National President Ken Maher. Photo: Brett Boardman

5 Dec 2016

As 2016 draws to a close, we can reflect positively on what has been a year of great change and renewal for the Institute.  In May we welcomed Jennifer Cunich our new Chief Executive Officer to the team, and also this year our three new independent Board members Giselle Collins, Genevieve Overell and Sarah Richardson.

I particularly extend my sincere thanks to Jennifer and her team for the incredible work they have accomplished this year, from implementing the governance changes introduced by National Council, to reviewing our business model and our policies, and to creating a stronger internal structure to better support members. This year National Council and the Board have effectively managed many challenges and I thank them for their continuing dedication and support.

You no doubt will have seen that the time has come to renew or join for 2017. Your Institute is focused on providing relevant member services, raising the bar for education and delivering powerful advocacy and we want all architects and architectural professionals to be part of a stronger, more effective voice for the profession.

To assist you in everyday practice we have included Acumen, our online practice advisory notes, as part of all Member Level 1, Affiliate Level 1, Graduate and Student memberships. The Institute’s Acumen Content Review Panel have been hard at work, continually updating and adding new notes to provide relevant and up-to-date resource material.

In 2017, we are also excited to be upgrading our IT platforms to better assist staff in supporting members and providing a more user-friendly experience for members around the country. We have begun this vital project, accepting the need to make a modest increase in membership fees for 2017 to allow this investment in better digital platforms, while maintaining no fee increase for retired members.

At our recent National Council meeting, which included a strategic planning workshop, we initiated the renewal of the National Practice Committee and established an interim National Policy Committee to ensure involvement from the membership and chapters in supporting our strategic pillars of Membership and Advocacy respectively. We have also begun work on a new Role Model program modelled on a successful RIBA project and an Ambassadors program to encourage community and political leaders to be independent champions of the value of architecture in civil society.

Architects contribute significantly to the quality of the built environment, yet there is a much greater potential if better supported by governments, the industry and community leaders.  We need clear messages and a stronger voice, and your National Council is committed to increasing this voice through supporting Jennifer and her executive team in developing a strong Communications and Advocacy plan for 2017.  We are also focused on membership – you are our lifeblood – and so we have begun a review of membership benefits to ensure they are relevant to our diverse constituencies of members. The review will set targets to increase membership and therefore increase the breadth and participation possible in the activity of our Institute by eligible architects and students.  In 2017 we will also investigate establishing a ‘Friends of Architects’ program.

Chapter and National Council nominations for 2017 are currently open and I encourage you all to participate. Our Institute will be most effective through engaged members, and with this I am optimistic about what we can all achieve in 2017.

Plans for the 2017 National Architecture Conference, PRAXIS: process.propositions.production, are shaping up and I’m looking forward to revealing the exciting line up of speakers and fringe program in the new year. After a six year hiatus, the conference is heading back to Sydney where it will be one of the first conferences in the new International Convention Centre. The conference will co-locate again with Design Build and the Planning Institute of Australia, creating a truly inspiring collaborative festival for the design of places and cities. Stay tuned for all the details early in 2017.

We were sad to hear of the recent death of Peter Corrigan AM. Peter, the recipient of the Institute’s 2003 Gold Medal, was a thoughtful and transformative leader of the architectural community. He inspired so many through his teachings and his practice. It was an honour to have known him and he will be greatly missed, yet his presence will be sustained through a true legacy carried by those who were fortunate to learn from him and work with him throughout his extraordinary career. I offer condolences on behalf of all members to his life and practice partner Maggie Edmond, and his family, friends and colleagues.

2016 has been a challenging and busy year for the Institute and the profession but I have been so inspired by the incredible enthusiasm for change shown by staff and members. The work and achievements of 2016 have placed your Institute in a strong position to begin a prosperous, exciting and productive 2017. Have a safe and happy holiday season and I look forward to working with you in the new year.

Ken Maher
National President

National President, Ken Maher. Photo by Brett Boardman

7 Nov, 2016

As we continue the intensive process of renewal within the Australian Institute of Architects with increased momentum, our new CEO Jennifer Cunich is providing strong leadership in a process of building morale within the management team, rebuilding our IT systems and stabilising our economy. We are in good hands. The new Board of Management is now in place with the appointment of three highly experienced and skilled independent directors: Genevieve Overell, Sarah Richardson, and Giselle Collins. It is wonderful that there is now an equal number of men and women on the Board – a great result in support of our gender equity policy. The Board will be supporting Jennifer in delivering an effective operational basis for National Council’s strategic focus on ensuring effective membership services, delivering the highest quality of education for architects, and advocating the value of architects and architecture. With the support of members our Institute can be a strong and united voice in demonstrating the value of architects delivering holistic thinking and long term values in shaping our physical world.

Last Thursday, in front of a sold-out crowd, the winners of the 2016 National Architecture Awards were revealed. Once again it was an inspiration to see the breadth of talent and ingenuity of our architects around the country and overseas each year. These awards are critical as a peer review process for our profession, identifying benchmarks and hopefully inspiring us all to strive for the highest standards in the practice of our art. They are also a key platform for advocating architecture. The winning projects demonstrate convincingly to the community the richness, complexity and individuality of Australian architecture, as well as the value that architects can, and do bring through design. Congratulations to all involved and especially our award recipients. Your work showcases how extraordinary architecture and public spaces enrich the experience of the places we inhabit. Thank you also to our generous sponsors and partners for their continued support, and to the many staff at the Institute for delivering yet another successful program. Finally, thank you to the national jury of Stuart Vokes, Abbie Galvin, Rodney Eggleston, Fenella Kernebone and led by Jon Clements, for your generosity in giving your wisdom and time.

