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The latest Future Trends Survey, published by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), shows a decrease of 3% in average earnings bringing the average salary in the UK to around £40,000. The largest fall in earnings is with sole principals, a quarter of whom are receiving less than £18,500 per annum. This is compared to principals in partnership who continue to average a salary of around £50,000.
The shortlist for the 2013 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Manser Medal, awarded to the best new house or major extension in the UK, has been revealed. Amongst the five competing projects, which have all won either National or Regional RIBA Awards, is Astley Castle, which has also been shortlisted for the 2013 RIBA Stirling Prize.
The 2013 Manser Medal shortlist includes:
Following Angela Brady’s two year tenure as head of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Stephen Hodder MBE was officially inaugurated as the 75th President of the UK’s largest architectural body yesterday. Hodder, perhaps best known as the recipient of the first RIBA Stirling Prize in 1996 for the Centenary Building (University of Salford, UK), is chairman of the award-winning practice Hodder + Partners in Manchester (UK).
Despite a rise in female architecture students, the amount of women in architecture continues drop in the UK. Though this is not the case in many parts of the world - as female architects reportedly outnumber the men in South America - the UK has yet to find a solution to equalize the numbers for professional women in architecture. Jane Duncan, founder of Jane Duncan Architects and RIBA equality and diversity champion, weighs in the issue by asking “Why are so many women leaving architecture, and how can we buck the trend?” here The Guardian.
RIBA Competitions just announced the six teams that were selected to take part in the design stage of the competition for The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) to design their New Global Centre for the Social Sciences. The shortlisted teams include: Grafton Architects, Ireland; Heneghan Peng, Ireland; Steven Holl Architects, USA; Hopkins Architects; OMA, The Netherlands; and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. This new building will have a vital role to play in cementing the LSE’s position as a world renowned educational establishment and will become a place that inspires existing LSE students and will help attract new high calibre students and staff to the School.
UPDATED: Out of 52 exemplars of UK architecture, RIBA has chosen the six buildings that will compete for the prestigious RIBA Stirling prize (awarded to the building that makes the greatest contribution to British architecture that year). See the six contenders, including a video of each, after the break...
The RIBA has announced three projects—two located in Asia and one in the United States—for the shortlist of the RIBA’s Lubetkin Prize. Named for Berthold Lubetkin, a Georgian-born architect, the prize celebrates the work of RIBA members building outside of the UK. Zaha Hadid’s Galaxy Soho, Grimshaw’s Via Verde and Wilkinson Eyre’s Cooled Conservatories will face off for the honor; the winner of this year’s Lubetkin Prize will be announced (along with the winner of the prestigious Stirling Prize) on September 26th in London.
Angela Brady, RIBA President, said:
"The 2013 RIBA Lubetkin Prize shortlist features three exceptionally innovative projects that meet three very different urban challenges. From the blueprint for New York affordable housing and the creation of an impressive new shopping district in central Beijing to Singapore’s new sustainable gardens, these are all extremely clever solutions. These cutting-edge schemes show the leading role that architects play in delivering visionary new thinking about urban issues, and illustrate why UK creative talent has such recognition around the world."
More on the shortlisted projects after the break…
On Wednesday Peter Clegg, senior partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Chair of the RIBA Awards jury, announced that the Institute is currently holding discussions about introducing a 'test of time' award, reports the Architects' Journal.
Architecture has a role in daily life. It is all the places and spaces we live and work in. It is the buildings, streets, squares and odd little corners that make up our daily environment. This year's Love Architecture Festival, put on by RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), aims to celebrate architecture and engage the general public with architecture and the built environment - to reveal what makes great architecture, old and new. Taking place June 21-30 at various locations in the UK, typical events during the festival include exhibitions & films, walks & tours, family fun events, film screenings, and more. For more information on the events, please visit here.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has unveiled the 2013 RIBA National Award winners, a shortlist of 52 exemplars in design excellence from the UK and EU that will compete for the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize. This year’s award winners were selected from practices of all sizes and projects of all scales, ranging from a beautifully-crafted chapel in the back garden of an Edinburgh townhouse to the innovative yellow-roofed Ferrari Museum in Italy. Notably, one third of the UK winners are exceptionally designed education buildings.
The 43 UK buildings that have won an RIBA National Award are:
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) just announced the launch of a new design competition on behalf of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to create a new central London Headquarters - replacing their existing New Scotland Yard building. The Invited Design Competition provides architects/practices with the opportunity to produce a design for the renovation of this landmark in one of London’s most important and historic areas - to provide a modern, flexible and secure office environment for the MPS. The deadline for submissions is June 27. For more information, please visit here.
