British architecture institute constructs better cooperation

The Royal Institute of British Architects is laying solid foundations in China as it plans to open an office in Shanghai soon, its first on the mainland, and seeks to build up cooperation and construct greater educational structures.

The London-based professional body for architects was founded under a Royal Charter granted in 1837 and a Supplemental Charter in 1971. Its membership spans the globe.

"We've seen much demand in Beijing and Shanghai for the RIBA's expertise and collaboration, and the challenge is that we need to make sure we can service all of those expectations," says the RIBA's chief executive Alan Vallance, who recently visited Beijing and Shanghai.

For example, the institute will be running more member events, bringing architects from the United Kingdom to share ideas, according to Vallance.

The RIBA has more than 48,000 members worldwide, 6,000 of whom are outside of the UK, including about 1,400 in China.

"The reason we will set up in Shanghai first is because the majority of the existing members of the RIBA who live and work on the Chinese mainland are based in Shanghai. So we're looking to get their support to help us get started here," he says.

"Both Beijing and Shanghai are significant cities. We haven't made any firm plans for having a chapter in Beijing yet, but we expect to do that in the future."

Top architects, he says, set the standards which others aspire to, show a vision that others follow and are bold enough to carry out that vision. Constructing a building is a team effort and architects also need to foster a good relationship with their clients.

The RIBA is also an education institution that validates university courses around the world.

"There's a lot of demand for overseas validations as well, because universities value our brand and they know it represents the highest standard of education and practice," he says.

The RIBA has validated two schools of architecture in China－the university of Nottingham Ningbo China in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, and Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. Both are Sino-foreign universities, set up by Chinese universities and their UK counterparts.

Gisela Loehlein, head of the Architecture and Design Department at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, hails the cooperation. "Students will benefit greatly since it will allow them access to an international network and become global professionals. The RIBA's chapter in Shanghai will further support that and enable a bridge from academia to practice that is of the highest professional level."

Vallance says they've held discussions with several Chinese universities who are interested in getting RIBA validation.

"Students will become our members if they are at a school of architecture validated by the RIBA. It will give them an additional qualification. If you're a RIBA chartered architect, you're deemed to be qualified at the highest level of professional standards," Vallance says.

The global higher education company Quacquarelli Symonds released a list of the world's top universities in architecture and construction for 2019, based upon academic and employer reputation and research impact. Tsinghua University ranked 10th globally.

"It means the Chinese education of architects is as good as anywhere else, but there are many universities who have not made it to that same standard yet," Vallance says.

The RIBA validation process, he points out, aims to help these universities understand the quality of its architectural education, and what they need to do to get to that standard. The RIBA will assess them against that standard.

In October, the RIBA released the 2030 Climate Challenge, with a series of targets for practices to adopt to reduce operational energy, embodied carbon and drinking water usage. It aims to help architects meet net-zero (or better) whole life carbon for new and retrofitted buildings by 2030.

"Climate change is a global challenge for architects. When they design buildings and communities for sustainability, it needs to be tailored to local situations. There's an opportunity for organizations like us to work closely," he says.

Vallance says the RIBA had a long-standing relationship with the Architectural Society of China and looks forward to deepening relationships with more societies in China.

He believes there is tremendous potential for the Chinese architecture sector. He says UK architects have been designing buildings in China, but this direction could change as more Chinese architects establish global reputations.

"China has done well in fields like robotics, the adoption of technology and urban planning through better digital products. We've seen some fantastic examples where Chinese architects have adopted digital technology in their practice, such as virtual reality and cloud computing."

He visited hutong (alleys) near the Forbidden City during his recent trip and was impressed by Beijing's ancient architecture.

"The RIBA has many renovation and preservation experts. The architects in China and outside China can work together on topics like heritage architecture," he says.