Statement of Support; RIBA Presidency Election 2020

My Statement of Support for Simon Allford; RIBA Presidency Election 2020

The RIBA Presidency Election typically elicits a paucity of engagement, and fuels the omnipresent critique held by almost the entire RIBA club of UK Architects; that the RIBA does nothing for us, does nothing for them, and is a waste of all types of space. Outrageous then, that the body which represents our royal charter, could be viewed with such continuous disdain, and that there might be a very important election to ‘engage’ with during the coming week in the midst of so many other ‘more important’ issues we are faced with at present. 

Yet, if the body which we assign too, commit to through our education, pay our subsidies for, associate with through awards programmes and carry about as plastic in our wallets, has so little cache, so few teeth, so timid a voice and so unrepresentative of what a large majority is hoping for, striving for, demanding of...then what the hell is the point of it all. 

2020 might be the perfect storm; GLOBAL Crises of THE DEATH OF OUR PLANET, the fragility of our HEALTH as a consequence of our IGNORANCE and GREED, and the demonic nature of EXCLUSION, EXPLOITATION and DIVISION, are all present day global and local issues, which pervade into every aspect of our being. 

Architecture, is just one profession within a global web of associated businesses which ‘build’, and which at its worst, continuously suffocates the planet. Building, read Architecture, by its very nature destroys to repair. And there is a lot of it, and our community large. Without spending too much time to drill down into the figures, a cursory glance suggests a national community of some 57,000 or so registered qualified UK Architects, over 15,000 students in education and many ten’s of thousands of those in the hinterland between academia and accreditation which are active in practice.

Accordingly we have a professional body which represents a lot of us but isn’t fairly representative, doing a lot of stuff which creates places for communities but causes planetary harm, and running businesses which are close to collapse as a consequence of a global health pandemic which it turns out is also an economic one. 

So, do we want the RIBA to be active, or passive. A voice, or mute. Bothered or apathetic. Us, or them. Engaged and an agency of change. Or simply a badge, a club, the establishment, the old boys club, of conservative thinking, of suppression, of don’t change this and don’t change that just in case ‘WE’ have to change type privileged thinking.

Not me. In fact, I’ve never associated the RIBA with anything other than a nice bookshop, and the occasional nice event. But imagine if the RIBA actually did something. Actually said something. Made others actually listen. Actually reflect and actually change. How amazing might that be. Well, the election for a President of the RIBA, in this current time, 2020, with all of this spinning around, with so many difficult issues, might actually for once yield something. This is the time where we need a candidate to step forward, with clarity, with vision and with the means to deliver. 

I have spent the last few weeks watching and considering the candidature step forward, for each to set out their vision, and to allow time to reflect. My support for Simon Allford for this ‘potentially’ important post at this important time stems from my personal angst and ambition for things to change. And with Simon I believe we have the roots of a resurgence of action, of doing, of being and of changing which one would hope guides future presidents to pick up the baton of change. 

I have personally known Simon for close to thirty years; he was my professor at the Bartlett for my two year Diploma, he mentored me through eight years of service as an employee of AHMM, and his practice and his team have been continuously supportive of my career since establishing my practice in 2004. Simon has continuously set the bar high for achieving the things he sets out to do. His manifesto for this campaign is broad, and covers all aspects of the issues we should be taking about.

And with Simon, I strongly believe things can change.

Joe Morris