Is the architectural profession under attack in our supposedly new shiny sustainable world? This debate has been highlighted in the pages of BD, and came to life at a great session at last week’s Think event, chaired by BD editor Amanda Baillieu, on whether engineers are the new architects.

The argument runs roughly like this: in our attempts to hit technical standards, the engineer will take centre stage in driving the direction and shape of new development, and this will relegate architectural qualities such as creativity and beauty to the sidelines, subservient to standards, regulation and survivalism.

A further attack on the environmental credentials of the profession came from within. HOK chairman Bill Valentine voiced his view last month that architects are more in love with ego and celebrity than tree-hugging; that they want their designs to be distinctive and on the cover of magazines rather than to truly embrace low-carbon principles.

And what with the recent unveiling by engineering and design uber-brand Arup of a new sustainable design service that encourages its clients to “re-imagine” what is possible for every project in how they respond to environmental challenges, you begin to wonder whether the architect really is being squeezed out.

The fight-back against such rhetoric started at Think. There was a great turnout from the profession. Around a third of those attending were architects, and they made their voices heard in debates on issues as varied as sustainable skills, waste and energy.

When asked what he called himself, BDP’s Trevor Butler said ‘sustainable designer’, then added ‘archineer’.

A session I chaired on international sustainable case studies also hammered home two points on the evolving role of the architect. First, the scope and scale of some projects the profession is involved in are vast — from bringing a coral reef back to life off the coast of Jeddah, to breathing new life and development into Jordan, and exporting European design techniques and principles to the US.

Second, there is a tangible, growing spirit of co-operation between architects and engineers, which can surely only strengthen the quality of work that comes from such a pooling of talent.

The question will be whether the extremely wide challenges that sustainability is setting will, in the end, create a hybrid profession. When I asked Trevor Butler, BDP’s head of sustainability, what he called himself, he first said a sustainable designer, then added, “an archineer”.

Such traditional professional barriers may be getting ready to break down, without the fundamentals of what they do disappearing.

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