A recent report by the UK Architectural Education Review Group has highlighted the high cost of education as a barrier which prevents less wealthy students from accessing the profession, reveals BDonline. Among a number of concerns raised about the current state of architectural education, it says that the cost to study architecture in the UK could "create an artificial barrier to the profession based solely on a student’s willingness to accept high levels of personal debt".
Architecture has long been seen as a pastime of the wealthy, as evidenced by Philip Johnson's claim that "the first rule of architecture is be born rich, the second rule is, failing that, to marry wealthy". However, the report acknowledges the fact that making the profession open to people of all backgrounds is not only a moral imperative, but will be vital to bring the best talent into the field.
Read more about the barriers surrounding the profession of architecture after the break
RIBA is now inviting expressions of interest from architect-led design teams with exceptional design skills for the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE) New Global Center for the Social Sciences, the world’s leading center for social sciences. The next step in the campus development program is to further improve the School’s teaching, research and support facilities through the complete redevelopment of the center of its Aldwych campus. The new building that will be constructed will have a vital role to play in cementing the LSE’s position as a world renowned educational establishment and will become a place that inspires existing LSE students and will help attract new high caliber students and staff to the School. The deadline for submissions is June 14. For more information, please visit here.
After generously donating an archive of over 6000 drawings and 150 projects, architect Charles Correa sat down with RIBA President Angela Brady to discuss his life and work as one of “India’s greatest architects.” The short interview touches on a wide range of topics, from the inspiration behind some of his greatest projects to advice for future architecture students.
“The thing about architecture is that you cannot teach it. You can learn it, but you cannot teach it. And a good school is a school which makes you passionate about architecture and that teaches you how to ask questions. [...] If you know how to ask the right questions, you will develop your own philosophy and your own visual vocabulary.”
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) presents the first major UK exhibition showcasing the work of renowned Indian architect Charles Correa (born in 1930). Rooted both in modernism and the rich traditions of people, place and climate, Correa has played a pivotal role in the creation of an architecture and urbanism for post-war India. He has designed some of the most outstanding buildings in India and has received many of the world’s most important architecture awards including the RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1984), Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1988) and Japan’s Praemium Imperiale (1994), and is still working today.
A recent survey by the RIBA of over 2,100 UK practices revealed there is now a widening gap between 'massive' and 'micro' practices, with a 'squeezed middle' in between, as reported by BD.
This was the first mandatory survey of its members conducted by the RIBA, and gives a glimpse, for the first time, into the workings of every chartered UK practice. The RIBA's executive director of membership and profession Richard Brindley described the findings as a "tale of two professions operating in different universes". The polarized profession is most damaging to the practices in the middle; those of 10-50 employees which are large enough to have costly overheads, but not large enough to absorb them.
Large practices, employing 50 people or more, include just 3% of practices, but, thanks to their size, include 40% of registered architects. At the other extreme are practices of 10 employees or less, who account for 53% of practices despite employing a meager 10% of architects. The survey found that the majority of practices employs fewer than six people.
Read on for more results and analysis of the survey
In preparation for a ministerial review of housing standards by the UK government, the RIBA has launched their "Without Space + Light" campaign aimed at advocating minimum requirements for total space and natural lighting in order to improve quality in new built homes.
The campaign, supported by a survey titled "Housing Standards and Satisfaction: What the Public Wants", aims to combat the recent trend towards 'shoe-box homes', highlighting the dissatisfaction among owners of new homes when it comes to living standards and the fact that new homes are an average of 10% smaller than they used to be.
Not only are the space standards in UK homes poor compared to past housing, they also lag behind standards set by other European countries: in Ireland, new homes are on average 15% larger, in the Netherlands they are 53% larger, and most strikingly in Denmark they are a full 80% larger.
Read more about the campaign after the break...
It’s a rarity that the architecture community is presented a chance to indulge in a Peter Zumthor lecture. Often referred to a architecture’s reclusive “man of mystery”, the Swiss legend has produced a handful of projects so eloquently designed that they have captured the attention of the world. In honor of his mastery, RIBA awarded Zumthor with the institute’s prestigious Royal Gold Medal in February. In this video, he gives the 2013 Royal Gold Medal Lecture at the RIBA, focused on the theme of Presence in Architecture.
