site.btaInternational Forum Looks at Architectural Profession in Spain and Germany

"Architecture is a landmark and a way to achieve progress with sensitivity to people. It is not just a choice, it is something we experience and in that sense it is a value and a common good to be developed and preserved," said architect. Marta Vall Llossera Ferran, President of the Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España (CSCAE), during an international roundtable on practicing the profession of architect in Spain and Germany, organized by the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria. The roundtable is part of the International Days of the European Regulated Profession of Architecture, taking place from March 22 to April 2 at the Central House of the Architect in Sofia.

An analysis of the Spanish Law on the Quality of Architecture, in force since June 16 2022, was circulated at the forum, which states that architecture is a good of general interest. The law states that all public authorities, within their respective powers, are obliged to ensure that architecture is "subject to protection, promotion and dissemination". The explanatory memorandum to the Act sets out the role that architecture can play in the revitalization of areas of depopulation.  

The Chairman of the Board of the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria architect Vladimir Milkov said during the forum that the Spanish law is the best and most progressive normative act in Europe, treating the problems of the architectural profession. It was drafted with the assistance of the Spanish Chamber of Architects and was adopted with full unanimity in the Spanish Parliament, he added.

Maria Dolores Galan Alvarez, legal advisor of the CSCAE, said that in Spain the profession of architect is regulated, it is based on quality at every stage, it addresses the protection of the environment, the preservation of historical heritage and cultural values. The practice of this profession is only possible after obtaining the relevant diploma, which is also linked to the activities that an architect can carry out according to the scientific disciplines studied. In general, it is a compulsory five-year training plus one year for a master's programme and a specialization for a professional qualification.

Representatives of the Chamber of Architects in Lower Saxony and the Federal Union of Architects in Germany spoke about the scope of professional qualifications for architects in Germany.