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Statement from Valerie Owen

Dear Colleagues,

I have over 20 years experience of working as an architect, and of running architectural practices, and a real passion for architecture and urban design. I stand for:

An economically sustainable profession which has: A value based fee scale so that practitioners and practices both large and small are properly compensated for their services – Fee structures linked to the new Planning Gain Supplement (PGS) proposed by government, in order to capture value; Increased status and market share secured through enhanced education and training in leadership, development appraisal, financial and business skills; The pivotal role in development teams; Strengthened training, so we can raise our performance and become more influential in industry and government; An education system more relevant to practice, supported by flexible, practice based learning; Protection of Title, delivered through an ARB curtailed by Regulatory Reform Order, and intelligent intervention.

A socially sustainable profession, which makes: Best use of the talent pool by embracing diversity and youth; Practice better, faster, cheaper and more profitable: Best use of our membership to ensure RIBA is stronger, embraces allied professions and maximizes the potential of its international stature and reach, by nurturing and widening our membership base – particularly overseas; Small practices more effective, more competitive, and helps them to grow; Public Sector procurement methods place innovation and design at the core of Best Value in PFI procurement. Good design pays; Design beat at the heart of Sustainable Communities – if we are going to build 250,000 more houses, their designs must lift the spirit!

An environmentally sustainable profession, which knows: Development – demolition, construction and occupation – is easily the greatest contributor to global warming, and acts to improve it; Architects must take a leadership role in tackling climate change by embracing environmentally friendly design, green procurement codes and local supply chains, and by devising standard NBS ‘eco clauses’; Building designs and facilities management systems must minimize environmental impacts, and works to make best use of resources and renewable energy, to improve quality of life; Architects must help shape and lead policies affecting the built environment; The London 2012 Olympics must be a world exemplar sustainability project.

As shown by the endorsements below, if elected as President you can rely on me to promote and support architects, and to perform will in this important role. I very much hope you will wish to support my RIBA Presidential candidacy by voting for me in 2006.

"Valerie Owen is a rare professional; one who understands design, planning and commercial issues. She will make an excellent President, championing the importance of design in sustainable communities while making certain the architect is placed in a pivotal role to secure a truly profitable and sustainable engagement." (Will Alsop, SMC Alsop Architects)

"Valerie will be a breath of fresh air for RIBA. She has a very relevant strategic vision and a breadth of skill which will really help shape the Institute for the future and for the benefit of the profession. She will be an exciting President and has our full support." (David Marks and Julia Barfield, London Eye Architects)

"Invaluable interdisciplinary experience in both public and private sectors guarantees that Valerie Owen would be highly original and innovative President." (Frank Duffy, PPRIBA, Chair DEGW Architects).

"Valerie Owen is expert in Housing & Planning, both of which are top of the political agenda. She can really make a difference, and will be a first-class RIBA President." (Roger Lewis, Chairman Berkley Group PLC)

"I have worked with Valerie over the last ten years. She is a creative thinker, thoroughly professional and a delight to do business with. Valerie would make a first-class President and ambassador for RIBA – she has high intellect, combined with real expertise and experience in public affairs – in all, a dynamic combination." (Professor Deian Hopkin, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, London South Bank University)

"Valerie has been working with Places for People Group on Housing, Regeneration and Sustainable Development issues. She has a real grasp of development, design and planning, both from the policy and the delivery perspective, and I believe she will make an excellent RIBA President." (David Cowans, Chief Executive, Places for People Group).

"Having worked with Valerie Owen on the board of the National Forest Company for the last year, I really appreciate her commitment to sustainable development an d her constructive suggestions for promoting both its principles and practice within the Forest. Nothing could be more important for the development industry in the 21st Century, than facing up to the challenges of climate change, and I warmly welcome Valerie Owen’s candidacy as RIBA President". (Dinah Nicols, Chair, National Forest Company)

"Valerie Owen is well placed to broaden the appeal of the Institute to architects working in related fields, and would take a proactive role in tackling the Government’s agenda to deliver regeneration. I welcome her candidacy for RIBAB President." (Roger Madlin, Chief Executive, Argent PLC and RIBA Trust Board Member)

"Valerie Owen has a real grasp of public sector procurement issues, and the major health and social inequalities in the UK. Valerie would make an effective President, and would be exceptionally well placed to champion the needs of health clients and the health sector in general.’ (Dr Johathan Michaels, CEO Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Trust).

