Have professional groups and institutions influenced legislation and directives?
Finally in answer to the fourth question raised, there is no better time than now to consider the impact of this research on human needs and aesthetics, to the design professions. By far the best way is through education. The current EEC Directive, Article 3, prescribes that architects should be trained and educated, in addition to design and technical expertise, in aesthetics and the human sciences. In fact, six out of the eleven requirements are about these aspects. Aesthetics, human sciences, social factors, preparing briefs, human comfort, users’ needs, methods of investigation and the architect role in society are the actual terms used. Nor is it a coincidence that the RIBA strategic study carried out in the UK by a previous President, Frank Duffy in the late ‘90s, sees that the top priority for change perceived by staff and students in schools of architecture is ‘a greater focus on design from human/social needs’, (RIBA Report to the Oxford School of Architecture, 1998). There is
