{"id":12015,"date":"2026-06-11T03:49:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T03:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/?p=12015"},"modified":"2026-06-11T08:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T08:00:04","slug":"protection-of-function-just-months-away-duncan-baker-brown-riba-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/articles\/protection-of-function-just-months-away-duncan-baker-brown-riba-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Protection of Function Just &#8220;Months Away&#8221; &#8211; Duncan Baker-Brown | RIBA Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\n(function(){var s=document.createElement('style');s.type='text\/css';s.textContent='.bespoke-transcript{width:100%;font-family:inherit;color:#1a1a1a;line-height:1.85;font-size:inherit}.bespoke-transcript .bt-heading{font-family:\\'Helvetica 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0!important;line-height:1.5!important}.bespoke-transcript .bt-qa-speaker{display:flex!important;align-items:center!important;gap:10px!important;font-family:\\'Helvetica Neue\\',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif!important;font-weight:700!important;font-size:13px!important;text-transform:uppercase!important;letter-spacing:0.6px!important;margin:0 0 12px 0!important;color:#2b2b2b!important}.bespoke-transcript .bt-qa-speaker img{width:28px!important;height:28px!important;border-radius:50%!important;object-fit:cover!important;flex-shrink:0!important;margin:0!important}.bespoke-transcript .bt-qa-answer{margin:0!important;padding:0!important;font-size:16px!important;line-height:1.75!important;color:#1a1a1a!important}.afc-post-content .content-wrap > .socials-container{position:static!important;float:none!important;clear:both!important;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;margin:48px 0 0 0!important;padding:0!important;display:block!important;top:auto!important;right:auto!important;bottom:auto!important;left:auto!important;transform:none!important}.afc-post-content .content-wrap > .socials-container .socials-title{margin:0 0 12px 0!important}.afc-post-content .content-wrap > .socials-container .socials-wrap{display:flex!important;flex-direction:row!important;flex-wrap:wrap!important;gap:14px!important;justify-content:flex-start!important;align-items:center!important}';document.head.appendChild(s);function mvShare(){var sc=document.querySelector('.afc-post-content .post-details .socials-container');var cw=document.querySelector('.afc-post-content .content-wrap');if(sc&&cw&&sc.parentNode!==cw){cw.appendChild(sc);}}if(document.readyState==='loading'){document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded',mvShare);}else{mvShare();}})();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"bespoke-transcript\">\n<div class=\"responsive-video\" style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; margin-bottom: 36px; border-radius: 4px;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yKUW71W7un0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-intro\">2026 feels like a hinge moment for UK architecture. A housing crisis, a climate agenda, the looming impact of AI, and a profession under real pressure as fees, procurement, risk and responsibility all rise at once.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-intro\">In this series we&#8217;re putting the same questions to each of the four candidates standing for RIBA president, so you can compare them like for like.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-intro\">Duncan Baker-Brown is an architect, academic and one of the UK&#8217;s most prominent voices on reuse and the circular economy. He runs BakerBrown Studio, teaches at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brighton.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">University of Brighton<\/a>, where he leads a masters course in architecture, and designed the Brighton Waste House, built almost entirely from discarded material. He has spent six years on RIBA Council, co-chairs the institute&#8217;s climate group, and has a house shortlisted for House of the Year. Since early March he has visited a different RIBA region every week to ask members one question: how does the institute serve you?<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-intro\">In this episode: why architects aren&#8217;t taken seriously, why fighting the ARB means fighting the government, sending Portland Place&#8217;s budget to the regions, and the adaptive reuse economy he says is coming.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">What experiences in your career brought you here and motivated you to stand for RIBA president?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">That&#8217;s a really good question. I think, secretly, I&#8217;ve always thought I&#8217;d be quite good at it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I&#8217;ve been doing teaching, research and practice at the same time since 1994. I currently run a masters course in architecture, I&#8217;m doing live research projects, and I&#8217;ve got one of the houses shortlisted for House of the Year in practice. So I think that knowledge is really relevant for now, when practice could be transformed in a positive way, and when teaching is being transformed, because every school of architecture is redesigning their courses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I&#8217;ve spent six years on Council, and the RIBA has been good to me. But I can see a real disconnect between the amazing people that work for it and the members. So since early March, every week I&#8217;ve gone to a different RIBA region and met members, students and practitioners, and asked them: why are you a member of the RIBA? How does it serve you? And they feel disconnected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">Most practitioners are working on small residential work. Most practices are less than five people, and yet sometimes the RIBA feels like it&#8217;s designed around the bigger practices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">At the moment there is a huge disconnect between the RIBA and its members. So my whole campaign is about putting the members first. If we start working together and we collaborate, then we can do all sorts of things. Imagine if we just got 10 or 20% of that 40,000 membership working together on something. That would be incredible.