The Guggenheim Museum is the most photographed building on Instagram in New York

Talk

The successful architect?

The Successful Artist? panel discussion

Friday 22 June 2018 6.30 - 8pm

The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts

Free, booking required.

Tickets are available to book upon arrival from the tickets desk

What makes an architect successful? Hear from our panel as they discuss how success is shaped in architectural practice and the cultural mechanisms that support it today.

How do you measure success in architecture? Is commercial success evidence of architectural achievement, are fame and visibility a measure of success, or can it be judged by the number of awards a practice has won?

Traditionally success in architecture has been judged through built work, but the parameters for measuring success are drastically changing. Today architects operate in a very competitive sector where inequality of opportunities is a key issue among graduates, ethnic minority architects and women-led practices.

In recent years, the mechanisms for fostering, communicating and promoting architectural culture have widely expanded and transformed. Digital tools like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have taken over and opened up the means for architectural practitioners to communicate their ideas and mission statements. But how is success in the media translated into building commissions and thus into economic success? What does success look like in architecture today and how has it evolved over time?

Join our panel of experts from the media, cultural institutions and architectural practice to examine the challenges that successful architects have to overcome and how contemporary cultural mechanisms operate to shape that success.

Speakers:

Adam Nathaniel Furman, designer

Kate Goodwin, Head of Architecture and Drue Heinz Curator, Royal Academy of Arts

Sam Jacob, architect, columnist, design critic; principal of Sam Jacob Studio

Meneesha Kellay, Curator, Exhibitions and Public Programmes, RIBA

Vicky Richardson (chair), curator and writer on architecture, design and fashion; associate director, London School of Architecture

Admission is on a first-come-first-served basis for those with tickets. We would recommend arriving at least 15 minutes before the start time to avoid disappointment.

The Successful Artist? programme is proudly supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, as part of the new RA Collections programme.

Free, booking required.

Tickets are available to book upon arrival from the tickets desk

Italian architect Renzo Piano poses at his workshop in Paris, 2015

Renzo Piano: The Art of Making Buildings

This September, we celebrate the unique vision of one of the greatest architects of our time. From the Pompidou Centre in Paris to The Shard in London, Renzo Piano Building Workshop has designed some of the world’s most recognisable contemporary buildings.

With an exhibition designed and curated in collaboration with Renzo Piano and his team, we invite you to encounter architecture that touches the human spirit.

Find out more