Last edited 17 Feb 2022

The architects' profession

1 Introduction
2 Origins of architecture
- 2.1 Origins of the profession in Europe
- 2.2 Origins of the profession in Britain
3 Architects' governing bodies
4 Schools of Architecture
5 Modern conventions
6 Related articles on Designing Buildings
7 External references

Introduction

The term 'architect' has been in existence for many centuries, however the architect as its own recognised profession is a relatively modern concept. The term and what it represents has evolved through history to its current form in which architects are seen as highly qualified and educated professionals.

Origins of architecture

It is often assumed that architecture as a profession dates back to the ancient Greeks, the Egyptians or the Romans, and although the origins of the word date back to these times, it wasn't until much later that the Architect became a recognised profession in its own right.

Vitruvius Pollio (born c. 80–70 BC, died after c. 15 BC), is often considered as the first recognisable 'architect', known as a great Roman writer, engineer and builder. However Vitruvius wasn't strictly an architect and did not conform to our perception of architects today.

After Vitruvius, the term architect fades into history, overshadowed by religious or political figures.

It was the discovery by Florentine scholar Poggio Bracciolini of Vitruvius of the lost great book, De Architectura ('On architecture', published as 'Ten Books on Architecture') during the early Renaissance period that influenced and inspired the architectural movement and was a significant contributor to developing the architect as a profession in its own right. The book, in part, was an attempt, to summarise the professional knowledge of the day, and to describe the graphic conventions of classical design (1).

Origins of the profession in Europe

The modern day term 'Architect' dates back to the mid 16th century, from the French architecte and Italian architetto, originating from the Greek arkhitektn, where arkhi means 'chief' and tektn 'builder'.

'Architects' first began to develop as a distinct discipline in Italy during the renaissance period. Until this time, the practice of architecture, as we understand it today, was not a recognised profession, and unlike the painter or sculptor, the designer of buildings did not have a clearly defined place within the trades. There was no standard training for those wishing to engage in architecture, there was no guild devoted specifically to the professional interests of architects, and the men who made the plans for churches and palaces were ranked alongside humble artisans (4).

Evidence of the emergence of the architect's profession as an independent discipline can be seen in 1550 when Giorgio Vasari published the first edition of his history of Italian artists 'The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects'. This period in history was also one of political, social and economic turmoil, with the last remnants of the Roman empire fading away, the black death devastating a third of central Europe's population, labour shortages and increase in wages. This resulted in a wealthier and more developed population with newly inherited land, where religion was being questioned and art and education was being revolutionised.

Subsequently, the French writer Philibert Delorme was influenced by the movements in Italy and by the idea of the architect as a profession. He envisaged a self-governing profession of specialists with accepted standards of training and clearly defined responsibilities and privileges. In his Premier tome de l'architecture, published in 1567, he said, patrons should employ architects instead of turning to “some master mason or master carpenter as is the custom or to some painter, some notary or some other person who is supposed to be qualified but more often than not has no better judgement than the patron himself” (5).

Phulibert defined the roles appropriate for the patron, the architect, and the workman and created guidelines for their working relationship. What made Philibert's view of the profession so much more focussed than his predecessors was that he distinguished between the architect and those who designed buildings, but were not, in his view, architects.

Arguably the first architect practicing in the way that we view the profession today was Palladio who worked almost entirely in what was the Venetian Republic in Italy. Palladio is regarded as the greatest and most prominent architect of the 16th century. His career was based almost entirely upon the Vicenzan and Venetian nobles for whom he designed palaces and country estates. His reputation was established by his successful entry in the 1549 competition to remodel the city council hall in Vicenza (the so called Basilica), by his numerous villa designs (over twenty are illustrated in his Quattro Libri, published in Venice in 1570) and by his palace projects (7).

What also makes Palladio comparable to the architect of modern times is his experimentation and use of a range of materials to suit individual clients needs. His place in history as an architect is not only based on the beauty of his work but also for the variety of his clients, the varying scale of his buildings and their harmony with the culture of the time.