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bt-pullquote\"><p><span class=\"bt-pq-mark\">&#8220;<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"bt-pq-text\">Imagine if we just got 10 or 20% of that 40,000 membership working together on something. That would be incredible.<\/span><\/p>\n<footer class=\"bt-pq-attr\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">When you look at architecture today, what&#8217;s the single biggest challenge facing the profession?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;re taken seriously, because we&#8217;re not regulated. I think it&#8217;s quite straightforward. If at the moment someone who&#8217;s a designer of anything can call themselves an architectural consultant and do what you do, then it immediately undermines you. You&#8217;ve got to justify yourself, and we shouldn&#8217;t be in that world at all. It is as straightforward as that. For me, if we get the function of architects regulated, that&#8217;s the number one thing, and I think we&#8217;re going towards that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">That&#8217;s again why I think I&#8217;d make a good president, because I haven&#8217;t got an adversarial relationship with the ARB. I&#8217;m not that person. I&#8217;m much more into working together. The ARB is a government quango, the government department that deals with architecture. So if we&#8217;re picking a fight with the ARB, we&#8217;re picking a fight with the government. That isn&#8217;t the right thing to do. We should put our energies into protecting the function.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">It&#8217;s an everyday challenge for me at the moment. I&#8217;m literally surrounded where I live. A neighbouring house is designed by somebody who&#8217;s not an architect, who has no idea there&#8217;s been a Building Safety Act. That&#8217;s the world we&#8217;re in. You just don&#8217;t have currency. Get this currency, and then I think we can build on that. Other things will fall into place once we&#8217;re taken seriously.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bt-pullquote\"><p><span class=\"bt-pq-mark\">&#8220;<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"bt-pq-text\">I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;re taken seriously, because we&#8217;re not regulated.<\/span><\/p>\n<footer class=\"bt-pq-attr\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">You&#8217;ve been speaking to architects throughout the campaign. What concerns and frustrations are coming up most?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">Recently the RIBA piloted the climate literacy test, a mandatory test I&#8217;d been lobbying for in the background. I was with one region when it launched, and the first thing they got was lots of companies offering them paid courses to become climate literate. The effect that it has on the membership is that they feel like they&#8217;re not competent, even though they&#8217;re doing their mandatory CPD. They studied for seven to ten years and they&#8217;re still being questioned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">And we&#8217;re losing members. So we&#8217;ve got to create a better offer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">Another thing we do at the moment is undervalue students. Wherever I went around the country, lots of students turned up. Students need to be valued more by the RIBA, and the regions need to be in a position where they can include students more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">And one last thing around inclusivity. I don&#8217;t think there are many, if any, full-time academics teaching architecture who are members of the RIBA. I&#8217;m a member because I&#8217;m a part-time academic, but my full-time academic colleagues are nowhere near the RIBA. We need to welcome them in, we need more students, and we need to nurture that community.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bt-pullquote\"><p><span class=\"bt-pq-mark\">&#8220;<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"bt-pq-text\">We&#8217;re losing members. So we&#8217;ve got to create a better offer.<\/span><\/p>\n<footer class=\"bt-pq-attr\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">What do you see as the role of the RIBA today, and what influence does the president actually have?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">The purpose of the RIBA is, quite rightly, the advancement of the quality of architecture. It should be like a club where all members are treated equally, with access to this amazing culture. And I think it needs to do more on research as well. It needs to raise its game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">The president, for me, needs to be the public figure. The voice. The chair of the board needs to deal with the business of it, the CEO can do that. But the president is the voice. I&#8217;ve done a lot of work with ministers and politicians on behalf of the RIBA, so from a political point of view, an academic point of view and a practice point of view, I&#8217;m super comfortable talking about anything to do with architecture. I think you need a president that has an authentic voice.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">Should the RIBA primarily reflect the views of its members, or lead and challenge the profession on important issues?