Valerie Owen

RIBA Presidential Candidate 2006





Statement from Peter Phillips

Dear member,

By the time you get this e-mail, the media feeding frenzy about my being a member of the BNP, shock horror, will be in full swing, spiced up no doubt with misinformation, untruths, statements of condemnation by the great and the good, and perhaps a co-ordinated media campaign against me; who knows, but one thing you almost certainly won¹t see is any uncensored comments by me. In our supposedly free press, that is not permitted.

But thank goodness for the internet. At last we all now have a means of circumventing the distorting filter of the media monopolies.

So please look at my election website www.peterphillips-riba.co.uk

I shall periodically update it. You have plenty of time to vote, so there¹s no need to rush. If the dust settles a bit there might even be a chance of some rational discussion about the content of my and my fellow contestant¹s manifestos.

This election has nothing to do with national politics. I am not standing on behalf of the BNP. I am standing on behalf of practitioners at the coal face. Nobody has asked the political views or affiliations of my two opponents, and there is no reason to. It is irrelevant.

May the best candidate win!





Statement from Sunand Prasad

Dear Member,
Choosing the President to represent you is a serious decision. In this e-mail want to highlight what I think I can uniquely offer the profession. You can go on to read about my programme further below and please do log onto my website www.sunandprasad.co.uk before you vote.

I am a highly regarded architect and designer, as you will see from the endorsements below from a wide range of people. I have lived and breathed architecture for 36 years since enrolling as a student. I have been a sole practitioner, part of a small practice and now a largish one. I daily face the issues that beset architectural practice. And I hear from the many friends round the country and the world about their concerns. I will tackle these as set out in the statement below and on my website.

I am a successful campaigner for design and architecture. In the last 8 years I have seen how committed groups of architects and others in the industry committed to design can begin to turn things round.

And I have a vision for our profession – a profession that for the good of society, and on behalf of its members, will anticipate and confidently respond to the change. That is why I particularly want to see a profession that young architects want to join.

Presidents must be able to concentrate on a few most important things and do them well. That means ensuring that the very necessary larger numbers of activities and campaigns are effectively led by Vice Presidnets and other leaders with executive back up that is daily becoming more effective.

My three priorities:

Campaigning for Design

Empowering and engaging members – all members

Tackling Climate Change

Please vote for my track record as a designer, which would attract particular respect to the RIBA; and for my wide understanding of the issues that architects face, which makes me an effective campaigner on our collective behalf. Please visit www.sunandprasad.co.uk

Endorsements

Sunand Prasad is an exceptionally talented architect, a gifted designer and critic with a strong record of campaigning for architecture in the private/public domain. I strongly recommend him as President of the RIBA.

Richard Rogers, RIBA

I have know Sunand for thirty years, since his studenthood. In all that time I have never know his calm capacity for effective organisation and human relations to flag, nor his inspired design talent to fail him. We should seize him a President!

Ted Cullinan, CBE, RIBA

What makes Sunand Prasad such an outstanding candidate is his combination of high design ability, intellectual rigour and passionate commitment to the social responsibility of the profession.

Frank Duffy, PPRIBA

A thoughtful architect whose own school and health buildings have been widely admired by critics and users, Sunand Prasad has served as CABE commissioner for the past seven years.This combination of aesthetic distinction and political experience would make him the ideal RIBA President at a moment of opportunity for architecture in Britain.

Sir Nicholas Serota, Director of Tate

If you win I may consider joining the RIBA again. I left 6 years ago as I felt that the Institute offered nothing to change/enhance my practice.

Simon Henbury, Architect, Devon

Today, I can think of no-one who would suit the office of future president better than Sunand Prasad. He is an architect of rare distinction, a good designer and exemplary practitioner with an extensive span of work in key social fields and specifically in Health buildings. He has illustrated his skill with his advice to government and the way that CABE has organized its activities. Sunand is someone who listens to others he subsequently articulates his thinking clearly. He knows what the issues are and will represent the profession cogently.

Richard Burton, CBE, RIBA, London

Sunand will bring listening and leadership to the RIBA Presidency. He will listen to disenfranchised regional members, to younger architects who continue to see the RIBA as outdated and detached. He will provide leadership in the education debate taking a firm line with ARB, and in tackling climate change where the profession needs to be at the forefront. The success of his practice, his skills as a CABE Commissioner and his selflessness as a campaigner for design quality all make him an ideal candidate for the Presidency.

