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Chris Williamson elected as RIBA President

2024-07-02T13:39:00-04:00

Chris Williamson has been elected as the next RIBA President. The co-founder of London-based practice Weston Williamson + Partners prevailed over fellow presidential candidates Funmbi Adeagbo and Duncan Baker-Brown.

From a total of 4,462 votes from RIBA members, Williamson received 1,760 votes in the first round of the election, while Baker-Brown secured 1,502 and Adeagbo 1,200 votes. With Adeagbo eliminated and her votes redistributed in the second round, Williamson edged out a small advantage with 2,008 votes over Baker-Brown, who gathered 1,898 votes.

When asked about his top three priorities by The RIBA Journal during the election campaign, Williamson outlined: "Communications: Our members represent many of the world’s best architects. Increase influence, positioning the profession’s knowledge centre stage; Advocacy: Better support for all practices -helping all Members in their businesses; Education: Make the letters R I B A mean something: provide a real competitive advantage ...

Here's how Chicago's mayoral candidates responded to the Built Environment Questionnaire

2023-02-15T12:31:00-05:00

Three of the eight challengers to unseat incumbent Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot have so far responded to a questionnaire issued by a coalition of local chapters of architects, landscape architects, and planners asking for their input on the Windy City’s built environment.

Candidates Ja'Mal Green, Kam Buckner, and Brandon Johnson answered the seven-question prompt asking their positions on a range of issues that included zoning transparency, planning initiatives, the city’s recent Climate Action Plan, racial inequities, and urban policy.

In their replies, a divergent vision for the city’s future can be seen. One of the most important points related to the Climate Action Plan includes a wide array of responses, all of which called for it to be taken in a direction not previously espoused by the current administration. Ja'Mal Green said that it “must go even further,” adding his own idea for a citywide Green New Deal — a sentiment echoed by his counterpart Johnson, who also called for ...

Early-career architect Muyiwa Oki elected as RIBA President

2022-08-02T11:30:00-04:00

Muyiwa Oki has been elected as the next RIBA President. Oki, who was supported by a grassroots movement seeking an early-career architect for the role, overcame opposition from Ecologic Studio’s Sumita Singha and Allies and Morrison’s Jo Bacon, to become RIBA's youngest and first Black president.

Of the 6,020 first preference votes by RIBA members, Oki received 2,456, representing 40%. Bacon received 2,317 (38%), while Singha received 1,247 (20%). When Singha’s votes were excluded and redistributed in the second count, Oki finished with 2,967 (49%) to Bacon’s 2,733 (45%), deeming him elected.

Turnout for the election was 12.4% despite calls by the current RIBA President for greater participation. By comparison, the previous presidential election attracted a turnout of 13.2%, which UK outlet Building Design noted was the lowest turnout for more than a quarter of a century.

Oki ...

Where the RIBA presidential candidates stand on key issues

2022-07-19T12:13:00-04:00

On July 26th, voting closes for the election of the next RIBA president. When the winner commences their two-year term as president on September 1st, 2023, they will be confronted with a list of burning issues across the UK’s architectural profession; and will be expected to publicly lead a response.

Some issues are specific to the UK context: a turbulent national political landscape, the soaring cost of indemnity insurance, and the implementation of new or upcoming UK laws on planning, construction, and emissions, to name a few. Other issues are specific to RIBA itself: an institution which has seemingly lurched from crisis to crisis in recent times, be it on accusations of inadequate diversity, election rule changes, or just this week, questions over a “buried” internal report on bullying.

These UK-specific issues aside, many of the challenges facing the UK professi...

RIBA releases new finalist questionnaire ahead of its controversial 2022 presidential election

2022-06-21T15:28:00-04:00

As the organization continues the vetting process for a new President, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today published a new questionnaire with the three final candidates vying to replace its current leader Simon Allford.

Allford’s tenure is coming to a close, with quite a bit of controversy surrounding the election of his replacement. In May, the organization changed the rules governing that election to exclude members who joined RIBA after April 23rd from voting altogether. This led to accusations of voter suppression from the consortium of the grassroots organizers pushing RIBA to install a younger architectural worker at the top to properly address exploitation within the industry. Perhaps ironically, Allford himself recently lamented an organizational culture in which “too few of our members vote and even fewer stand.”

The three candidates each answered the same four-question prompt, which asked them first to name their top three priorities, followed by an ...

RIBA sparks outcry from activists by tightening election voting rules for new members

2022-05-12T11:48:00-04:00

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has changed its election rules for the 2022 Presidential election, meaning those who joined the institute after April 23rd are not able to vote. The move, first reported by the Architects' Journal this week, has sparked outrage from a grassroots campaign to elect an architectural worker to the role, who describe the move as an exclusionary tactic.

In the previous RIBA Presidential election, held in 2020, the election rules stated that “the electorate shall comprise the current Members of the RIBA in all categories (save for Honorary Fellows).”

This therefore allowed RIBA chartered members (qualified architects), RIBA associate members (with a Masters qualification in the UK or EU), RIBA affiliate members (with an Undergraduate qualification in the UK), and RIBA student members (currently studying at university), to all cast a vote.