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I think the first thing is to fix the disconnect between the organisation and its members. One thing I&#8217;d be really interested in doing: while Portland Place is being renovated for the next three or four years, take the funding that used to go into events there and get it to the regions. When they were rebuilding Wembley, suddenly the regions got the big games. Give the different regions, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, a budget every six months, an accelerated version of the local initiative funding, and you could really do a lot more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">The regions are doing amazing work with communities already, whether it&#8217;s pub quizzes or exhibitions or design tourism. We hear about it at Council once a year, a list of 150 things. And I&#8217;d like the RIBA Journal to be more about the membership. If you highlight the everyday member of the RIBA, that is really interesting, not just the gold, silver and bronze medals and the award winners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I don&#8217;t often meet a duff architect. You might not like what they design, but they are always coming at it with a passion and an energy. And I think we&#8217;ve gone beyond the starchitect thing now and need to collaborate, and I think we&#8217;re really good at that.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">We talk about low fees, limited influence, a lack of public understanding. Why does the profession struggle to communicate its value, and what can change that?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">A lot of architects do get involved. But when it comes to the prestigious committees in the construction sector, we don&#8217;t have much currency. Get more currency, and then I think we&#8217;d be at the top table.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I&#8217;ve worked with cities, I&#8217;ve helped cities come up with circular economy plans, and I think architects are actually held with more respect than we often give ourselves. Certainly the RIBA is when you go abroad. I&#8217;ve been all around the world on behalf of the RIBA, and I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s just because it&#8217;s got the R word in it, royal, but the doors fly open. At the COPs I&#8217;ve been to, I&#8217;ve met some amazing people, really important ministers from around the world, getting things done.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">But locally, in the UK, I think we&#8217;re all really busy. I don&#8217;t think a lot of us have time to sit on councils and build that political network. We&#8217;re more inclined to do teaching and practice. We keep ourselves too busy.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">If you could focus the profession&#8217;s attention on one issue over the next five years, what would it be?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">The regulation of the function is the thing we need to push over the line first. I think we are months away from that happening. I think that&#8217;s going to happen. So we&#8217;ve got to focus on that. Then I think a lot of other things will fall into place. I think we&#8217;ll have more work, because there&#8217;s a lot of work being done by people that aren&#8217;t architects. So surely the first thing is to recalibrate and understand the workloads we&#8217;re going to have.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">What would be deprioritised? Stop the fight with the ARB. That is a waste of energy. Campaign for your members. Don&#8217;t campaign for the abolishment of the ARB.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">It was really interesting that Chris, our current president, decided not to renew his membership. When he announced it at Council we were quite excited. But then I thought it through, and I think a lot of the industry thought it through. With respect to Chris, who&#8217;s a fantastic architect, he&#8217;s in a position where he can do that. A lot of people can&#8217;t, so it looks like he&#8217;s in a particularly privileged position to be able to do it. I&#8217;m glad he did it. But to then go for the ARB is a waste of energy.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bt-pullquote\"><p><span class=\"bt-pq-mark\">&#8220;<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"bt-pq-text\">The regulation of the function is the thing we need to push over the line first. I think we are months away from that happening.<\/span><\/p>\n<footer class=\"bt-pq-attr\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">What do you think architects continue to get wrong today?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s anything I&#8217;d say they shouldn&#8217;t be doing. We&#8217;re inventive. I&#8217;ve met three architects since March who have designed their own offsite construction systems. As an industry we&#8217;re almost like a cottage industry of individuals, and I think they have a hell of a good time, to be honest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I really like architecture. I really like the culture. I love the community. And we all try to do better, and in the world we&#8217;re in at the moment, that&#8217;s a place you want to be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">One thing that shocked me a few months ago was the headline about the architects bidding for the new airport terminal in Washington. One architect named it the Donald J. Trump terminal without it needing to be that, and another said, yeah, we&#8217;ll make airports great again. You don&#8217;t need to do that. And when Patrik Schumacher says there shouldn&#8217;t be social housing in central London, it makes no sense. I come from a training that&#8217;s quite different to that.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">Has increasing regulation, particularly the Building Safety Act, strengthened the profession or made it harder to practise?