Minister emphasises importance of architectural profession at end of recession
Mr. John Gormley, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, has delivered the opening address at the International Workshop of the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE). The EAAE is a non-profit voluntary body devoted to the advance of architectural education across Europe. It is based in Belgium. It numbers over 100 schools of architecture amongst its membership. It conducts workshops for teachers of architecture and some of its activities are supported by the EU’s Socrates programme.
The objective of the Workshop is to advance architectural education in the area of the conservation of the built heritage. Following the Minister’s address in the Custom House, the Workshop sessions will take place in Carlow and Kilkenny. The Minister commented: “I am always pleased to see such conferences and workshops taking place both within and outside our capital city, in particular when dealing with the many strands of our built heritage nationally.”
Minister Gormley congratulated Professor Loughlin Kealy, Dublin, and Professor Stefano Musso, of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Genoa for bringing this two-day Workshop to Ireland, under the auspices of the European Association for Architectural Education.
The Minister commented: “In these times of decreased economic activity, including of course construction, it is heartening to see educators in architecture coming together to enhance and develop architectural education. This demonstrates to me a commitment to enhancing education in architecture and an optimism that architecture will always continue to be important and, furthermore, will be resurgent as a profession when our economies come out of recession.”
Minister Gormley took the opportunity to flag that he will be launching the new “Government Policy on Architecture 2009-2015″ in the coming weeks, the Policy will recognise the importance of architectural education. The Minister acknowledged the key role of Professor Loughlin Kealy in the development of the Government’s policy document.