Atlanta's State Farm Arena to become Georgia's largest voting center

2020-07-01T17:54:00-04:00

Atlanta's State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks professional basketball team, is being converted into a massive polling site to help the state of Georgia make voting more accessible to its residents.

CNN reports that the 17,000-seat arena will open as a polling center for the forthcoming August 11 runoff election and for the November election starting on November 3rd, when early voting begins. Aside from offering generous voting facilities for these elections, the stadium's 1,500 parking spots will also be made available for use by residents while they vote.

The arena was originally designed by Arquitectonica in 1998 and was renovated in 2018 by HOK.

The move comes as convention centers and sporting arenas around the country increasingly take on flexible uses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other significant events.

Former HUD secretary Shaun Donovan is running for mayor of New York City

2020-02-10T13:15:00-05:00

Shaun Donovan, the former Secretary for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama, has filed papers to run for mayor of New York City in the upcoming 2021 election.

Donovan is vying to succeed current New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has served two terms as the city's mayor.

Donovan, The New York Times reports, is a native New Yorker who served as HUD Secretary between 2009 and 2014, a period that includes the aftermath and recovery from Superstorm Sandy. Donovan also served as a deputy assistant HUD secretary under President Bill Clinton and as the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Donovan's tenure at HUD followed that of Julian Castro, who himself recently ran for higher office as a Democratic presidential contender.

In a statement published by The New York Times, Donovan writes, “As a lifelong New Yorker, I've committed my life to public service and focused on ...

UK architects react negatively to conservative electoral victory

2019-12-13T14:09:00-05:00

Piers Taylor of Invisible Studio said the newly elected government: [...] "We are left now with our country in tatters, and no hope, no future and no sense that our government will ever be anything other than a horrendous concoction of idiotic, self-interested, self-serving and morally bankrupt half-wits. We deserved better: we had our chance, and we’ve blown it. Now for two decades or more of discontent."

Architects in the United Kingdom are not taking kindly to the electoral rout taken by the nation's liberal political parties in this week's election.

The conservative electoral victory guarantees that Brexit will finally come to pass; UK Architects have strongly opposed the measure, particularly due to the difficulties the change would bring both for UK architects working abroad and for the availability of international talent to work in the UK, among many other concerns.

Houston voters approve $3.5 billion for rapid bus and light rail-heavy transit expansion

2019-11-06T17:00:00-05:00

With a two-thirds majority, Houston-area voters approved a $3.5 billion bond issue to pay for transit projects. This is the first time since 2003 that METRO has asked voters to borrow more money through bonds. METRO’s plans include a bus rapid transit line to Bush Intercontinental Airport along with a light rail line to Hobby Airport. The transit agency also wants to build new park and ride facilities and make enhancements to the current bus network.

The plan will help to expand Houston's fledgling transportation system, which currently includes a trio of interlocking light rail lines as well as a traditional bus network.

Houston has over 120 mies of HOV lane. METRONext uses that for a two-way, all-day regional express bus network. City residents will be able to get to work in the Energy Corridor or Clear Lake. Suburban residents will be able to go to an Astros game or museum, not just their jobs. pic.twitter.com/PQVD5RUfVB
— Christof Spieler (@christofspieler) November 4, 2019

The $7.5 billion plan makes Houston the latest city to embrace Bus Rapid Transit following in the footsteps of New York City, San Francisco, Portland, and Indianapolis. The plan would bring 75 miles of bus rapid transit service as well as 16 additional miles of light rail lines to the region.

RIBA elects Alan Jones as its next president, as it faces accusations of silencing criticism from another presidential candidate

2018-08-09T17:21:00-04:00

As one of three finalist candidates, Alan Jones has been elected as the next RIBA President, the highest elected position in UK architecture. As RIBA's current Vice President of Education, Jones will replace incumbent RIBA President Ben Derbyshire starting September 1, 2019 and will serve through 2021. Jones will officially become RIBA President Elect next month.

In his manifesto during the race, Jones wanted to focus on making the Institute more relevant and engaging, and supports equal opportunity for all. In a statement today, he said:

“The RIBA is a fantastic organization with great resources, particularly its staff who I am keen to support more than ever. As individuals and as an institution, we need to come together to make the most of our assets, and make the case for our profession. We need to gather evidence and realize a more significant role and position in business and society. We must focus more on the pertinent issues that will increase the quality of service we provid...

RIBA announces three candidates in the running to be the institute's next President

2018-06-13T15:20:00-04:00

The final candidates in the race to become the next president of the Royal Institute of British Architects have been officially announced. Current President Ben Derbyshire is due to step down from his role in September 2019, at which point his position will be taken over by one of the following three candidates: Philip David Allsopp, Alan Jones, or Elsie Owusu.

Elsie Owusu, who has the support of Sir David Adjaye and Sir Stuart Lipton among others, is known for pushing the institute towards greater inclusivity. In 2015, she prompted RIBA to launch an internal investigation into institutionalized racism and sexism, and at the previous council elections in 2017, helped coordinate an initiative to increase diversity on the council.

In her manifesto, Owusu discusses how architects have become devalued and marginalized. "Whether in innovation of design of much-needed affordable homes; responding to the Grenfell fire disaster; safeguarding EU colleagues or seizing opportunities in the Com...