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">It has made it harder to practise, without a doubt. But what&#8217;s really interesting is the ARB forced us to change the way we teach, and one of the reasons they&#8217;re doing that is to make it more inclusive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">At Brighton, and we&#8217;re not the only ones doing this, with the new integrated masters you don&#8217;t need an undergraduate degree in architecture at all. An integrated masters might be four years long for someone with a degree in graphic design. For me that&#8217;s been good. It&#8217;s made it more inclusive, and I&#8217;m all for that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">You&#8217;re allowing everyone in, and then parts two and three are the learning curve. Welcome to the Building Safety Act. But I don&#8217;t mind that, because we should have been teaching it that way anyway. Building science is important. It is scary that you might be liable for something for 30 years. But overall I think it&#8217;s a good thing.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">What changes are most needed in architectural education to make the profession fit for the future?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I think it&#8217;s time for us to remember there&#8217;s a vocational element to what we do. I really like the idea of apprenticeships. I&#8217;m interviewing students tomorrow morning, and two of them have done part-time degrees. What&#8217;s going to be good going forward is offering different routes through. I want it to be flexible: do it part time for a bit, complete modules, cherry-pick the modules you want to do. We need that sort of flexibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">Next week I chair an industry advisory group for architecture. We bring industry people in, and we&#8217;re going to ask about 30 local practices how they&#8217;d feel about contributing to projects in the first, second and third years, in partnership with the university. There&#8217;d be lots of different ways to do it, and if it&#8217;s led by the university, the practice is just helping deliver. That&#8217;s how I see it: the community joining in together.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">Do you see AI primarily as an opportunity or a threat, and how should the profession respond?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I want to take it head on. I&#8217;ve just had three or four weeks of marking student portfolios, and if a student has developed a design with a bit of AI, I&#8217;ve got no problem with that. I don&#8217;t see how much of a threat it&#8217;s going to be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">When we say AI, the problem with AI in practice is, what&#8217;s the impact going to be? It&#8217;s the impact on humanity. It&#8217;s another existential problem. It&#8217;s like the climate emergency. How it&#8217;s going to affect our industry, I don&#8217;t know. But we&#8217;ve got to embrace it. We&#8217;ve got to understand it. At one level it&#8217;s like, know your enemy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">At the moment, for me, it&#8217;s not scary. It&#8217;s really useful for dealing with lots of data. If I&#8217;m trying to convince people to do adaptive reuse, to deconstruct buildings and reuse materials, AI can support that. We can&#8217;t forget the huge energy cost, and the acceleration of the climate emergency that could happen if we just plugged into these data centres. But humanity is already kicking back. There&#8217;s loads of stories of data centres not getting planning approval.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">From a software point of view, it&#8217;s not a case of throwing the fundamentals out the window. We still need that stuff, because that stuff grounds it, literally, one way or another. We&#8217;re still in the really early days, and we should not be overly concerned or terrified. We should be embracing it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">And the RIBA has the capacity to be a conduit here. One thing the RIBA does, and needs to do more of, is host events for its members. Get the most amazing people in, so we can debate all of this.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bt-pullquote\"><p><span class=\"bt-pq-mark\">&#8220;<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"bt-pq-text\">It&#8217;s the impact on humanity. It&#8217;s another existential problem. It&#8217;s like the climate emergency.<\/span><\/p>\n<footer class=\"bt-pq-attr\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-chris\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Simmons\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\"><span class=\"bt-green\">Bespoke Careers<\/span> (Chris Simmons)<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">If elected, at the end of your term what would architects notice had changed that would make you call your presidency a success?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-speaker bt-sabrina\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bt-avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/><span class=\"bt-name\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">Members would be more engaged with the RIBA, and the RIBA more engaged with its members. We&#8217;d be thinking more like a community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">One challenge I&#8217;ve set myself, which we could look back on if I&#8217;m successful: I want to increase the membership by 10%. So I&#8217;ve set myself the task of finding another 5,000 members. How am I going to do that? Once people feel part of a community, respected and appreciated, the rest flows. And it&#8217;s not just about shining a light on the brightest lights. It&#8217;s everybody. That would be a real result for me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bt-quote\">I think the protection of function is going to happen anyway; that&#8217;s something Chris Williamson and the RIBA are working on really well. The climate literacy tests will be mandatory, and that&#8217;s dealing with an existential issue. And I think we will have the beginnings of a really healthy adaptive reuse economy. And architects will be at the centre of that.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bt-pullquote\"><p><span class=\"bt-pq-mark\">&#8220;<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"bt-pq-text\">We will have the beginnings of a really healthy adaptive reuse economy. And architects will be at the centre of that.