Royal Institute of British Architects


The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supplemental charters and a new charter granted in 1971.
Founded as the Institute of British Architects in London in 1834, RIBA retains a central London office at 66 Portland Place as well as a network of regional offices. Its members played a leading part in promotion of architectural education in the United Kingdom; the RIBA Library, also established in 1834, is one of the three largest architectural libraries in the world and the largest in Europe. RIBA also played a prominent role in the development of UK architects' registration bodies.
The institute administers some of the oldest architectural awards in the world, including RIBA President's Medals Students Award, the Royal Gold Medal, and the Stirling Prize. It also manages RIBA Competitions, organising architectural and other design-related competitions.
The RIBA was historically a male-dominated body, first admitting women members in 1898, and appointing its first female president in 2009. Sometimes perceived as a London-centric organisation, it has also been accused of lacking transparency.

History

Originally named the Institute of British Architects in London, it was formed in 1834 by several prominent architects, including Decimus Burton, Philip Hardwick, Thomas Allom, William Donthorne, Thomas Leverton Donaldson, William Adams Nicholson, John Buonarotti Papworth, and Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey. The latter served as the institute's first president for 25 years until his death in 1859.
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 RIBA's operational framework is provided by its byelaws, which are more frequently updated than the charter. Any revisions to the charter or byelaws require the approval of the Privy Council.

Motto

The design of the institute's Mycenaean lions medal and the Latin motto Usui civium, decori urbium has been attributed to Thomas Leverton Donaldson, who had been honorary secretary until 1839. The RIBA Guide to its Archive and History 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 ". The motto is translated "for the use of the people, for the glory of the city".

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 and the Board of Architectural Education under the Architects Acts, 1931 to 1938. 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. 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.
Soon after the passing of the 1931 Act, in the book published on the occasion of the institute's centenary celebration in 1934, 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. 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 architectural associations in which some 80 per cent of those practising architecture were to be found.
The RIBA Guide to its Archive and History 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 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, rather than persons professionally qualified only as municipal or other engineers. 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". 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.
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.
In 2005 the RIBA set up Academy of Urbanism.
In 2019 the RIBA Council voted for the creation of the RIBA Future Architects initiative, an online platform and international network aimed at Part I, Part II and Part III architectural students and graduates. The initiative was championed by student and associates' representatives on Council, after a 2018 campaign highlighting the hardship architectural students faced in their degrees. The initiative is designed to support, inspire and provide a voice as students and graduates transition from study to practice.

Design policy

The RIBA sees itself as a lobbying organisation acting for architects, "for better buildings, stronger communities, and higher environmental standards". For example, in 2005 in response to concerns that the UK government's Private Finance Initiative did not offer good value for money, RIBA put forward a model known as "Smart PFI", under which a traditionally appointed design team would prepare "example plans" which would be finalised and costed by PFI bidders.

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.
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 and articles on its website, RIBAJ.com.

Designation

  • ARIBA: Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects
  • FRIBA: Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects
  • RIBA: Chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects
  • The institute's president is designated PRIBA, past presidents use '''PPRIBA'''

    Regions

The institute also maintains twelve regional groups around the United Kingdom, including two regional offices. The first regional office was the East of England, opened at Cambridge in 1966. Each region encompasses several local architectural groups. In February 2022, the RIBA was criticised for cost-cutting proposals to merge its offices across England into three 'super regions'.
There are also international branches under the RIBA International umbrella, with offices in London, Shanghai and Sharjah. There are four principal membership groups:
  • RIBA Americas – includes the RIBA USA Chapter
  • RIBA Asia and Australasia
  • RIBA Europe
  • RIBA Middle East and Africa