THE United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) recently stressed the need to form an Office of the City Architect in every local government unit (LGUs) to ensure the quality and design standards of buildings are maintained.
UAP President Benjamin Panganiban told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview that the architect’s group wants to position the Office of Architecture on the same level as the office buildings.
He said more than 30 cities around the country are implementing Republic Act 9266 which “states that architects should only be the one to sign in the architectural permits.” “We want that permit precisely in the building officials precisely to be implemented,” Panganiban pointed out.
Panganiban pointed out that the UAP wants the architectural permit to be implemented nationwide.
Moreover, he said the UAP also wants the office of the city architect to be set up in every local government unit. In the local government code, establishing a city architect’s office is only an option. “However, with several changes happening around us influenced by the opening of the economies of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [Asean] and continuous economic growth of the country, it is impossible not to have an office of the city architect.”
“Take Davao City for example where I come from. We have the office of the city architect there. Even in the suburbs in provinces surrounding Davao City, we have also architects in there in the office of city architect,” Panganiban said.
He said the UAP is also discussing and promoting the importance of having an office of the city architect in LGUs to address the challenges and demands of modernization.
Aside from Davao City, other cities with such office are Quezon City, Cebu City and Mandaue City.
Aside from pushing for the establishment of the office of city architect, Panganiban said the UAP is also active in lobbying for architects to head the office of the building officials.
Expounding, Panganiban said it is time to give architects the top post of heading the building officials because “we feel the academic qualifications of the architects and the building officials are quite proportionate to each other.”
Moreover, he said the campaign of putting the architect at the helm of the building officials is getting popular because many people are now realizing that architects have an important role especially in handling high-rise structure development.
Panganiban said the UAP is also active in promoting the different disciplines of architecture, such as heritage conservation, liturgical architecture, mixed use, commercial, high-rise, hospital architecture, hospitality architecture, management services, PWD buildings and urban community design.
He added, “We want to bring that to the fore and emphasize to people that our prime work is not only in the beauty of it but the functionality of the structure. This is important for our profession to succeed.”