Architect

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For other uses, see Architect (disambiguation).

Image:Architect.png

An architect is a person involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a building's construction. The word "architect" is derived from the Latin architectus and from the Greek arkhitekton. In the broadest sense, an architect is a person who translates the user's needs into the builder's requirements. An architect must thoroughly understand the building and operational codes under which his or or her design must conform. That degree of knowledge is necessary so that she or he is not apt to omit any necessary requirements, or produce improper, conflicting, ambiguous, or confusing requirements. She or 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 who 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, often termed 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 technically refers 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. For example, "naval architects," "software architects," and graduates of schools of architecture working in architecture firms are often called termed "architects." However, in most countries unlicensed people working in the construction industry are legally prohibited from referring to themselves as "architects."

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Professional Requirements

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Australia

In Australia the title architect is legally protected and architects are registered through state boards. These boards are affiliated through the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia. The AACA also provides accrediation for schools and assessments for architects with overseas qualifications for the purposes of migration.

There are three key requirements for registration. The first is a professional degree from a school of architecture accredited by the AACA. This is generally a Bachelor of Architecture degree of five or six years duration. The second is at least two years of practical experience and the third is the completion of the architectural practice examination.


Architects may also belong to the Royal Australian Institute of Architects which is the professional organisation and members use the suffix RAIA after their name.

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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 [1] 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.

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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 and 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 authorized 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.

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United Kingdom

Architects in the UK qualify through courses and exams recognised 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 consisting of:

  • 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

Part 1 and Part 2 of the examination are based on a formal "Analytical Commentary" by the candidate including "Supporting Material", followed up with explanations to examiners. After further experience, the RIBA Part 3 exam makes an assessment of the candidates understanding of these topics:

  • Context for practice
  • The management of architecture
  • The management of construction
  • Practice management and business administration

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. However, draughtsmen and architectural technologists (previously architectural technicians), as well as many who have chosen not to register, may also provide architectural services.

  • In the year 2004 there were a total of 25,899 male (85%) and 4,674 female architects (15%) registered in the UK – ARB statistics.
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United States of America

In the United States, people wishing to become licensed architects are required to have a professional degree from a school accredited by the NAAB and pass a series of exams administered by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), referred to as the Architect Registration Examination (ARE). In addition, such people must have a minimum of 3 years of documented, practical work experience working under a licensed architect before they are eligible to take the ARE. Although the ARE is a national exam, each state has specific requirements and issues their own licenses due to varying environmental conditions in each region. Other states have reciprocity agreements, so licenses may be easily transferred between certain states. Schooling is not always required for licensure; for example, in New York, a person who works for at least ten years under an accredited architect is eligible for a licensing test. All architects licensed by their respective states have professional status as Registered Architects (RA).

There are three types of professional degrees in architecture in the United States: the Bachelor of Architecture, Master of Architecture, and Doctor of Architecture degrees, respectively abbreviated as "B.Arch," "M.Arch," and "D.Arch." Non-professional degrees include the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture (BA), Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architecture (BFA Arch), Bachelor of Science in Architecture (BS), and Bachelor of Environmental Design (B.Envd). A non-professional degree usually takes four years to complete—as opposed to five for a B.Arch—and may accelerate completion of a later professional degree (a "4+2" plan, signifying four years for a BA and then two years for an M.Arch).THC

Depending on the policies of the registration board for the state in question, it is sometimes possible to become licensed as an Architect in other ways: reciprocal licensure for over-seas architects and working under an architect as an intern for an extended period of time.THC THC THC THC

The American Institute of Architects [2] is a professional organization which offers a network of services to architects in the United States, including continuing education programs, standard contracts and other practice-related documents, and design award programs. Contrary to popular belief, the AIA is not directly involved with the professional licensing of architects. As such, there is no such thing as an "AIA-licensed" or "AIA-certified" architect, although AIA members sometimes place the suffix "AIA" after their names.

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Famous architects

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

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Schools of Architecture

Professionals engaged in the design and supervision of construction projects in before the 20th century were not trained in a separate architecture program in an academic setting but usually carried the title of "master builder" or "surveyor", after serving a number of years as an apprentice (such as Sir Christopher Wren). The formal study of architecture in academic institutions played a povotal role in the developement of the profession as a whole, serving as a focal point for advances in architectural technology and theory.

The most significant schools in the history of architecture include:

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See also

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External links

de:Architekt fi:Arkkitehti fr:Architecte he:אדריכל id:Arsitek io:Arkitekto it:Architetto ja:建築家 nl:Architect nn:Arkitekt pl:Architekt pt:Arquiteto uk:Архітектор zh:建筑师 `

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