Austin Williams
I stand for RIBA President because I am fed up with the state of the profession and think I could add some plain speaking, common sense and clarity to improve matters:
… from the state of education to the bureaucratisation of practice; from the over-regulation of the construction industry to inadequate fee levels; from the over-flattery of starchitects to the marginalisation of everyday experience, from the interference of the Architects Registration Board to confusion of the Building Safety Act, from the side-lining of critical opinions to the rise of litigiousness.
I am from Wales, I started my working career in the north-east, I studied at the Bartlett and in Birmingham, work in London, live in the north-west, and spent six years in China. I have been a lead architect, site architect, expert witness, sole practitioner, journalist, author, illustrator, NBS-documentary film maker, podcaster, and an academic. This portfolio career – always with architecture at its core – has provided me with a wide range of insights into various aspects of the profession, and I allowed myself to learn from all these experiences. Few of my insights are totally positive. As a matter of fact, I see a profession that is desperate for change… but with a side order of continuity.
I admit to being unconventional – potentially dissident – but I am committed to strive for improvement in all of the above. I am prepared to speak my mind and also to change my opinion when I am proved wrong.
