Colin Harding returned to his architect bashing with his article on “The Prince of Wails” (20 July, page 30). Usually I disagree with his extreme opinions, but this time I had to agree with most of what he said.

The root of his dismissal of the architect as a lead member of the construction team lies in the elitism of the architectural establishment, encouraged by the RIBA. This goes back many years and pre-dates the architectural schools, whose ethos is still to regard architecture as a learned society. As the professed leaders of the design team, the architects, through their professional institute, present a lofty front to the other players, to the extent that their institutes rarely co-operate with each other on the things that affect them and their clients.

These sacred cows need challenging if this fragmented industry is to have any chance of ever working in teams. I have a suggestion for Harding, which might change his image of the constant complainer. He might try dropping into one or two of the architectural schools to look at how the institutes collaborate with each other. Then he should report back, via his columns.

Malcolm Taylor

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