1. History
    Royal charter  Motto  Architectural education 

2. Structure
    Regions  RIBA Enterprises 

3. British Architectural Library

4. V&A + RIBA Architecture Partnership

5. RIBA Awards

6. RIBA competitions

7. Education

8. RIBA in the news

9. Criticism

10. Designation

11. Recent presidents

12. Past presidents

13. Secretaries

14. See also

15. References

16. Bibliography

17. External links
     Video clips 

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its charter granted in 1837 and Supplemental Charter granted in 1971.

History

Originally named the Institute of British Architects in London, it was formed in 1834 by several prominent architects, including Decimus Burton,^[1] Philip Hardwick, Thomas Allom, William Donthorne, Thomas Leverton Donaldson, William Adams Nicholson, John Buonarotti Papworth, and Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey.^[2]

After the grant of the royal charter it had become known as the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, eventually dropping the reference to London in 1892. In 1934, it moved to its current headquarters on Portland Place, with the building being opened by King George V and Queen Mary.

Royal charter

It was granted its Royal Charter in 1837 under King William IV. Supplemental Charters of 1887, 1909 and 1925 were replaced by a single Charter in 1971, and there have been minor amendments since then.

The original Charter of 1837 set out the purpose of the Royal Institute to be: '… the general advancement of Civil Architecture, and for promoting and facilitating the acquirement of the knowledge of the various arts and sciences connected therewith…'

The operational framework is provided by the Byelaws, which are more frequently updated than the Charter. Any revisions to the Charter or Byelaws require the Privy Council's approval.

Motto

The design of the Institute's Mycenaean lions medal and the Latin motto Usui civium, decori urbium^[4] has been attributed to Thomas Leverton Donaldson, who had been honorary secretary until 1839.^[5] The RIBA Guide to its Archive and History (Angela Mace,1986) records that the first official version of the badge of the Lion Gate at Mycenae was used as a bookplate for the Institute's library and publications from 1835 to 1891, when it was redesigned by J. H. Metcalfe. It was again redesigned in 1931 by Eric Gill and in 1960 by Joan Hassall. The description in the 1837 by-laws was: "gules, two lions rampant guardant or, supporting a column marked with lines chevron, proper, all standing on a base of the same; a garter surrounding the whole with the inscription Institute of British Architects, anno salutis MDCCCXXXIV; above a mural crown proper, and beneath the motto Usui civium decori urbium ".

Architectural education

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the RIBA and its members had a leading part in the promotion of architectural education in the United Kingdom, including the establishment of the Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom (ARCUK) and the Board of Architectural Education under the Architects (Registration) Acts, 1931 to 1938.^[6][7] A member of the RIBA, Lionel Bailey Budden, then Associate Professor in the Liverpool University School of Architecture, had contributed the article on Architectural Education published in the fourteenth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1929). His School, Liverpool, was one of the twenty schools named for the purpose of constituting the statutory Board of Architectural Education when the 1931 Act was passed.^[8]

Soon after the passing of the 1931 Act, in the book published on the occasion of the Institute's centenary celebration in 1934,^[9] Harry Barnes, FRIBA, Chairman of the Registration Committee, mentioned that ARCUK could not be a rival of any architectural association, least of all the RIBA, given the way ARCUK was constituted.^[10] Barnes commented that the Act's purpose was not protecting the architectural profession, and that the legitimate interests of the profession were best served by the (then) architectural associations in which some 80 per cent of those practising architecture were to be found.

The RIBA Guide to its Archive and History (1986) has a section on the "Statutory registration of architects" with a bibliography extending from a draft bill of 1887 to one of 1969. The Guide's section on "Education" records the setting up in 1904 of the RIBA Board of Architectural Education, and the system by which any school which applied for recognition, whose syllabus was approved by the Board and whose examinations were conducted by an approved external examiner, and whose standard of attainment was guaranteed by periodical inspections by a "Visiting Board" from the BAE, could be placed on the list of "recognized schools" and its successful students could qualify for exemption from RIBA examinations.