<\/span><\/p>\n<footer class=\"bt-pq-attr\">Duncan Baker-Brown<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr class=\"bt-hr\" \/>\n<h3 class=\"bt-heading\">Quickfire<\/h3>\n<div class=\"bt-qa\">\n<div class=\"bt-qa-num\">Q<em>01<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-question\">Biggest opportunity for architects over the next decade?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-qa-speaker\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/> Duncan Baker-Brown<\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-answer\">There&#8217;s a lot, but within the UK the biggest opportunity is the world of adaptive reuse. Reworking the existing built environment, which needs to become climate resilient. We&#8217;re getting hotter and hotter, and our built environment is not up to it. We don&#8217;t have the funding to put external insulation and solar panels on every building, so we&#8217;ve got to do it in clever ways. It needs the imaginative community of architects to come up with thousands of different solutions. Adaptive reuse is a real big opportunity for the next ten years. And we will need to do it just to survive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-qa\">\n<div class=\"bt-qa-num\">Q<em>02<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-question\">Biggest misconception about architects?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-qa-speaker\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/> Duncan Baker-Brown<\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-answer\">That we&#8217;re well paid. Most people outside the world of architecture think that we earn a lot of money. And we don&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-qa\">\n<div class=\"bt-qa-num\">Q<em>03<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-question\">Biggest thing holding the profession back right now?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-qa-speaker\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/> Duncan Baker-Brown<\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-answer\">It&#8217;s quite straightforward. The fact that the function of architecture, what we do, is not regulated or protected. Anyone can call themselves an architectural consultant and design a building that&#8217;s submitted for planning approval, building regulations, the lot. And that is a dangerous thing. But I think that&#8217;s about to be righted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-qa\">\n<div class=\"bt-qa-num\">Q<em>04<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-question\">One conversation the profession isn&#8217;t having enough?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-qa-speaker\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/> Duncan Baker-Brown<\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-answer\">The conversation about what practitioners can do for students and the education system. Practitioners and academics and students need to get in one room and work out how to train architects. We need to appreciate our practitioners more and understand that they know what they&#8217;re doing. They can help teach the students, and the students and the academics can help the practitioners as well. It goes both ways.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-qa\">\n<div class=\"bt-qa-num\">Q<em>05<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-question\">One piece of advice for your younger self entering architecture today?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-qa-speaker\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/> Duncan Baker-Brown<\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-answer\">The ability to diversify. To be light on your feet. A friend of mine wrote a book called Don&#8217;t Get a Job, Make a Job, and I think we all have to do that. It&#8217;s not just because you&#8217;re in architecture. My daughter&#8217;s a medievalist, an English literature graduate, and she&#8217;s got to do the same. There&#8217;s no such thing as a job for life. The thing I would also say is well done for studying architecture, because it&#8217;s a great undergraduate degree that can set you up for all sorts of careers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bt-qa bt-qa-last\">\n<div class=\"bt-qa-num\">Q<em>06<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-question\">If architects could only remember one thing about your campaign?<\/p>\n<div class=\"bt-qa-speaker\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/bespoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duncanprofile.jpg\" alt=\"Duncan Baker-Brown\" \/> Duncan Baker-Brown<\/div>\n<p class=\"bt-qa-answer\">I want to put architects first. The RIBA is famous for championing the advancement of architecture. I think it has to be more about the architects. So the one thing to remember from my campaign is that it&#8217;s about championing the membership and putting architects first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why architects aren\u2019t taken seriously, why fighting the ARB means fighting the government, sending Portland Place\u2019s budget to the regions, and the adaptive reuse economy he says is coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,68,69,22,67],"tags":[],"location":[],"class_list":["post-12015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-employers","category-jobseekers","category-podcast","category-students-and-graduates"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12015"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12024,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12015\/revisions\/12024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/12018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12015"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bespokecareers.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/location?post=12015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}