| Thirty
two years ago the National Party dismantled the
Architectural Profession and re-engineered it
to suit apartheid requirements. They did that
with an Act. The results were enormous and
significant.
Those old
enough to remember (and still in the country)
will recall the vibrancy of the profession
prior to 1970 and how it entered into State
controlled decay and abuse for 25 years. (Yes,
I know, we don't like to talk about that...)
We now have a
new Act, a new Council and a new President.
Are we in for another ride or are we on the
road to recovery?
If SACAP's new
president is to be taken at his word then the
stagnation ride may be over and we may be in
for some interesting and vibrant times.
At this point
one man can make all the difference. That man
is Malcom Campbell. He has the task of
reconstructing something from nothing - he is
the president of a professional body that
forgot how to trust its leadership a very long
time ago. A profession that stopped caring
about its leadership through decades of
political and opportunistic machinations.
That is the
reality. Malcom has a clean slate with which
to do great things but I doubt that too many
architects across the nation are sitting up
and taking notice. What a president needs to
be heard is a good platform from which to
bellow forth his proclamations. He now has one
and I hope he makes spacious use of it.
LA presents
itself as an excellent platform for Malcom
Campbell to communicate to his constituents
and the society that entrusts him with the
leadership of our profession. The
responsibility which he assumes is enormous as
are the expectations from the profession, from
government and from society.
If these
things could be measured one would probably
find that he has unanimous support from the
profession at all levels. Malcom Campbell is
the man of the moment and he now faces many
challenges. Challenges which he can only
overcome with active support and energy from
the profession.
The biggest
challenge is going to be to get individual
architects, building designers and
technologists to get excited about
Architecture and to start caring enough to pay
attention.
So, in my
wisdom, I venture to offer free advice to our
new president on how to awaken the dormant
Diamond of Reason and Light buried in every
architect's subconscious mind which could in
turn lead to the Great Awakening of the
Profession.
This must be
done;
Parties. Lots
of Parties. Gala Evenings, Fiestas, Balls,
Festivals and such like. Happy things - on a
national scale and in a unity move. Lots of
free food and drink and live music too.
I'd really
like that.
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