The content of the acts, particularly section 1 (1) of the amending act of 1938, shows the importance which was then attached to giving architects the responsibility of superintending or supervising the building works of local authorities (for housing and other projects), rather than persons professionally qualified only as municipal or other engineers.^[11] By the 1970s another issue had emerged affecting education for qualification and registration for practice as an architect, due to the obligation imposed on the United Kingdom and other European governments to comply with European Union Directives concerning mutual recognition of professional qualifications in favour of equal standards across borders, in furtherance of the policy for a single market of the European Union. This led to proposals for reconstituting ARCUK. Eventually, in the 1990s, before proceeding, the government issued a consultation paper "Reform of Architects Registration" (1994).^[12] The change of name to "Architects Registration Board" was one of the proposals which was later enacted in the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 and re-enacted as the Architects Act 1997; another was the abolition of the ARCUK Board of Architectural Education.^[13]

RIBA Visiting Boards continue to assess courses for exemption from the RIBA's examinations in architecture. Under arrangements made in 2011 the validation criteria are jointly held by the RIBA and the Architects Registration Board, but unlike the ARB, the RIBA also validates courses outside the UK.^[14]

In 2005 Royal Institute of British Architects set up Academy of Urbanism.^[15]

Structure

The RIBA is governed by the RIBA Council, a group of 60 members, elected from among the RIBA membership, the majority of whom are chartered architects.^[16] The RIBA Board oversees the operations of the RIBA and its commercial arm, RIBA Enterprises. Seven committees and a number of sub-committees develop and advise on policies and activities of the institute.

The RIBA is a member organisation, with 44,000 members. Chartered Members are entitled to call themselves chartered architects and to append the post-nominals RIBA after their name; Student Members are not permitted to do so. Formerly, fellowships of the institute were granted, although no longer; those who continue to hold this title instead add FRIBA. Members gain access to all the institute's services and receive its monthly magazine, the RIBA Journal.

The RIBA's headquarters has been at 66 Portland Place, London, since 1934. This Grade II* listed building was designed by architect George Grey Wornum for the institute and features sculptures by Edward Bainbridge Copnall and James Woodford. The building is open to the public, and includes a library, architectural bookshop, a café, bar, exhibition galleries and lecture theatre. Rooms are hired out for events.

Regions

The Institute also maintains a dozen regional offices around the United Kingdom, it opened its first regional office for the East of England at Cambridge in 1966.

• East – Great Shelford
• East Midlands – Arkwright Building, Nottingham Trent University
• London – Portland Place
• North East – School of the Built Environment, Northumbria University
• North West – Mann Island, Liverpool
• South and South East – Building LO11, University of Reading
• South West and Wessex – Paintworks, Bristol
• West Midlands – 321 Bradford Street, Birmingham
• Yorkshire – No.1 Aire Street, Leeds
• Wales – Royal Society of Architects in Wales, The Creative Quarter, Morgan Arcade, Cardiff^[17]
• Northern Ireland – Royal Society of Ulster Architects^[18]
• Scotland – Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland^[19]
• RIBA USA^[20]

RIBA Enterprises

RIBA Enterprises is the commercial arm of RIBA,^[21] with a registered office in Newcastle upon Tyne, a base at 76 Portland Place in London, and an office in Newark. It employs over 250 staff, approximately 180 of whom are based in Newcastle. Its services include RIBA Insight,^[22] RIBA Appointments,^[23] and RIBA Publishing. It publishes the RIBA Product Selector and RIBA Journal. In Newcastle is the NBS, the National Building Specification,^[24] which has 130 staff and deals with the building regulations^[25] and the Construction Information Service.^[26] RIBA Bookshops, which operates online and at 66 Portland Place, is also part of RIBA Enterprises.^[27] In June 2018, the RIBA announced it was selling a £31.8 million stake in RIBA Enterprises, to LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Bank.^[28]

The RIBA has been recognised as a business Superbrand^[29] since 2008.^[30]

British Architectural Library

The British Architectural Library, sometimes referred to as the RIBA Library, was established in 1834 upon the founding of the institute with donations from members.^[31] Now, with over four million items, it is one of the three largest architectural libraries in the world and the largest in Europe. Some items from the collections are on permanent display at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in the V&A + RIBA Architecture Gallery and included in temporary exhibitions at the RIBA and across Europe and North America.^[32] Its collections include:^[33]

