AriB Charter

The general ambition

Every day, architects realize that their professional practice must must be part of the strategic and regulatory urban planning, energy regulations, environmental rules, etc. which are practiced almost exclusively at the regional level.

This reality obviously required a restructuring of their associative world in order to make their voice heard in the political, administrative, economic and social world of the Region in which they practice and to become again, alongside other actors, sometimes more listened to (lawyers , environmentalists, town planners etc.), privileged partners in debates on matters that concern them primarily and for which they undeniably have specific added value (transversality between creativity and mastery of the technical act, architectural culture, etc.).

This is how the professional associations active in the Brussels-Capital Region have joined forces and given shape to AriB (Architects in Brussels) like their Flemish regional counterparts have done : BVA - Beroepsvereniging voor Architecten, NAV Netwerk Architecten Vlaanderen and on the Wallonian side : UWA - Union Wallonne des Architectes.

Through its statutes and the will of its members, AriB is open, multicultural and trilingual (FR, NL, EN), in order to represent a portal for all architects working in the Brussels-Capital Region, whatever their position. origin or location of their office, both in the private and public sector.

AriB also seeks to unite the energies emanating from both associations active in the Brussels-Capital Region and architects not affiliated with one or the other association, but eager to defend the practice of architecture there. Both associations and individual architects can therefore become members.

As part of this regional movement and carried by the international influence of the European Capital, AriB wants to give a broad echo to the concerns of its members, ensure their information, support their training, and promote their professional practices with both public and private stakeholders.

In particular, AriB wants to emphasize to the contracting authorities the importance of the conditions necessary for the creation of a high quality of architectural and urban activity.

AriB also strongly wishes to reiterate that the regional urban planning, of which architecture is one of the essential manifestations, encompasses the public interest.

In addition to this general ambition of supporting the profession to promote quality architecture, AriB also aims to have the demands and the specific intervention modalities of architects working in the Brussels-Capital Region to be heard by the Ordre des Architectes.

Goals

Inform

Ordinances, new regulations, new prescriptions very often emerge without the architects working in the field being directly informed of their existence and therefore aware of the repercussions that they have in terms of their practice and responsibilities.

The first of our objectives is to inform architects in these matters, to be the privileged information channel for prescribers and the consultation body between architects from the private and the public sector.

Train

These same laws and regulations involve understanding the ins and outs, measuring the consequences and knowing how to use them.

Moreover, the professional quality of public and private contractors and interlocutors encourages architects to maintain the highest quality of their services and professional practices.

The second objective is therefore to complete the training of architects so that they face these new challenges calmly.

Promote

The excellence of many architectural projects as well as the emergence of young talents are often overlooked. The world of real estate is going international. The cultural importance of architectural quality and its driving impact on our environment deserve to be underlined. This calls for response and promotion.

Our third objective is therefore to promote to public authorities and clients, both regionally and internationally, the quality of architecture and architects working in the Brussels Region.

Support the interests of its members

Regarding the intervention of architects:

All too often, debates about the legislative and regulatory framework of our profession are sheltered from any consultation or participation of architects active in the public or private sphere.
Competitions and calls for, and tenders, both public and private, are organized with too little integration of the rules for understanding the work of architects and their ethical obligations.

Regarding the organization of the profession:

High contributions without proactive information on the structure of its budget and the objectives pursued with such means;
the conduct of disciplinary sanctions with a vague framework;
costly and poorly understood reforms;
a complicated organization chart occupied by too many representatives;
an exclusively liberal approach to the profession;

all these elements result in a damaging distance between the Order and the architects whose dignity it must ensure.

Our fourth objective is to be present on these various fronts in order to ensure that the interests of our members prevail for the benefit of a structured profession that can offer all its added value to the common built environment.

The strategy

Inform

Concerned about maximum efficiency, we favor collaboration and / or synergy with existing organizations and structures in the Brussels-Capital Region, such as HUB Brussels, URBAN, PERSPECTIVE, BMA, CNC, BECI, UPSI, BXL Environment, ... ( to be completed) to structure a conversation based on the specificities of our professions and the public and private contexts in which they are carried out.

Form

As with information, we are of the opinion that collaboration should be favored to consolidate the practice of our professions towards excellence. We wish to participate in the practical training in matters as regulations and prescriptions - we are thinking in particular of the EPB,… (to be completed) - based on programs and training carried out jointly by architects and referenced specialists in each field.

For subjects relating to professional practice, the management of an architectural practice, the intervention of architects in the context of a public body, we particularly wish to develop collaborations with structures established in the Brussels-Capital Region as well as those linked to the academic world such as ICHEC-pme, Solvay-pme-, Vlerik, the Faculties of Architecture, ...

Training for trainee architects is also one of our concerns and we are involved in discussions aimed at developing this training in a new structure to be created at the regional level. This structure, currently being created, should provide these first courses in early 2021.

Promote

The presence of the CIAUD (Center for information on architecture, town planning and design - ao editor of A +) at the Architects’House where AriB has its headquarters, allows collaboration with this organization which has extensive experience in communication and dissemination of professional and cultural information. This openness to the world of communication is the basis for expanding our information strategy on the role of the Architect to all media and social networks.

Along with this "media" approach, we are looking for collaborations with the competent ministries at the regional level, as well as with organizations that go hand in hand to promote our added value on two levels :

That of its added value in the creation of our common environment and regional planning
That of the role of actor of our profession both at the local level and on the export markets, recalling all its economic weight and its importance in terms of job creation

Support the interests of its members

Regarding the defense of the profession and those who practice it :

The necessary presence of AriB in debates on regulatory matters and the organization of regional planning means that it is recognized as a privileged interlocutor. To do this, contacts have been made with the various ministries and administrations and a broad communication organized to demand better representation of the profession.
A code of good practice in terms of competitions and calls for tenders has been promulgated by the government of the Brussels Region. It is up to us to promote and support its application. This work is important but also affects the competences of the National Council of the Order. It is therefore important that AriB actively participate in this process in collaboration with other regional associations.
Like the practices in other European countries, we must work to demand correct remuneration for our services and to ban economic value as the main selection criterion in public procurement.

Regarding the application of ethics and the organization of the profession

It is up to us to take a critical and constructive look at the activities of the Order and its mode of operation, while favoring dialogue, in order to lead it to a coherent case law, to a simplification of its structures.

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It is up to us to take a critical and constructive look at the activities of the Order and its mode of operation, while favoring dialogue, in order to lead it to a coherent jurisprudence, to a simplification of its structures, to a reduction of its costs and a reassessment of contributions, as well as a reform that takes into account regional realities.

Means

It goes without saying that there are many ambitions and that the objectives will have to be targeted. To achieve these objectives, an efficient structure must be put in place and resources must be made available.

These means are of three types:

Membership fees, testimony to the profession's sensitivity to the interest of developing a responsible policy for public affairs and the means to be implemented to put architects in the best conditions to fulfill their role
Private sponsorship, support for a responsible policy, creator of values and economic lever, creator of jobs
Regional subsidies, witness to the awareness of public authorities of the major role played by architects in collective land use planning.

Conclusion

The project is large, the challenges are big and the ambition is great. It is therefore only with the active support of architects and their interlocutors that we can carry it out.

We have the ambition to continue this project and to give it its true dimension, because many architects/colleagues are waiting for an interlocutor who can take charge of their concerns, take over their aspirations, and promote their excellence.

AriB, Architects in Brussels, exists… Let us make it flourish by recalling our conviction that architecture is an expression of culture and that architectural creation, the quality of constructions, their harmonious integration into the environment surrounding area, respect for natural or urban landscapes and heritage are of public interest.