With its imposing bronze doors, inlaid marble corridors and committee rooms lined with kid leather, the Royal Institute of British Architects is the apogee of professional pomp. Built in the 1930s as the modern profession of architecture was being forged, it bears all the hallmarks of an organisation desperate to shore up its authority and proclaim a sense of certified superiority. Its every detail seems to scream: “We are more than mere builders. This is an exclusive, royally chartered profession.”
Entering the imperial headquarters on Portland Place, a street of embassies and mansion blocks in central London, you find the names of every RIBA president since 1835 carved into the stone walls. It is a regal roll call of old, bow-tied white men. Unsurprisingly, there are only three women among the 79 names, and only one non-white president, Sunand Prasad.
