Architects of our downfall

摘要

The riba musdt be by far the nost successful organisation associated with construction when it comes to lobbying. Their professional spin over the past 10 years, promoting the case for a design-led approach to construction, has regained much of the ground they lost through the Latham and Egan reviews. Although their president, Jack Pringle, has failed to persuade the Treasury to appoint designers on major PFI projects before "a consortium being run by some builders" (Building, 7 October 2005, page 11) they have secured prime ministerial patronage of their profession. While the construction industry in general struggles to attract a fraction of our minister Alun Michael's time, an elitist group, of architects enjoy the benefits of free promotion by CABE, almost their own personal non-government agency.