| Royal Institute of British Architects | |
|---|---|
66 Portland Place |
|
| Abbreviation | RIBA |
| Formation | 1834 |
| Type | Professional body |
| Legal status | Private company and registered charity |
| Purpose/focus | The architectural profession in the United Kingdom, and knowledge dissemination |
| Headquarters | 66 Portland Place |
| Location | Marylebone, W1B 1AD |
| Region served | UK |
| Membership | c. 44,000 architects |
| Chief Executive | Harry Rich |
| Main organ | RIBA Council |
| Staff | c.200 |
| Website | RIBA |
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.
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Originally named the Institute of British Architects in London, it was formed in 1834 by several prominent architects, including Philip Hardwick, Thomas Allom, William Donthorne, Thomas Leverton Donaldson, John Buonarotti Papworth, and Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey.[1]
It was awarded a Royal Charter in 1837, becoming the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, eventually dropping the reference to London in 1892. In 1934, it moved to its current headquarters on Portland Place, with the building being opened by King George V and Queen Mary.
The RIBA is a member organisation, with 44,000 members. Chartered Members are entitled to call themselves chartered architects and to append the post-nominals RIBA after their name; Student Members are not permitted to do so. Formerly, fellowships of the institute were granted, although no longer; those who continue to hold this title instead add FRIBA.
The RIBA has been recognised as a business Superbrand[2] since 2008.[3]
RIBA is based at 66 Portland Place, London—a 1930s Grade II* listed building designed by architect George Grey Wornum with sculptures by Edward Bainbridge Copnall and James Woodford. Parts of the London building are open to the public, including the exhibition galleries and Library. It has a large architectural bookshop, a café, restaurant and lecture theatres. Rooms are hired out for events.
The Institute also maintains a dozen regional offices around the United Kingdom, it opened its first regional office for the East of England at Cambridge in 1966.
RIBA Enterprises is the commercial arm of RIBA[7] and is based at 15 Bonhill Street in London. It includes RIBA Insight[8], RIBA Appointments[9], and RIBA Publishing. At Newcastle-upon-Tyne are RIBA Bookshops[10] and the NBS[11], the National Building Specification, which itself has 130 staff and deals with the building regulations[12] and the Construction Information Service.
Established in 1834 upon the founding of the Institute, the RIBA Library, otherwise known as the British Architectural Library, is one of the most important architectural libraries in the world with over four million items. As well its holdings of books and journals (including the 'Early Imprints Collection' of books dating between 1478 and 1840)[13] it has very extensive collections of photographs that include the work of 20th century masters such as Eric de Maré, John Maltby, John Donat and Henk Snoek.[14] The collections of drawings and manuscripts include many architectural drawings by leading British and international architects such as Andrea Palladio, Pugin, Ernő Goldfinger, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Charles Holden and Sir Christopher Wren. The Library also has portraits and architectural models. It also holds the Goodhart-Rendel Index of 19th century church builders, a card index. The biography files on various architects are also a useful resource.[15]
Items from the collections are on permanent display at the Victoria & Albert Museum in the Architecture Gallery. Material from the Library have been seen in museums and galleries across the world, most recently in the exhibition Palladio and His Legacy: A Transatlantic Journey at the Morgan Library and Museum, New York.[16]
The Library is located on the third floor of the RIBA headquarters and is open to the public without charge.[17] It retains the original Art Deco interior designed by the building's architect, George Grey Wornum.
Since 2004, through the V&A + RIBA Architecture Partnership, the RIBA and V&A have worked together to promote the understanding and enjoyment of architecture.[18]
In 2004, the two institutions created the Architecture Gallery (Room 128) at the V&A showing artefacts from the collections of both institutions, this was the first permanent gallery devoted to architecture in the UK. The adjacent Architecture Exhibition Space (Room 128a) is used for temporary displays related to architecture. Both spaces were designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects. At the same time the RIBA Library Drawing and Archives Collections moved from 21 Portman Place to new facilities in the Henry Cole Wing at the V&A. Under the Partnership new study rooms were opened where members of the public could view items from the RIBA and V&A architectural collections under the supervision of curatorial staff. These and the nearby education room were designed by Wright & Wright Architects.
As well as at the V&A, the RIBA lends material to other museums and galleries across the world, and also stages temporary public exhibitions at its headquarters in London and regional offices across the UK.[19]
RIBA runs many awards including the Stirling Prize for the best new building of the year, the Royal Gold Medal (first awarded in 1848), which honours a distinguished body of work, and the Stephen Lawrence Prize for projects with a construction budget of less than £500,000. The RIBA also awards the President's Medals for student work, and these are regarded as the most prestigious awards in architectural education. The RIBA European Award was inaugurated in 2005 for work in the European Union, outside the UK. The RIBA National Award and the RIBA International Award were established in 2007.
In addition to the Architects Registration Board, the RIBA provides accreditation to architecture schools in the UK under a course validation procedure.[20] It also provides validation to international courses without input from the ARB.
The RIBA has three parts to the education process: Part I which is generally a three-year first degree, a year-out of at least one year work experience in an architectural practice precedes the Part II which is generally a two-year post graduate diploma or masters. A further year out must be taken before the RIBA Part III professional exams can be taken. Overall it takes a minimum of seven years before an architecture student can seek chartered status.[21]
In July 2007, RIBA called for minimum space standards in newly built British houses after research was published suggesting that British houses were falling behind other European countries. "The average new home sold to people today is significantly smaller than that built in the 1920s... We're way behind the rest of Europe—even densely populated Holland has better proportioned houses than are being built in the country. So let's see minimum space standards for all new homes," said RIBA president Jack Pringle.[22]