Architect

An architect is a person involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a building's construction. The most basic definition of an architect is a professional who is qualified to design and provide advice - functional, aesthetic and technical - on built objects in our public and private landscapes. More generally, an architect is the designer of a scheme or plan.

"Architect" is derived from Latin: architectus, and from Greek: arkhitekton (master builder), arkhi (chief) + tekton (builder, carpenter). [1]

In the broadest sense, an architect is a person who interfaces between the end user of a planned structure and the builder. That is, the architect translates the user's needs into the builder's requirements. The architect must be completely conversant with the user's environment, that is, the area of business or industry for which the structure is to be used, so that s/he can fully and completely understand the image of the final result that the user is trying to convey. Equally as important, the architect must thoroughly understand the building and operational codes with which the builder must conform and, upon completion, during use of the structure. That degree of knowledge is necessary so that s/he is not apt to omit any necessary requirements, or produce improper, conflicting, ambiguous, or confusing requirements. S/he must understand the various methods available to the builder for building the user's structure, so that s/he can negotiate with the user to produce a best possible compromise of the results desired within explicit cost and time boundaries.

Architects are professionals considered on par with doctors, engineers, and lawyers, and they must frequently make building design and planning decisions that affect the safety and well being of the general public. Architects are required to obtain specialized education and documented work experience to obtain professional licensure, similar to the requirements for other professionals, with requirements for practice varying greatly from place to place (see below).

The most prestigious award a living architect can receive is the Pritzker Prize. It is considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for architecture. Other awards for excellence in architecture are given by national and regional professional associations such as the American Institute of Architects and Royal Institute of British Architects.

Although architect may be a specific term referring to a licensed professional, the word is frequently used in the broader sense noted above to define someone who brings order to the built or unbuilt environment through the use of rational constructs using (engineering) design tools. [Note: someone who brings order to the built and/or unbuilt environment through the use of rational or irrational constructs and who may or may not use design tools is normally referred to as an artist. Although structures described by architectures may often be said to contain artistic features, as a whole they are rarely referred to as works of art. Similarly, works of art are rarely referred to as having an architecture.]

For example, naval architects, software architects, etc., and graduates of schools of architecture not doing regulated project/construction documents are often called architects. However, non-licensed architects and designers working in the construction industry are prohibited from referring to themselves as architects in most countries.

Canada

In Canada, architects are required to belong to provincial architectural associations that require them to complete an accredited degree in architecture, finish a multi-year internship process, pass a series of exams, and pay an annual fee to acquire and maintain a license to practice.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada [2] aims to be "the voice of Architecture and its practice in Canada." Architects who are members of this organization are permitted to use the suffix MRAIC after their names. All members of the RAIC hold accredited degrees in architecture, but not all Canadian architects are members of the RAIC.

UK

Architects in the UK qualify through courses and exams recognized by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and prescribed by the Architects Registration Board (ARB).

Typically the sequence of education leading to full qualification and registration takes seven years and is:

Three-year degree course
RIBA Part 1 exam
One year’s professional experience
Further two-year course
RIBA Part 2 exam
Another year’s professional experience
RIBA Part 3 exam

The title ‘architect’ has legal protection in the United Kingdom; under the Architects Act 1997 it is against the law for people who are not registered to practise or carry on business under any name, style or title that contains the word.

Draughtsmen and architectural technologists (previously architectural technicians), as well as many who have chosen not to register, may also provide architectural services. (See HOLLIS DESIGN [3] )

Links

CIAT's website for Chartered Architectural Technologists [4]
British Columbia Institute of Technology [5]
HOLLIS DESIGN - covering South of England [6]

USA

In the United States, people wishing to become licensed architects (interns) are required to pass a series of multiple exams (depending on specific criteria set forth by the State in which the testing is conducted), referred to as the Architectural Registration Examination (the ARE). In addition, interns must have multiple years of documented practical work experience (quantity depends on type of educational experience and type of educational degree earned) working under a licensed Architect before they may become eligible to take the ARE. Although the ARE is a national exam, each state issues their own licenses. Some states, such as California and Hawaii, require supplemental exams in addition to the ARE. Other states have reciprocity agreements, so licenses may be easily transferred between certain states. Schooling is not always required in such states as New York, for someone who works at least 10 years under an accredited architect is eligible for a licensening test.

There are three types of accredited ("professional") degrees in architecture in the United States; a Bachelor of Architecture, a Master of Architecture, or a Doctor of Architecture (abbreviated as B.Arch., M.Arch., and D.Arch., respectively). These are called professional degrees as they are required to enter the profession. A Bachelor of Arts in Architecture (BA), Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architecture (BFA Arch), Bachelor of Science in Architecture (BS), or Bachelor of Environmental Design (B.Envd) typically takes four years - as opposed to five for a B. Arch degree - and is considered a pre-professional degree. However a professional degree is still required (to take the ARE and to practice) and the programs are often combined usually leading to an M.Arch degree. A pre-professional degree is not necessary to enter a professional degree program, but accelerates completion. Following graduation from a professional program, documented apprenticeship (typically 3 year internship) is required before the individual is eligible to take the ARE and become licensed.

The American Institute of Architects [7] is the professional organization dedicated to offering a network of services to architects in the United States. Architects who are members of this organization are permitted to use the suffix AIA after their names. Not all architects who are licensed by their respective states are members of the AIA, and the general public often confuses the AIA suffix with actual credentials rather than participation in a business organization.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong to be an architect, one must be a graduate of a university specified by the HKIA plus a two year internship, then take the architect registration examination. Architects from U.K. and U.S.A. with 10 years experience aren't required to take the examination, but are required to attend an interview just as a formality.

Architects in Hong Kong are not authorised to submit building plans but use it as a 'title' only, unlike in most of the western world which carries a statutory obligation. To be able to submit building plans, architects, engineers or surveyors must go through another step by passing an authorized personal interview. Contrary to popular thought, most of the famous buildings in Hong Kong are designed by well-known international 'brand' architects and local architects act only as facilitators.

Notable architects

The architects in the list of notable architects are in chronological order of when they did their most important work (or emerged), and alphabetized within each time period.

Notable schools of Architecture

Bauhaus, Weimar, Dessau, and Berlin
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Architectural Association School of Architecture, London
École des Beaux Arts, Paris (until 1968 when 22 Écoles d'Architecture replaced it)
Glasgow School of Art,Glasgow,Scotland
The School of Architecture[8] at McGill University
The School of Architecture[9] at University of Waterloo
GSAPP [10], Columbia University in the City of New York [11]
Pennsylvania State University,Pennsylvania [12]
Berlage Institute, Rotterdam [13]
The Bartlett[14], Faculty of the Built Environment (London, UK)

External links

Royal Institute of British Architects - Professional association for architects in the United Kingdom
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada - Professional association for architects in Canada
American Institute of Architects - Professional association for architects in the United States
Royal Australian Institute of Architects - Professional association for architects in Australia
Famous architects Biographies of well-known architects, almost all of the Modern Movement.
National Architectural Accrediting Board Organization that accredits US professional degree programs in architecture.