Saia

COMPANY PROFILE

2013

South African Institute of Architects

Knowledge,

advocacy, excellence

company report

SAIA: Knowledge, advocacy, excellence Editorial: Lauren Grey Production: Ben Martel President of the KwaZulu Natal Institute of Architects, Kevin Bingham, says that the architectural industry in South Africa is going through a huge transformation and requires a ‘re-think of both education and practice’. IndustrySA looks at the function of the SAIA and considers how it benefits the industry.

The South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) is a voluntary association of affiliated and regional institutes, committed to maintaining the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and competence within the industry.

Established in 1996, membership is open to all architects with the only prerequisite being a recognised academic qualification, a minimum of 24 months practical experience and an examination in professional practice.

Members of the Institute, registered as professional architects, are educated and trained to provide leadership, critical judgment, specialist knowledge, skills and aptitude, for the design and development of the built environment.

Kevin Bingham, President of the KwaZulu-Natal Institute of Architects and committee member at SAIA, explains that regional presidents serve on the SAIA National Board, “with the emphasis on the word voluntary, the Institutes represent their

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memberships with a unified voice in directing policymaking and ensuring on-going excellence in the field, to improve the quality of our environment.”

Members who voluntarily enrol with the Institute are required to uphold and subscribe to the objectives of the Institute, and within the built environment, strive to improve the standards of health and safety for the protection and welfare of all members of society and to enhance with their professional skills, the natural environment to the benefit of all.

TRANSFORMING THE INDUSTRY As with most industries across world, architecture has felt the devastating effects of the economic slowdown, with some major –and minor- projects needing to be put on hold until further funding is found.

However, Bingham says that South Africa’s architecture industry has managed to avoid the slowdown and continues to thrive even in challenging times, “The economic slowdown

South African Institute of Architects

had a major effect on the architectural industry worldwide, however I believe that South Africa has been lucky thus far in not feeling the full punch of the global slump.”

Whilst the economic slowdown may not have had a direct effect on SA’s architecture industry, Bingham explains that other factors affecting the industry are causing it to go through a huge transformation.

“The architecture industry is going through a transformation that is requiring a re-think of both education and practice,” he explains, “the field of architectural practice is vast and requires the architect to have a detailed knowledge of all aspects of construction, including an understanding of the fields of expertise of the other consultants in the professional team.”

Aside from design and planning skills, architects are also required to have technical, problem-solving, managerial, communication, co-ordination and

entrepreneurial abilities, which Bingham believes will result in a more streamlined industry, with architects specialising in different areas.

“New regulations are making it increasingly time-consuming and onerous for architects and it is foreseen that architects will move towards various specialisations within the architectural landscape.”

ARCHITECTURE AS A CAREER Another fundamental purpose of the SAIA is to encourage young people to choose a career in architecture, with candidate membership open to those currently studying towards becoming a professional architect.

Whilst education in architecture evolves continuously to meet the changing demands of the profession and of society, SAIA works with a range of education-related initiatives to ensure members are able to develop their profession throughout their careers.

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company report

“New regulations are making it increasingly time-consuming and onerous for architects and it is foreseen that architects will move towards various specialisations within the architectural landscape” DURBAN 2014

Kevin Bingham

SAIA says that to be a successful architect a person must possess the following skills: imagination, the ability to organise ideas and communicate them to others, creativity, problem solving skills and finally, an interest in human behaviour, our habitat and the natural environment.

“Research has shown that there is little correlation between excelling at certain school subjects and doing well as architects,” explains Bingham, “with the exception of languages.”

“What is essential is a propensity for hard work over long hours and a creative mind. Studying Art at school level is often an advantage in assisting in creativity.”

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As a whole, South African industry is becoming more and more attractive to foreign investors and the country has been praised for opening a gateway to the rest of the continent.

Next year, on the twentieth anniversary of South Africa’s re-birth, the country will again be celebrated on an international platform for its contribution to world architecture, as it prepares to host the International Union of Architects (UIA) triennial Congress.

UIA is an international non-governmental organization that represents over a million architects in 124 countries, and the 2014 congress, ‘Architecture Otherware’ will explore other ways of creating a better future, which is to be explored in several, carefully selected, themes and sub-themes that acknowledge the role of architecture as thought leadership.

UIA 2014 will explore space, place and associated meaning whilst acknowledging architecture as a major force that may be harnessed towards a better life for all.

Previous host cities include Tokyo, Chicago, Beijing and London to name a few, and Durban will be celebrated for how it functions as a city, how it excels at low-tech solutions and integrating the third economy in urban solutions.

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