* * * * The end of June brings to
a close a noteworthy period in the history of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Mr. H. S. Goodhart-Rendel has been President of the Institute for the past two years; and no professional body has ever enjoyed more able leadership. His term of office has seen the final enactment of the Architects' Registration Act, which has endowed the Institute with great powers and still greater responsibilities. Many critics, both architects and laymen, have called in question the policy of legislating an art into a profession. If every P.R.I.B.A. could be a Good- hart-Rendel, their fears might be laid aside. In a series of thoughtful and extremely witty speeches, he has reiterated that the purpose of the Institute is to serve architecture not architects. Himself an architect of quiet tastes and prodigious scholarship, he has addressed some masterly advice to the students of today. His confidence in the present system of their education is no less striking since he himself was trained as a musician, and only drifted into architecture. He is an outspoken critic of the " originality which has no origin." I wish I did not still consider the new headquarters of the Institute as one of the worst exemplars of this architectural bane.
Previous page
