{"id":756811,"date":"2024-09-26T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T06:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=756811"},"modified":"2024-09-26T09:57:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T08:57:22","slug":"education-and-procurement-both-require-fundamental-reform-grenfell-demands-it-needs-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/education-and-procurement-both-require-fundamental-reform-grenfell-demands-it-needs-links","title":{"rendered":"Education and procurement both require fundamental reform: Grenfell demands it"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Put simply, if you work in the construction industry and you do not feel the weight of responsibility you have for keeping people safe, you are in the wrong job.\u2019 So said Thouria Istephan, Grenfell inquiry panel member, architect and registered health and safety practitioner. She\u2019s right. The horror of the Grenfell Tower inferno should always be front and centre for those who work within the built environment, as a shocking reminder of what can go wrong and as a spur to do things better.<\/span><\/p>\n

This month saw the conclusion of the second phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, led by former judge Martin Moore-Bick. Its report is unflinching, detailed and welcome. Along with several product manufacturers, the architect on the project, Studio E, came in for severe criticism, with the report saying the firm bore an \u2018overriding\u2019 and \u2018very significant degree of responsibility\u2019 for the disaster which killed 72 people. Its errors and oversights were symptomatic of a \u2018widespread failure\u2019 within the profession.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the wake of the inquiry\u2019s findings, two articles have resonated with our readers. One is Olly Wainwright\u2019s thought-provoking Guardian<\/i> article (\u2018Professional buck-passers\u2019: why the excoriating Grenfell report was right to damn architects<\/a>). In it, he writes about the problem of architectural education \u2013 \u2018a five-year training in visual representation and rhetorical obfuscation, with precious little time spent on learning how to actually make a building\u2019 \u2013 and how it needs a fundamental overhaul, including a \u2018serious engagement\u2019 with construction and contractual obligations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The other is Russell Curtis\u2019s sobering essay, \u2018The Grenfell inquiry missed the elephant in the room: design and build\u2019<\/a>. \u2018Design and build doesn\u2019t just allow a culture of dereliction of responsibility to perpetuate; it positively encourages it,\u2019 writes Curtis. When design and build became the default form of contracting for large projects in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he explains, \u2018architects\u2019 fees were slashed and their authority diminished, and they were incapable of understanding their place within the tangled web of responsibilities.\u2019 Why have both pieces struck such a chord? Maybe it\u2019s because both hold core, uncomfortable truths. The web is indeed tangled. Architectural education has obvious shortcomings. And it feeds into a construction and procurement system which seems set up to fail and for those failures to result in finger-pointing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Education and procurement. Both are crucial to safe and successful architecture; both need reimagining. Both are human-made and can be changed. As Scott McAulay writes in his piece about how schools need to effectively educate students to meet the climate crisis: \u2018It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s an education system, an economic system, or a planning system \u2026 if something began in the human imagination, it\u2019s inherently malleable.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

This month\u2019s issue of the AJ is our annual Student Prize focus<\/a>, expertly overseen by Fran Williams and Derin Fadina, and supported once more by Marley. In it you\u2019ll see the future of the profession on display, and there is much inspiring and creative work to discover. The freedom to imagine is an important part of UK architectural education. It\u2019s when a student\u2019s commitment to a better future profession is forged \u2013 where they learn how to create and be curious \u2013 and to question.<\/span><\/p>\n

Where their education can fall down is in the technical and the practical. This needs to change. Mentoring schemes are also now helping engage students in built environment issues at an earlier stage, as a grounding for a possible career in the industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Students want to know more about real-world considerations. They want to seriously engage with the full range of architectural practice. Surely both the imaginative and the practical can co-exist and strengthen each other? Schools must play their part in ensuring a balance between the imaginative and the practical in architectural studies.<\/span><\/p>\n

The September edition of the AJ is out now. Subscribers can read the digital edition here<\/a>, or copies of the printed magazine can be purchased\u00a0here<\/a>. An AJ subscription is better value \u2013\u00a0click here<\/a> to view our packages. Students enjoy 50% off subscriptions \u2013 find out more<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Put simply, if you work in the construction industry and you do not feel the weight of responsibility you have for keeping people safe, you are in the wrong job.\u2019 So said Thouria Istephan, Grenfell inquiry panel member, architect and registered health and safety practitioner. She\u2019s right. The horror of the Grenfell Tower inferno should …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2185,"featured_media":578736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[745],"tags":[101025,3141],"yoast_head":"\nEducation and procurement both require fundamental reform: Grenfell demands it<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Architectural education has shortcomings, and it feeds into a construction and procurement system which seems set up to fail, writes Emily Booth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/education-and-procurement-both-require-fundamental-reform-grenfell-demands-it-needs-links\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta 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