• Archives: 1.5 million items made up of architects' personal papers, correspondence, notebooks and diaries.
• Audiovisual materials: Talks held at the RIBA, including talks by winners of the Royal Gold Medal.
• Biographical files: 20,000 biographical files relating to a specific architect or firm. Files contain a mix of nomination papers for membership of the RIBA, obituaries, brochures, articles and letters.
• Books: 150,000 books and 20,000 pamphlets, with the earliest book dating from 1478. Amongst the items is a first edition of Andrea Palladio's I quattro libri dell'architettura from 1570 and John Tallis's Tallis's London street views from 1838 to 1840.
• Drawings: 1 million items are held. These predominantly cover British architects from the Renaissance to the present day, such as Ernő Goldfinger, Charles Holden and Edwin Lutyens. It holds the world's largest collection of drawings by Andrea Palladio.
• Models: Examples come from architects such as Denys Lasdun for his Keeling House and National Theatre, London.
• Periodicals: 2,000 architectural titles collected, with complete sets of Architectural Review, Architects' Journal, and Country Life.
• Photographs: 1.5 million items, including the archive of the Architectural Press. Items date from the 19th century, but with major holdings of 20th-century photographers such as Eric de Maré, John Maltby, John Donat and Henk Snoek.

The overcrowded conditions of the library was one of the reasons why the RIBA moved from 9 Conduit Street to larger premises at 66 Portland Place in 1934. The library remained open throughout World War II and was able to shelter the archives of Modernist architect Adolf Loos during the war.^[34]

The library is based at two public sites: the Reading Room at the RIBA's headquarters, 66 Portland Place, London; and the RIBA Architecture Study Rooms in the Henry Cole Wing of the V&A. The Reading Room, designed by the building's architect George Grey Wornum and his wife Miriam, retains its original 1934 Art Deco interior with open bookshelves, original furniture and double-height central space. The study rooms, opened in 2004, were designed by Wright & Wright.^[35] The library is funded entirely by the RIBA but it is open to the public without charge. It operates a free learning programme aimed at students, education groups and families, and an information service for RIBA members and the public through the RIBA Information Centre.^[36]

V&A + RIBA Architecture Partnership

Since 2004, through the V&A + RIBA Architecture Partnership, the RIBA and V&A have worked together to promote the understanding and enjoyment of architecture.^[37]

In 2004, the two institutions created the Architecture Gallery (Room 128) at the V&A showing artefacts from the collections of both institutions, this was the first permanent gallery devoted to architecture in the UK. The adjacent Architecture Exhibition Space (Room 128a) is used for temporary displays related to architecture. Both spaces were designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects. At the same time the RIBA Library Drawing and Archives Collections moved from 21 Portman Place to new facilities in the Henry Cole Wing at the V&A. Under the Partnership new study rooms were opened where members of the public could view items from the RIBA and V&A architectural collections under the supervision of curatorial staff. These and the nearby education room were designed by Wright & Wright Architects.

RIBA Awards

RIBA runs many awards including: the Stirling Prize for the best new building of the year; the Royal Gold Medal (first awarded in 1848), which honours a distinguished body of work; and the Stephen Lawrence Prize,^[38] sponsored by the Marco Goldschmied Foundation, for projects with a construction budget of less than £1,000,000. The RIBA also awards the President's Medals for student work, which are regarded as the most prestigious awards in architectural education, and the RIBA President's Awards for Research.^[39] The RIBA European Award was inaugurated in 2005 for work in the European Union, outside the UK. The RIBA National Award and the RIBA International Award were established in 2007. Since 1966, the RIBA also judges regional awards which are presented locally in the UK regions (East, East Midlands, London, North East, North West, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South/South East, South West/Wessex, Wales, West Midlands and Yorkshire). The Manser Medal was renamed the RIBA House of the Year award in 2014.^[40]

RIBA competitions

RIBA Competitions is the Royal Institute of British Architects' unit dedicated to organising architectural and other design-related competitions.