Peter Clegg, RIBA, Feilden Clegg Bradley LLP, Bath & London

Sunand Prasad is a talented and gifted architect who understands the current challenges facing the profession. He has the experience and the vision to articulate the architect’s case within the context of the industry. He more than any one can fulfil the ambitions of the RIBA as the next President.

Professor Colin Stansfield Smith, RIBA, Hampshire

Sunand Prasad’s ability to relate successfully to a very wide range of people and interests, particularly including those who do not have the best opportunities in life is one of his outstanding skills. I believe that his ability to understand what goes on at the "grass roots", and his vision of architecture as serving the needs of the community as well as the high purposes of artistic vision and design, marks him out as someone who is making a distinctive and forceful contribution to present day society in all its purposes.

Les Roberts, Chief Executive, Endeavour Training

Sunand’s engaging personality and ability as a talented and thoughtful designer has earned him the respect of colleagues not just within the London scene, but across the UK as a whole. This acknowledged skill as a designer is coupled with an astute and informed understanding of the issues facing architecture and the construction industry today.

Gareth Hoskins, RIBA, Gareth Hoskins Architects, Glasgow

It is exciting that for once we have a nomination for a president of the RIBA that is truly inspirational: Sunand is an architect of the stature, reputation and skill to make a difference in areas as diverse as reform in the construction industry to the future of architectural education. Sunand can inspire both qualified and student architects and understands both.

Prue Chiles, RIBA, Architect and Director, Bureau of Design Research, University of Sheffield

I believe that Sunand, having grown Penoyre and Prasad from a small practice into a biggish one, can relate to the issues facing smaller practices. I know that he values a diversity of practice and believes in championing small practices. Sunand would be a good president because he makes a clear and compelling case for making the RIBA more relevant, better organised and of greater value to all its members.

J J Lorraine, RIBA, London

Brief Statement

I stand for:

An influential profession that will anticipate and respond to change; not be compromised by it

Effective campaigning for architecture to be at the heart of creating the places and buildings that society needs

A younger, more diverse RIBA

Tackling climate change with full commitment, working with others, helping each architect to know what to do

Championing and expanding international membership e.g. through the formation of well-supported international chapters

Strengthening the place of architecture in cultural life and the arts

The RIBA working more through its members, rather than in spite of them

The environment in which architects work has changed almost out of recognition in the last 20 years. For much of that time events that affect us have seemed to be outside the profession’s control. This is turning around. Architecture is in the news and gaining in popularity. The value of design is being recognised in a number of sectors. Government and opposition are beginning to listen. I have been involved in some of the action by the RIBA and CABE (the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) that has reversed the decline. I know that we can make a real difference.

However, these improvements have not reached the thousands of small practices and sole practitioners that make up so much of our profession, although in other parts of the profession things are noticeably getting better. We have to build on our success at a strategic level to now make a real difference in the areas of everyday operations that matter so much to so many RIBA members. That means action on:

The workings of planning system While the Government has made changes in high level policies, on the ground the system remains operationally dysfunctional. As Vice President for Policy I have been involved in setting up a new RIBA Planning group to tackle the detailed workings of the system, to propose new solutions and press for change

Public procurement Not only is the system disappointing in terms of design, it is also squeezing out smaller practices. The RIBA’s Smart PFI campaign, in which I have played a key part, has met with success. Through my practice advising consortia bidding for schools, I am pressing for the inclusion of smaller firms in teams.

Architects’ Earnings I believe that by acting on a number of fronts we can do something about low earnings in the profession. I have published a 6 point action plan available on my website (www.sunandprasad.co.uk)

Education and practice The worldviews of the two have drifted too far apart, and both society and the profession are losing out. Education reform is now only a matter of time, and as part of these reforms, I support the proposal to introduce part practice-based education following the degree.

ARB – Only if returned to the minimalist role originally conceived for it can ARB do its job of protecting title efficiently and effectively.

International Membership – Adjusting subscriptions to represent true local cost of membership; supporting the formations of international chapters through admin support; working for reciprocal recognition

To achieve these and other advances, the RIBA must do more of its good works through rather than in spite of its 35,000 members - its unique strength. You elected me to council on that platform – I hope you will vote for me for President.