Race for top job at architects’ body officially underway
Three men are standing for election as RIBA president.
Andrew Salter is the surprise candidate, with Alan Jones and Ben Derbyshire already known to have been intending to stand.
Salter, a former member of the RIBA Board, is a conservation architect and principal at Banbury-based Acanthus Clews Architects.
Jones is a professor at Queen’s University, Belfast, and director of Northern Irish practice Alan Jones Architects. He sits on both the RIBA Board and Council and is RIBA’s vice president of education.
Derbyshire, a member of the RIBA Council, is chairman of HTA Design and also sits on the boards of RIBA Enterprises and Design for Homes.
Nominations have closed and campaigning only officially started yesterday (Thursday 26 May).
Voting - for Council as well as the president - opens on July 4 and closes on August 8. The winner will be declared on August 11 and will succeed Jane Duncan after a year as president elect.
Salter said his emphasis as RIBA president would be on “connection with our members, nations and regions and on the importance of their contribution both regionally, nationally and internationally, including direct access by the membership to influence policy matters using digital means and to reinvigorate discussion in innovation”.
Derbyshire said he would campaign for a “more efficient, more direct RIBA”, adding: “A vote for me is a vote for an experienced, practicing architect with 30 years at the coalface of the industry. An architect who shares your commitment, drive and passion for the profession, and can now use that as a force for real change.”
Jones said his candidacy would stand for “thought, debate, innovation and critical discourse”. Among his ambitions for RIBA, is for it to become “a focus for discourse, research and innovation around the core subject of architecture and the changing nature of how it is created”.
The three candidates:
Potted manifestos
Ben Derbyshire
According to our recently announced five year strategy, the RIBA is ‘A global professional membership body driving excellence in architecture’. But how? I believe the RIBA should champion the people behind excellence in architecture. I believe it should champion you. Our profession needs a more efficient, more direct RIBA. One able to champion both architects and the architecture we create, with the courage to use our subscriptions to deliver real value. An RIBA driven by our needs, equipped to lead us into a more prosperous future. This means the RIBA needs to change. To bring through the most highly trained architects, it must demand more from the universities that supply them. To encourage a fairer environment for practicing architects, it must redefine what we represent. But to do any of this, it first of all needs you. This is your chance put the RIBA back in the hands of architects. A vote for me is a vote for an experienced, practicing architect with 30 years at the coalface of the industry. An architect who shares your commitment, drive and passion for the profession, and can now use that as a force for real change.
Alan Jones
What do I stand for?
Thought, debate, innovation and critical discourse.
The RIBA must:
- become a focus for discourse, research and innovation around the core subject of architecture and the changing nature of how it is created
- inform and inspire current and future members and supporters beyond 66 Portland Place
- incorporate leading contributors from other institutes
- engage actively with politics, setting up a system of RIBA spokespersons and experts
- continue to develop RIBA’s role by developing a critical publishing house
Promoting architecture and architects.
Understanding the needs of the profession.
Engaging with, and learning from, changes in practice.
Leading regionally, nationally, internationally
Educating architects of the future
Reviewing and improving
www.leadinginstitute-leadingprofession.com
Andrew Salter
As RIBA President my emphasis will be on connection with our members, nations and regions and on the importance of their contribution both regionally, nationally and internationally, including direct access by the membership to influence policy matters using digital means and to reinvigorate discussion in innovation.
We must embrace debate and share our visions of the future with all members. We must improve our membership offer at home and abroad, to ensure that the whole package is the reason to belong and ensure continual engagement.
We need to expand our outreach to the profession, the construction industry and the public, in the promotion of the measurable value of good design, increasing engagement with government, national and local as a reliable source for solutions.
Most of all this is about you and that as a vibrant community we can do more together than as individuals and that this is the strength of an Institute, its members and its staff. To construct joint ventures and initiatives that articulate what is unique about our profession and its valuable contribution to society.
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