The Committee of Canadian Architectural Councils (CCAC) is an organization in Canada of representatives from each of the ten provincial associations of architects. The CCAC manages the development of national policies and standards for the admission to the profession of architecture in Canada. The CCAC is administered by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC). [1]
The CCAC established the Intern Architect Program (IAP) to standardize internship in Canada.
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that have human occupancy or use as their principal purpose. Etymologically, the term architect derives from the Latin architectus, which derives from the Greek, i.e., chief builder.
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for construction and human use, investigation of existing social, ecological, and soil conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of other interventions that will produce desired outcomes.
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water management, sustainable design, construction specification, and ensuring that all plans meet the current building codes and local and federal ordinances.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach programs, and collaborates with other stakeholders in the design and construction industries.
Building design, also called architectural design, refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering and technical applications to the design of buildings. All building projects require the services of a building designer, typically a licensed architect. Smaller, less complicated projects often do not require a licensed professional, and the design of such projects is often undertaken by building designers, draftspersons, interior designers, or contractors. Larger, more complex building projects require the services of many professionals trained in specialist disciplines, usually coordinated by an architect.
The Master of Architecture is a professional degree in architecture qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation that result in receiving a license.
Thom Mayne is an American architect. He is based in Los Angeles. In 1972, Mayne helped found the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), where he is a trustee and the coordinator of the Design of Cities postgraduate program. Since then he has held teaching positions at SCI-Arc, the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is principal of Morphosis Architects, an architectural firm based in Culver City, California and New York City, New York. Mayne received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in March 2005.
An intern architect or architectural intern is a person who is working professionally in the field of architecture in preparation for registration or licensure as an architect. An intern need not have attained a professional degree in architecture to begin accruing experience hours, but said degree is a prerequisite for licensure.
Dan Sergiu Hanganu, was a Romanian-born Canadian architect. Based in Montreal, Quebec, he designed a number of prominent Quebec buildings, including the new wing of the Pointe-à-Callière Museum, the HEC Montréal building, the concert Hall of Rimouski, the UQAM design school and several other mixed-use, commercial, residential and cultural buildings in Montreal, Europe and Asia. Hanganu was the recipient of an impressive list of awards and publications, including; the Order of Canada, the Governor General's award and was also awarded the RAIC gold medal in 2008 for lifetime achievement.
The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) is a nonprofit corporation comprising the legally constituted architectural registration boards of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as its members. Its mission is to collaborate with licensing boards to facilitate the licensure and credentialing of architects to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
The Alberta Association of Architects (AAA) is the regulatory body responsible for registering and licensing all architects and interior designers legally entitled to practice in the Province of Alberta in Canada. They are sometimes involved in legal discussion between Alberta and individual architects regarding their conduct.
Bing Wing Thom, was a Canadian architect and urban designer. Born in Hong Kong, he immigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with his family in 1950. His paternal grandfather originally immigrated to Vancouver in the 1890s and his father was born in New Westminster before moving to Hong Kong after being unable to practice as a pharmacist in Canada.
The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is a not-for-profit, national organization that has represented architects and architecture for over 100 years, in existence since 1907. The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built environment in Canada, demonstrating how design enhances the quality of life, while addressing important issues of society through responsible architecture. The RAIC’s mission is to promote excellence in the built environment and to advocate for responsible architecture. The organization national office is based in Ottawa with a growing federated chapter model. Current chapters and networks are based in British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia.
In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countries, an architectural firm is a company that offers architectural services.
The Intern Architect Program (IAP), or sometimes the Internship in Architecture Program, is a national program in Canada that documents and evaluates internship activities, provides structure to the transition between education and registration, and encourages involvement of practitioners in the development of new architects. The IAP was established by the Committee of Canadian Architectural Councils (CCAC), which is composed of representatives from each of the ten provincial associations of architects.
Architectural engineering or architecture engineering, also known as building engineering, is a discipline that deals with the engineering and construction of buildings, such as structural, mechanical, electrical, lighting, environmental, climate control, telecommunications, security, and other areas. It is related to both architecture and civil engineering, and distinguished from architectural design, as an art and science of designing buildings.
An urban planner is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning.
Professional requirements for architects vary from place to place, but usually consist of three elements: a university degree or advanced education, a period of internship or training in an office, and examination for registration with a jurisdiction.
Women in architecture have been documented for many centuries, as professional practitioners, educators and clients. Since architecture became organized as a profession in 1857, the number of women in architecture has been low. At the end of the 19th century, starting in Finland, certain schools of architecture in Europe began to admit women to their programmes of study. In 1980 M. Rosaria Piomelli, born in Italy, became the first woman to hold a deanship of any school of architecture in the United States, as Dean of the City College of New York School of Architecture. In recent years, women have begun to achieve wider recognition within the profession, however, the percentage receiving awards for their work remains low. As of 2023, 11.5% of Pritzker Prize Laureates have been female.
Eva Hollo Vecsei is a Hungarian-Canadian architect. She began her career in Budapest and emigrated to Montreal in 1957, where she established Vecsei Architects with her husband in 1984.