A multidisciplinary approach to architecture education which integrates developments in technology and avoids distinctions between art and practical construction is needed to meet the professional challenges of the 21st century, according to Tony Monks, professor of architecture at Luton University.
In his inaugural lecture last week, Professor Monks said the ghosts of the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris still roamed some architectural schools and in many practices.
Beaux Arts, during the 19th and early 20th century, was characterised by regimented teaching methods and an emphasis on classical design and presentation skills, at the expense of skill and knowledge of construction technology and function. The influence of the school was still being felt despite the "refreshing reaction" to it by Germany's Bauhaus movement and its legacy, he said.
Professor Monks warned that the Beaux Arts tendency was adversely affecting the profession's reputation in the building industry now. But he said: "We are all intelligent educationists and we will not replicate the sterile system of the 19th century - whatever Prince Charles thinks."
Professor Monks believes that a vocational architecture degree course he pioneered at Luton is an example of how architecture schools can help meet the progressive needs of the profession.
It was launched last year and is the first course for 12 years to be granted Part I recognition by the Royal Institute of British Architects. It aims to "produce practical and cultured graduates who may wish to pursue other career paths outside the profession but within the full compass of the architectural profession".
The foundation degree leads on to Part II specialisation, which will have multidisciplinarity as its key theme, and is scheduled to receive its first students next September. Negotiations are under way to have Part II recognised.
According to RIBA statistics, 44 per cent of architects in the profession in 1988 no longer practise and only 40 per cent of building contracts employ a qualified architect. Nearly half of all building projects are implemented via a contract that is led by the contractor or a project manager.