Architectural design competitions are used by an organisation that plans to build a new building or refurbish an existing building. They can be used for buildings, engineering work, structures, landscape design projects or public realm artworks. A competition typically asks for architects and/or designers to submit a design proposal in response to a given Brief. The winning design will then be selected by an independent jury panel of design professionals and client representatives. The independence of the jury is vital to the fair conduct of a competition.

Education

In addition to the Architects Registration Board, the RIBA provides accreditation to architecture schools in the UK under a course validation procedure.^[41] It also provides validation to international courses without input from the ARB.

The RIBA has three parts to the education process: Part I which is generally a three-year first degree, a year-out of at least one year work experience in an architectural practice precedes the Part II which is generally a two-year post graduate diploma or masters. A further year out must be taken before the RIBA Part III professional exams can be taken. Overall it takes a minimum of seven years before an architecture student can seek chartered status.^[42]

RIBA in the news

In 2007, RIBA called for minimum space standards in newly built British houses after research was published suggesting that British houses were falling behind other European countries. "The average new home sold to people today is significantly smaller than that built in the 1920s... We're way behind the rest of Europe—even densely populated Holland has better proportioned houses than are being built in the country. So let's see minimum space standards for all new homes," said RIBA president Jack Pringle.^[43]

In 2011, a further campaign called Homewise was launched.^[44]

Criticism

The RIBA is criticised by architects outside of the SE of England as a London-centric organisation which does not reach out to all members in the United Kingdom and beyond.^[45][46]

Designation

• ARIBA: Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (no longer granted to new members)
• FRIBA: Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (now an honorary designation)
• RIBA: Chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects
• The Institute's president is designated PRIBA, past presidents use PPRIBA

Recent presidents

Presidents of the RIBA are elected by RIBA members, serve a two-year term and chair the RIBA Council. The post was created in 1835, shortly after the institute's founding. ^[47] In 2009, Ruth Reed became the institute's first female president. In 2018, Alan Jones was elected, he will take over from Ben Derbyshire in September 2019.^[48]

• 2017–2019 Ben Derbyshire^[49]
• 2015–2017 Jane Duncan^[50]
• 2013–2015 Stephen Hodder^[51]
• 2011–2013 Angela Brady
• 2009–2011 Ruth Reed
• 2007–2009 Sunand Prasad
• 2005–2007 Jack Pringle
• 2003–2005 George Ferguson
• 2001–2003 Paul Hyett

Past presidents

• 1999–2001 Marco Goldschmied
• 1997–1999 David Rock
• 1995–1997 Owen Luder
• 1993–1995 Frank Duffy
• 1991–1993 Richard MacCormac
• 1989–1991 Maxwell Hutchinson
• 1987–1989 Rod Hackney
• 1985–1987 Larry Rolland
• 1983–1985 Michael Manser
• 1981–1983 Owen Luder
• 1979–1981 John Brian Jefferson
• 1977–1979 Gordon Graham
• 1975–1977 Eric Lyons
• 1973–1975 Fred Pooley
• 1971–1973 Alex Gordon
• 1969–1971 Peter Faulkner Shepheard
• 1967–1969 Hugh Wilson
• 1965–1967 Lionel Gordon Baliol Brett
• 1964–1965 Donald Evelyn Edward Gibson
• 1962–1964 Robert Hogg Matthew
• 1960–1962 William Holford
• 1958–1960 Basil Spence
• 1956–1958 Kenneth Cross
• 1954–1956 Charles Herbert Aslin
• 1952–1954 Howard Robertson
• 1950–1952 Andrew Graham Henderson
• 1948–1950 Michael Waterhouse
• 1946–1948 Lancelot Keay
• 1943–1946 Sir Percy Edward Thomas (second term)
• 1940–1943 William Henry Ansell
• 1939–1940 Edwin Stanley Hall
• 1937–1939 Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel
• 1935–1937 Percy Thomas
• 1933–1935 Giles Gilbert Scott
• 1931–1933 Raymond Unwin
• 1929–1931 Banister Flight Fletcher
• 1927–1929 Walter Tapper
• 1925–1927 Edward Guy Dawber
• 1923–1925 John Alfred Gotch
• 1922–1923 Paul Waterhouse
• 1919–1921 John William Simpson
• 1917–1919 Henry Thomas Hare
• 1914–1917 Ernest Newton
• 1912–1914 Reginald Blomfield
• 1910–1912 Leonard Stokes
• 1908–1910 Ernest George
• 1906–1908 Thomas Edward Collcutt
• 1904–1906 John Belcher
• 1902–1904 Aston Webb
• 1899–1902 William Emerson
• 1896–1899 George Aitchison
• 1894–1896 Francis Cranmer Penrose
• 1891–1894 John Macvicar Anderson
• 1888–1890 Alfred Waterhouse
• 1886–1887 Edward I'Anson
• 1884–1886 Ewan Christian
• 1882–1884 Horace Jones
• 1881–1881 George Edmund Street (died in office)
• 1879–1881 John Whichcord Jr.
• 1876–1879 Charles Barry, Jr.
• 1873–1876 George Gilbert Scott
• 1870–1873 Thomas Henry Wyatt
• 1867–1870 William Tite
• 1865–1867 Alexander James Beresford-Hope
• 1863–1865 Thomas Leverton Donaldson
• 1861–1863 William Tite
• 1860–1861 Charles Robert Cockerell
• 1835–1859 Thomas Philip Earl de Grey

