk/assets/downloads/The_Future_for_Architects_Full_Report_2.pdf.


3 The Education and Skills Committee. Sustainable Schools: Are We Building Schools for the Future? House of Commons, September 8, 2007. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmeduski/140/140.pdf.

4 Hanna Richardson. “School Buildings Scheme Scrapped.” BBC, May 7, 2010. http://www.bbc.com/news/10514113.

5 Education Funding Agency. “School Building Design and Maintenance,” March 11, 2014. http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/schoolscapital/buildingsanddesign/baseline.

6 Robert Booth. “New School Building Designs Hit by Curve Ban.” The Guardian, February 10, 2012, sec. Education. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/oct/02/new-school-building-designs-curve-ban.

7 Merlin Fulcher. “Gove: Richard Rogers Won’t Design Your School.” Architects’ Journal, February 2, 2011. http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/daily-news/gove-richard-rogers-wont-design-your-school/8610768.article.

8 Robert Booth. “New School Building Designs Hit by Curve Ban.” The Guardian, February 10, 2012, sec. Education. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/oct/02/new-school-building-designs-curve-ban.

9 The UK Architectural Education Review Group. Pathways and Gateways: The Structure and Regulation of Architectural Education, April 2013. http://people.bath.ac.uk/absaw/files/Preliminary%20Report%20-%20Pathways%20and%20Gateways.pdf.

10 Simon Pepper. “Rise and Fall: a Long Century of Changing Public Sector Practice.” presented at the RIBA Research Symposium 2009: Changing Practices, London, September 24, 2009. http://www.architecture.com/Files/RIBAProfessionalServices/ResearchAndDevelopment/Symposium/2009/SimonPepper.pdf.

11 Brian Wheeler. “BBC News - A History of Social Housing,” April 8, 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-14380936.

12 Crinson, Mark, and Prince of Wales’s Institute of Architecture. Architecture--art or Profession?: Three Hundred Years of Architectural Education in Britain. Manchester, UK ; New York : New York: Manchester University Press ; Distributed exclusively in the USA and Canada by St. Martin’s Press, 1994.

13 Oxford Conference. The Oxford Conference: a Re-evaluation of Education in Architecture. Edited by Susan Roaf and Andrew Bairstow. Southampton ; Boston: WIT Press, 2008.

14 Allen Cunningham. “Getting Other, Not Better The Architectural Profession Was Set on a False Path in 1958. We Must Avoid This Happening Again.” Architects’ Journal, September 23, 1999. http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/getting-other-not-better-the-architectural-profession-was-set-on-a-false-path-in-1958-we-must-avoid-this-happening-again/773960.article.

15 Oliver Wainwright. “Towering Folly: Why Architectural Education in Britain Is in Need of Repair.” The Guardian. May 30, 2013, sec. Art and Design. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2013/may/30/architectural-education-professional-courses.

16 Patrik Schumacher. “Schumacher Slams British Architectural Education.” Architectural Review, January 31, 2012. http://www.architectural-review.com/schumacher-slams-british-architectural-education/8625659.article.

References


17 Merlin Fulcher. “Profession Divided over RIBA’s Shake-up of Architectural Education.” Architects’ Journal, December 12, 2013. http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/daily-news/profession-divided-over-ribas-shake-up-of-architectural-education/8656606.article.

18 Michael Kubo. The Yokohama Project: [foreign Office Architects. Barcelona: Actar, 2002.

19 Edgar Kaufmann Jr. 9 Commentaries on Frank Lloyd Wright. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1989.

20 Tobias S. Guggenheimer. A Taliesin Legacy: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Apprentices. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc., 1995.

21 Taliesin School of Architecture. “Taliesin, Building Architects Since 1932,” n.d. http://www.taliesin.edu/history.html.

22 Donald Leslie Johnson. Frank Lloyd Wright Versus America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1990.

23 Tobias S. Guggenheimer. A Taliesin Legacy: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Apprentices. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc., 1995.

24 The London School of Architecture. “The London School of Architecture,” n.d. http://www.the-lsa.org.

25 Will Hunter. “Alternative Routes for Architects.” Architectural Review, September 28, 2012. http://www.architectural-review.com/essays/alternative-routes-for-architecture/8636207.article.

26 Eilzabeth Hopkirk. “New Architecture School to Offer Cut-price Part II.” Building Design, March 10, 2013. http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/new-architecture-school-to-offer-cut-price-part-ii/5061513article?PageNo=2&SortOrder=dateadded&PageSize=10#comments.

27 Will Hunter. “New School of Architecture Launched.” Architectural Review, October 1, 2013.

http://www.architectural-review.com/view/overview/new-school-of-architecture-launched/8653692.article.

28 UH Graduate Design/Build Studio. “UH Graduate Design/Build Studio,” n.d. http://www.uh.edu/gdbs/about_us.html.

29 Peter Zumthor. Interview with Royal Gold Medallist Peter Zumthor, February 5, 2013. http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/interview-with-royal-gold-medallist-peter-zumthor/8642305.article.



Image references

Page 1Student graduating. https://www.flickr.com/photos/camdiary/12775572043/in/photostream/ (Accessed on 25.03.14)

Page 2Elm Court School. https://www.flickr.com/photos/48901597@N03/6334244896/in/set-72157627977417293 (Accessed on 26.03.14)

Page 4Cruddas Park. https://www.flickr.com/photos/48901597@N03/6334244896/in/set-72157627977417293 (Accessed on 26.03.14)

Page 5Man on construction site. http://bountifulassurance.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Construction.jpg (Accessed on 26.03.14)

Page 6Blurred image. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V35Ll67C3ag/TpC9Rf8ejwI/AAAAAAAAAqI/DZWM-PoPCYAs1600/002+Italy+232+Pompeii+Landscape++18x24+.jpg (Accessed on 29.03.14)

Page 7Patrik Schumacher. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SRKKY5VBnks/TYHaMUeg2_I/AAAAAAAAAuE/N07f7gen4zg/s1600/patric.jpg (Accessed on 29.03.14)

Page 7Oliver Wainwright. http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/293/182/293182393_640.jpg (Accessed on 29.03.14)

Page 8Student show. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vh_FZFS5cdw/UAQFCgvBOpI/AAAAAAAAAd8/EQL6HCDergM/s1600/ (Accessed on 29.03.14)

Page 9Yokohama Port Terminal. http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4128/5093251318_910003ed6d_o.jpg (Accessed on 30.03.14)

Page 9FOA Design Team. Michael Kubo. The Yokohama Project: [foreign Office Architects. Barcelona: Actar, 2002.

Page 10Frank Lloyd Wright. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TBQwh7lNkeM/Uttc-eWyfHI/AAAAAAAAFOo/U1GkFqM-xwg/s1600/tumblr_m5bav8z13B1r1g51jo1_500.jpg (Accessed on 27.03.14)

Page 11Will Hunter. http://sprks.com/wp-content/ks-uploads/2011/10/kspa110923-6357-sprks.jpg (Accessed on 31.03.14)

Page 12Students in workshop. http://projectsreview2011.aaschool.ac.uk/submission/uploaded_files/AALOG/May%202011-Workshop_VB_07_05_10_0008.jpg (Accessed on 31.03.14)

Page 13AA Design and Make Studio. http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/IMAGES/unitimages2013/b_graddesignmake_2013.jpg (Accessed on 31.03.14)

Page 18Victoria Baths. http://sweetmabelblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/photo-09-06-2013-12-13-54.jpg (Accessed on 31.03.14)


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Reforming from the Root