Architects are trained to design functional space — Registration council boss

The job of the architect, in a layman’s language, is to design and create spaces functional and aesthetically appealing from inception to completion and that can stand the test of time.

This definition was given by the president, Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Arc. Dipo Ajayi, at the just concluded 2019 Architects Colloquium, held in Abuja.

He said ARCON now has a secured, fenced property and proposals have been submitted towards its first building and an insurance scheme is being established with First Bank while a registration and education committee has been inaugurated to ensure contribution to national development.

In his remarks, the registrar of ARCON, Arc. Umar Saulawa Murnai, said the theme for this year’s colloquium, ‘Architecture and National Development Agenda XII’ is apt and could not have come at a better time.

The Minister for Works, Power, and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, represented by a director in the ministry, said architecture, which is an ancient profession that survived more than 3,000 years, is central to housing development, a basic human need.

He said increasing the number of registered architects in Nigeria was one way of combating and curbing activities of quacks within the built environment, a trend which, he said, contributes to the frequent cases of collapse of buildings in the country.