Isabel Allen highlights the exorbitant cost of education for architects and how AT has developed the ‘School of Specification’ (SOS), an e-learning platform to provide students and practitioners with technical, regulatory and contractual information at every stage of their career.
“The first rule of architecture is to be born wealthy.” So said the – hugely privileged – American architect Philip Johnson. With the cost of study pegged at £100,000 and counting, it’s hard to disagree.
But change is afoot. Both RIBA and ARB are exploring ways to provide more affordable education: good old-fashioned apprenticeships and options to earn and learn; opportunities for graduates from related disciplines to make the switch to architecture without starting from scratch. For our part, Architecture Today has been developing an e-learning platform, School of Specification (SOS), to provide students and practitioners with technical, regulatory and contractual information at every stage of their career.
We’ve partnered with experts, including Kings College London, façade consultant Montrésor Partnership, and engineers Morph Structures and atelier one to produce learning content. With the generous support of our launch partners, Medite SMARTPLY, Wienerberger and Radmat, we’ve kicked off with modules on Bamboo, Collaborative Construction Procurement and Contracting (CCPC), Façades, Legal Responsibilities and Liabilities and Specification for Low Embodied Carbon – and we will be publishing new learning material on a regular basis.
To find out what SOS is all about and begin learning, visit www.schoolofspecification.co.uk. Get in touch with any feedback or if you think you can contribute. The ultimate goal is to pool knowledge and democratise access to consultants whose expertise would generally be beyond the reach of all but the privileged few.
Johnson, incidentally, did suggest a backup plan for any aspiring architect who wasn’t born into money: “The second rule, failing that, is to marry wealthy. And the third, well, there isn’t any third. You have to do one of those two.” It would be nice to prove him wrong.