Architect's practice varied enormously in the sixteenth century, but it is clear that architects such as Palladio and Alessi had a larger number of commissions than their predecessors. Neither Palladio nor Alessi was attached to a court or to great patrons, and they were not obliged to supervise construction, although they often did.

Origins of the profession in Britain

In 1534, Henry VIII declared himself head of the Church of England. At the time the church was the largest land owner in Britain, as well as having great wealth and political power. Henry dismantled or destroyed the majority of significant cathedrals and monasteries across England and claimed their wealth and land for himself and the Royal court.

The word architect first appeared in the English Oxford Dictionary in 1563. One of the first Englishmen to call himself 'architect' was John Shute, in his 1563 publication The First and Chief Groundes of Architecture. Shute's origins are unknown, but he seems to have trained as a painter and was sent to Italy in 1550 by his employer, the Duke of Northumberland (2). Shute's ideas and writings inspired and influenced others at the time and reflected the aspirations of the architectural patrons of the post Reformation era, where there were new land-owning politicians, civil servants and nouveaux-riches such as the Cecils of Burghley and Hatfield and John Thynne of Longleat.

Up until this point the state and church had designed and built its own buildings 'in-house' and no individual designers are particularly known. However with the new influx of wealthy land owners, Henry had created, there was now a very apparent need for architects to design and build new homes and landmarks to signify the wealth of these individuals.

Architects' governing bodies

Without established governing bodies, guilds, qualifications or legal safeguards, almost anyone could call themselves an architect, and architects had very few legal protections. The Royal Building Administration in France (formed during the reign of Charles V (1364-80)) was intended to maintain good standards within the builders and masons guilds, but although architects had to work by these standards, they did not relate specifically or solely to architects.

In the UK, The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) was established in 1834. Architects subsequently campaigned for protection of the title 'architect' and the creation of an architects' registration body to regulate the profession and protect the title. In 1931, the Architects (Registration) Act created the Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom (ARCUK).

In 1993, the Warne Report, prepared by senior civil servant John Warne, recommended that both ARCUK and protection of the title should be abolished, or failing this, that ARCUK's functions should be transferred to the RIBA. However, under pressure from architects themselves, a compromise position was reached.

In 1996, Part III of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act reconstituted ARCUK as the Architects Registration Board (ARB) and in 1997, the previous 1931 and 1938 acts were consolidated in the Architects Act of 1997 and the slimmed down regulatory body, the Architects Registration Board (ARB) created. Despite this, the relationship between the ARB and the RIBA remains a confusing one.

The establishment of architects' governing bodies and institutes in other countries is outlined below:

Ireland: 1839 - Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland
Holland: 1842 - Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA)
USA: 1857 - American Institute of Architects (AIA)
Poland: 1877 – reformed in 1899 – Union of Polish Architects (SARP)
Denmark: 1879 - The Architects' Association of Denmark
Japan: 1887 – The Japan Institute of Architects (Zouka Gakkai)
Romania: 1891 - Union of Architects of Romania (UAR)
South Africa: 1899 & later 1927 National institutes merged in 1996 - The South African Institute of Architects SAIA
Philippines: 1902 - United Architects of the Philippines (UAP)
Germany: 1903 - Association of German Architects BDA
New Zealand: 1905 – The New Zealand Institute of architects. 1963 - Reformed under the Architects Act 1963 which split its previous functions in two. The New Zealand Institute of Architects became the professional organisation for Architects, and the regulatory functions transferred to the Architects Education and Registration Board (AERB), now the New Zealand Registered Architects Board
Canada: 1907 - The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
Uruguay: Formed 1914 , legal status granted in 1921 - The Society of Architects of Uruguay (SAU)
India: 1917 - The Indian Institute of Architects (the regulating body for architecture in India is the Council of Architecture, constituted by the Government of India under the provisions of the Architects Act, 1972)
Egypt: 1917 - Society of Egyptian Architects (SEA)
Malaysia: 1920 - Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM)
Brazil: 1921 - Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB)
Australia: 1930 - The Australian Institute of Architects
Spain: 1931 – Superior Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain (CASCAE)
Lebanon: 1934 - Order of Architects and Engineers (OEA)
France: 1940 – Validated in 1945 – Ile-de-France Association of Architects Currently regulated under 1948 - International Union of Architects and regionally governed under 1977- Ordre Des Architectes
China: 1953 – Architectural Society of China
Hong Kong: 1956 - The Hong Kong Institute of Architects
Sri Lanka: 1957 - Sri Lanka Institute of Architects
Fiji: 1957 - Fiji Association of Architects
Nigeria: 1960 - The Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA)
Singapore: 1961 - Singapore Institute of Architects
Republic of Korea: 1965 - Korea Institute of Registered Architects (KIRA)
Argentina: 1969 – reformed in 1988 - Argentina Federation of Organizations of Architects (FADEA)
Bangladesh: 1972 - Institute of Architects Bangladesh
Pakistan: 1975 - The Institute of Architects, Pakistan (IAP)
Belgium: 1977 - Conseil national de l'ordre des architects
Trinidad and Tobago: Established 1988, given legal governance in 1992 - Institute of Architects of Trinidad and Tobago (TTIA)
Luxemburg: 1989 - Order of Architects and Engineers (OAI)
Czech Republic: 1992 - Czech Chamber of Architects
Russia: 1992 - Union of Architects of Russia (UAR)

With current EU regulations and various international agreements, there are now also many other 'umbrella' organisations that interlink architects' bodies.

Schools of Architecture

Historically, architecture was seen as one of the arts, and there was no formal training. There were architectural workshops in Italy in the sixteenth century, but very little is known about them and they were not recognised by academics.

The governing body for builders and masons in France, the Royal Building Administration, influenced the organisation of the modern architectural office, its delegation of the tasks, busness administration, drafting, planning, site inspection, and engineering. This set the standard and curriculum for the first school of architecture, the École des Beaux Arts established by the French state.

The École des Beaux Arts later acted as a model for America, which sought to create its own identity and style by improving the practice of architecture and through better education. This influence became particularly strong towards the end of the nineteenth century when architects were recognised as specialists in their own right, with many wanting to be not just pratitioners in an independent field but as academics within that field.

America recognised that the success of École des Beaux Arts was based on a well organised curriculum, government patronage and a rational design theory. The long established French system was backed by American architects who had been rallying at this time for their own state licensing laws. A number of schools of architecture began to appear and would often seek École des Beaux Arts graduates as lecturers and staff. However not all supported this system, with Loius Sulivan, who had studied at the Ecole in 1874, and Frank Lloyd Wright, who turned down Daniel Burnhams offer of four sponsored years in Paris, being the most influential detractors. They called the École des Beaux Arts' teachings artificial, superficial, and totally unsuited to American needs (9).

Parts of Europe also adopted an academic method of training, however Britain continued with its natural mode of education through the self-controlling mechanism of apprenticeship. “This was a modification of the medieval apprenticeship system. But where an apprentice exchanged his labour for instruction from a master, an articled pupil paid cash to be taught. Probably something like one-half of all entrants to the occupation were trained through pupilage by 1800, rising very quickly in the opening decades of the nineteenth century to displace other entry points into the occupation, such as through the building trades. Pupilage usually lasted five or six years, and often included attendance at a local arts academy, and perhaps foreign travel” (10).

The first major academic institutes for architecture as a profession are listed below:

France: Founded in 1671, made independent by Napoléon III 1863 - The École des Beaux Arts
Austria: 1772 - Academy fine arts, Vienna - Institute for Art and Architecture.
Germany: 1832 - Building Academy (Bauakademie)
USA: 1868 - MIT School of Architecture and Planning
UK: 1889 - The Architectural Association (AA) offered the first full time course in Architecture, however the first Degree in Architecture was offered by The Cambridge School of Architecture in 1912

According to national records in the Dictionary of National Biography, entry into the profession in the UK during the eighteenth century onwards showed a very varied pupilage and background with no single route to becoming an architect.

a – apprentice to a builder
b – articled to an architect
c – trained for another occupation
d – Other architectural training, e.g private study, travel abroad etc (11)

Modern conventions

In contrast to the diverse and varied entry route to the profession in Britain and much of Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries, the entry route to becoming a practicing architect in modern times has become fairly consistent.

