Regarding your story "New RIBA boss wants architects to take lead" (2 September, page 10), this objective (to reinstate architects to the lead role) is too little too late. The profession relinquished its lead role when it stepped away from costing, leading to the birth of quantity surveying. I am neither an architect nor a QS and speak with no axe to grind. Engineers lead all kinds of design and projects and are - or should be - best equipped to lead from the front. Of course, focusing on professions is not the whole story and the quality of individuals is more important. In any field of human endeavour there are only a few people that rise to the top and they are the true leaders. Architects are not born with any god-given right to lead and they will have to embrace skills beyond those taught in their training. Maybe in five to 10 years some of them might be positioned to take the project management role, but not immediately.
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