Evening star., 1938-02-19
39STATESENACT
ARCHITECT CURBS
Practice Is Restricted Only
to Those of Proven Quail.
ficati0nS.

Thirty-nine States. in addition to
the District of Columbia. Hawaii.
Puerto Rico and the Philippines, now
have registration laws restricting the
practice of architecture to Architects
Of proved qualifications, according to
q report by G. Julian Oberwarth of
Frankfort. KY, chairman of the Com
mittee on Registration Laws Of the
American Institute Of Architects.
The remaining nine States are con-
sidering similar restrictions, and the
movement has spread to Japan, which,
Mr.. Oberwarth says, is studying Amer
lean experience with q view to adopt
ing protective measures after centuries
Of inaction.
Health and safety are important
considerations in safeguarding the
public from architects who are united
to meet the responsibilities of the
architectural profession and from low
standards Of design and construction.
Mr.. Oberwarth says. in reviewing the
long struggle to eliminate the unfit
from architecture as from medicine,
law and other fields.
"Ghastly Structures"
Imagine that all buildings have
disappeared, and you get some idea of
the magnitude of the responsibilities
resting upon the profession of archi-
lecture" Mr.. Oberwarth continues,
Buildings form the bulk of man-made
environment. Environment is the
standard by which the mental, ma
terial and spiritual achievements of
our country are judged. and plays
leading role in shaping the lives OF
present and future generations. It Is
imperative, therefore. that its creators
be men of intelligence and vision.
qualified by training and experience to
make the most Of available materials
and building skill.
Our people struggled through some
40 years of independent life before
finding time to sidetrack political con-
alterations sufficiently to observe that
some masterpieces of building Gre
ated by the patient skill of competent
men had been surrounded by a more
ghAstly array of unsafe, unsanitary
and ugly structures than might have
been created by malicious intent.
The damage that could be done by
uncontrolled practice was self evident
Building technique had advanced to a
point of being highly complex under
taking. Careful study and scientific
direction now had to be given not only
to general design. but to problems Of
sanitation. safety, new construction,
avoidance Of fire and panic hazards,
selections from new materials and
equipment, economic planning, sound
investment, heating, lighting, venti-
lation.
Illinois Pioneered
lawmakers suddenly awoke to the
fact that here was a profession which
exerted stronger, more direct and
more diversified influence upon public
and private life than any other spe-
cialized service. The work of a single
architect was often spreading to
dozen States. His building were occu-
pied by thousands of people. Danger
GUS planning was potential menace
which might easily counteract the
LIES work of hundreds Of physicians,
whose profession had long since been
restricted as needed measure of pub
Lie safety.
Demand for control of the practice
of architecture became persistent, and
IN 1897 the State of Illinois passed the
first regulatory legislation in this coun-
try requiring that architects be ex-
amined and registered by a competent |
jury Of their peers before being ad-
mitted to practice. Progress in other |
States was slow. but it was evident |
that the demand for action was not
confined to particular sections or
thickly populated parts of the country,
but was, on the contrary, in the nature
OF a national awakening. The other
seven States to pass similar laws prior !
to the year 1915 were California, New
Jersey, Colorado, Louisiana, Utah,
North Carolina and North Dakota, in
the order given.
"Other States were closely observ-
Ing the advantages achieved, and DUR
ing the seven years from 1915 to 1921,
inclusive. no less than 16 additional
States passed architectural registra-
ton laws In rapid succession. Even
this figure would have been exceeded
except for the interference of the
World War.
However, the registration column
showed half the States in the Union,
and since that time the others have
been falling in line at the rate of bet
ter than one each year. Two States
adopted registration in 1887"