These awards are a celebration, but they are also a reflection on the state of our profession. They demonstrate that collectively architects can make a difference, by creating fine buildings and public spaces for our communities. Whether it is for buildings, transport or social infrastructure projects, there is significantly more value to be gained when architects provide their insight and leadership. Architecture awards serve to advocate the skills, knowledge and creativity that architects can bring to the community. Yet awards alone are not all that is important in this regard, architects need also to participate in the debate about our future – through having a voice, political engagement and social agency.

The importance of design is being increasingly recognised internationally with rapid urbanisation, densification, and the United Nations commitment to addressing climate change. At the recent UN Habitat III Conference a new urban agenda has been declared paralleling the Paris Cop21 climate pact, with a global strategy for cities embracing important matters of equity and engagement. Federal and state governments here are also recognising the challenges of densification and meeting the zero carbon commitments, yet real action is sadly lacking in most jurisdictions. We can however take heart from evidence of growing interest in design within the community.

Now is the time for us all to be active in spreading the word about what architecture can achieve. We all need to advocate this worth more effectively if we are to earn the right to exert influence more broadly and at the early stages of project inception, and your Institute is critical to this task. We need all architects to support the Institute and for members to encourage their colleagues to do so. We need all architects to join. Together we will be strengthening the Institute as an open, effective and engaging organisation, and a strong voice for the profession.

Lastly, a reminder of the next major national Institute event: our 2017 National Conference to be held in Sydney. This will be an exciting event exploring architecture titled PRAXIS: process.propositions.production, with a focus on significant architects presenting their work and delving behind how the creative thinking and modes of practice inform these projects. We will be announcing the inspiring line up of international and local speakers in the coming months. There will also be an engaging fringe program led by members of the NSW Chapter and EmAGN network. So please save the dates of 4-6 May. We will keep you posted and hope you all can participate to ensure the conference is a great success.

Ken Maher
National President

10 Oct, 2016

We live in times of significant change globally, with issues including climate change, ideological divides, social dislocation, political uncertainty and digital disruption all impacting on the way we think and the stability of our world. The validity of our institutions, our governance, our communities and our social fabric are under challenge.

This uncertainty and questioning of the status quo penetrates into our own experiences, as recent issues within our Institute of Architects have demonstrated. We are being challenged to question the validity of a model that has been in place in the past decade. Many of you will be aware of the process of reform and renewal that National Council has been undertaking recently in rethinking our governance, programs and priorities, and it is clear to me that this process needs to continue.

A major challenge is to understand which of our activities are of enduring value to our members and which can no longer be sustained in the face of fundamental changes within our industry and the role of the profession itself. In past years the Institute has tried to do too much without always delivering. In the face of reducing income from our insurance and publishing subsidiaries, and diminishing income from sponsorship, expanding programs in awards, conferences, seminars and other services the model called for review.

In my term I am committed to maintaining a sustainable and strong Institute for the future. Expectations of members for support and services are increasing, and we are facing increasing competition in all we do, while operating within the context of an increasingly risk adverse and litigious society. The hard decision taken regarding the recent closure of Archicentre is a sobering demonstration of these factors. We need to ensure the fundamentals of a strong and relevant member Institute are maintained for coming generations of architects.

We recognise our responsibility to all members who support us through paying subscriptions, through additional financial support, and the many who give their time freely. So the challenge for National Council, the Board, our management team, and indeed all our members is to think and act creatively in how we can do things differently to support and strengthen the profession. This will mean doing more with less! We are not alone in this challenge – the RIBA in the UK as well as the AIA in the USA are both currently in the process of restructuring and reform. While not easy, the task of refreshing and invigorating our Institute can be exciting, and is well under way now, it needs the support of all members and will benefit from real engagement.

Work has also commenced on better understanding the needs of our diverse constituencies of members through some qualitative surveys, so we can better focus services and support. Additionally, over the coming months I propose to visit a number of chapters together with Jennifer Cunich to meet with representative groups of members to discuss issues facing us and gain input on responses.

I want to outline some of the significant initiatives already underway to address current challenges. Effective engagement with our members, governments and the community is fundamental to our purpose and success. As with all contemporary organisations, agile and accessible IT systems and effective digital platforms are now critical to our communications. We have recently engaged Ian Kynaston who has a successful track record in this field to lead an extensive overhaul of our IT system as the portal to communication and engagement. Investment is now under way and the benefits will begin to emerge.

In regard to our economy, we clearly need to ensure we are using our limited resources effectively. In addition to work Jennifer is undertaking on the roles, responsibilities and integration of our senior management team across national and chapter locations we have commenced a comprehensive review of our property holdings and premises.

On the income side, we are reviewing how we can better manage major events, as income from member subscriptions is only part of what we need to support our services and activities, and additional income is needed. Our strategic focus on the three pillars of Membership, Advocacy and Education is supported by a fourth which we refer to as Partnerships. Here we are working with our existing sponsors to better understand the value of the relationship to them, as well as seeking to expand the reach to additional strategic partners.

Renewal is both challenging and invigorating. There is much we all can do to make our Institute an even more valued resource for practice, education and advocacy within the profession, and to deepen its standing within the community. Importantly we need to make it smarter, leaner and more relevant. I am optimistic this will happen – your support is fundamental to shaping this better future.

Ken Maher
National President