Strange Case of the Missing Assistant: Choices made by the United Kingdom architectural profession affecting Education, Registration and Practice since the founding of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1834

Roger Emmerson

doi:10.12795/astragalo.2025.i30.04

Autores/as

Roger Emmerson Escritor independiente de arquitectura

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12795/astragalo.2025.i30.04

Palabras clave:

educación, registro, práctica, Reino Unido, conflictos

Resumen

Este ensayo tiene su origen en cuestiones relacionadas con el supuesto incumplimiento en 2018 por parte de la Real Corporación de Arquitectos de Escocia (RIAS), una sección del Real Instituto de Arquitectos Británicos (RIBA), de los requisitos de su Carta Real. Esto dio lugar a una investigación más amplia sobre las operaciones y la legislación que afectan a la arquitectura, promulgadas por y sobre el RIBA desde su fundación en 1834, en la promulgación y regulación de los procesos interrelacionados de la educación, el registro y la práctica arquitectónica en el Reino Unido (RU). Momentos cruciales en el debate de finales del siglo XIX sobre el «arquitecto profesional o artista», la promulgación de las Leyes de Registro de la década de 1930, la Conferencia de Oxford sobre Educación Arquitectónica de 1958, la legislación sobre monopolios de la década de 1970, la Ley de Registro de 1997 y la Directiva de la Unión Europea de 2003, modificada en 2015, se ponen a prueba mediante las estructuras y procedimientos contemporáneos del estudio y el trabajo de los arquitectos. Se hacen referencia a textos sobre y de arquitectos relacionados con la educación, el registro y la práctica, así como a los diversos informes elaborados por el RIBA, el Consejo de Registro de Arquitectos del Reino Unido (ARCUK) y, posteriormente, la Junta de Registro de Arquitectos (ARB), y se evalúa su impacto en la profesión de arquitecto. El ensayo tratará de demostrar que las decisiones tomadas y las direcciones elegidas en esos momentos cruciales, así como la falta de comprensión de los vínculos entre ellas, han dejado sin resolver defectos estructurales endémicos en la educación, el registro y el ejercicio de la profesión en el Reino Unido.

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Biografía del autor/a

Roger Emmerson, Escritor independiente de arquitectura

Roger Emmerson nació en Edimburgo y estudió en la Leith Academy. Estudió arquitectura con Sir Robert Matthew en la Universidad de Edimburgo y con el profesor Isi Metzstein en la Escuela de Arte de Glasgow, donde se licenció en 1982. Ha trabajado en todo el Reino Unido desde sus oficinas de Londres, Newcastle upon Tyne y, sobre todo, Edimburgo. Entre 1987 y 1999 dirigió su propio estudio, ARCHImedia, al tiempo que impartía clases de diseño arquitectónico en el Edinburgh College of Art. También ha sido profesor visitante en universidades de Venecia, Lisboa, Estocolmo, Copenhague y Berkeley, y ha presentado ponencias sobre arquitectura escocesa en conferencias internacionales en Edimburgo, Londres, Venecia, Berkeley, Jerusalén y Piešťany (Eslovaquia). Desde el año 2000 ha trabajado extensamente en los campos de la conservación arquitectónica, la vivienda, la educación y la hostelería, retirándose de la práctica arquitectónica, aunque no de la arquitectura, en 2016. Es autor publicado de cuatro libros y numerosos artículos, ensayos y reseñas sobre arquitectura y arquitectos escoceses.

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