Most of Europe and the USA regulate architects' practice through governing bodies which as well as setting standards and codes of conduct also set the curriculum to be taught in schools of architecture.

The most common route into the architects' profession in Britain today (almost 96%) is through university study which is broken down into:

Part 1 – Honours degree in architecture.
1 year out in practice under the guidance of an architect and monitored and recorded in line with RIBA requirements.
Part 2 - Masters, Diploma or BArch (depending on individual school) taught in university for 2 to 3 years.
A further monitored and recorded year in practice.
Part 3 - the RIBA final exam.

The roles within a working practice have also become far more defined. Positions in a typical UK based practice would include:

Architectural Assistants – These are training architects before part 3 completion. They are often broken down into Part 1 assistants and Part 2 assistants.
Architectural technicians/technologists – This can be its own specialist discipline relating to construction and technical issues, and architectural technologist can study this subject as a degree and become members of CIAT (Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists and Technicians). Alternatively, the role can be taken up by assistants who do not return to academic training post part 1 or part 2.
A newly qualified Part 3 architect – often working under the guidance of a project architect.
Project architect – Given most of the responsibilities involved with running a job with occasional guidance from a director.
Associate Directors – Often viewed as junior directors with responsibility for overseeing several project architects.
Directors & Senior Directors – Oversee associate directors and may not be particularly involved in any single project. Their time may be spent with new clients or overseeing the management of the practice.
Principle – Head of the office.
Partner – An owner of the practice. Often in smaller companies the directors or principle make up the Partners.

External references

(1) Spiro Kostof, 1977 (p.15)
(2) Spiro Kostof, 1977 (p.180)
(3) Barrington Kaye, 1960 (p.32)
(4) Spiro Kostof, 1977 (p.97)
(5) Spiro Kostof, 1977 (p.125)
(6) Spiro Kostof, 1977 (p.132)
(7) Spiro Kostof, 1977 (p.129)
(8) Spiro Kostof, 1977 (p.161)
(9) Spiro Kostof, 1977 (p.216)
(10) Dr Garry Stevens, 2001, Key Centre for Architectural sociology
(11) Barrington Kaye, 1960 (p.48)
The Edge Debate: A new professionalism.
John Shute, The First and Chief Groundes of Architecture, (1563)
E.Harris (1990)
Lewis & Darley (1986)
Shute (1563)
Summerson (ed.) (1993)
Jane Turner (1996)
Dr Garry Stevens, 2001, Key Centre for Architectural sociology: A History of Architectural Education in the West.
Andrew Saint, The Image of the Architect, Yale University Press; First Edition edition, 1983
Harry Francis Mallgrave, Architectural theory Vol II Anthology from 1871-2005, Blackwell publishing, 2008
Kenneth Frampton and Yukio Futagawa. Modern Architecture 1851-1945, New York, N.Y publishings, 1983
Moffett, Marian / Fazio, Micheal / Wodehouse, Lawrence, 2003, A Worlds History of Architecture, Lawrence King Publishing, 2003
Sir John Summerson , The Classical Language of Architecture (originally published 1963), Thames & Hudson; Revised edition edition (23 Jun 1980)
Henry Wotton – The Elements of Architecture (1624):
Spiro Kostof, The Architect – Chapters in the History of the Profession, University of California Press, 1977, rereleased in 2000
Barrington Kaye, The Development of the Architectural Proffession in Britain, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1960

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Comments

UK state regulation of the architectural profession and prescription of qualifications required for entry to the profession began in 1931 with the Architects Act of that year. This established the Architects Registration Council of the UK (ARCUK).