Secretaries

The role of secretary of the RIBA was established in 1871. Between 1835 and 1870 the secretarial duties of the institute fell to honorary secretaries^[52]. Current holders of the role are now referred to as chief executive.

• 1871-1878 Charles Locke Eastlake
• 1878-1896 William Henry White
• 1897-1907 William John Locke
• 1908-1943 Sir Ian MacAlister
• 1945-1959 Cyril Douglas Spragg
• 1959-1968 Gordon Randolph Ricketts
• 1968-1987 Patrick Harrison
• 1987-1994 Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank
• 1994-2000 Alexander Reid
• 2000-2009 Richard Hastilow
• 2009-2016 Harry Rich^[53]
• 2016- Alan Vallance^[54]

See also

• Architectural education in the United Kingdom
• Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists
• Chartered Institute of Building
• Construction Industry Council
• Joint Contracts Tribunal
• Registration of architects in the United Kingdom
• Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland
• Royal Society of Ulster Architects
• RIBA Knowledge Communities

References

Bibliography

• H.M. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 (1997) {{ISBN|0-300-07207-4}}
• Charles Read Earl de Grey (2007)[https://www.academia.edu/431771/Earl_de_Grey], published by Willow Historical Monographs [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Earl-Grey-Charles-Philip-Read/dp/0955569303]
• {{cite book | title=The Royal Institute of British Architects: a guide to its archive and history | author1=Angela Mace | author2=Robert Thorne | publisher=Mansell Pub. | year=1986 | isbn=0-7201-1773-9 }}
• {{cite book | title=66 Portland Place: the London headquarters of the Royal Institute of British Architects | author=Margaret Richardson | publisher=RIBA Publications | year=1984 }}

External links

• RIBA official website
• [https://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Visitus/Library/TheRIBALibrary.aspx British Architectural Library] The RIBA's books, journals, photographs, drawings and archives collections
• RIBA/BALT library catalogue online
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140531090354/http://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Visitus/Library/Libraryservices.aspx RIBA Catalogue locations and current access]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140225010407/http://www.architecture.com/EducationAndCareers/Validation/Validatedcourses.aspx RIBA Schools list]
• RIBA President's Medals Student Awards
• RIBApix Images from the RIBA's collections
• RIBA Competitions
• RIBA official architecture bookshop
• The RIBA Journal

Video clips

• [https://www.youtube.com/user/ribaarchitecture RIBA Architecture YouTube channel]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081221102629/http://www.gleeds.tv/index.cfm?category=38 RIBA International Dialogues: Architecture and Climate Change Talk series] Video archive of the lectures
• NBS TV

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