Interview to José Antonio Granary Ramírez, dean of the Official School of Architects of Madrid

The sector of the architecture is in a critical situation in Spain, so much by the absence of private and public investment, as by the non-payments generalised, the fault of credit and the paralización of a lot of works.

The market of professional services has dilapidated in all the concerning conditions of contracting, honorarios and responsibility, whereas the professionals are extraordinarily considered in the international panorama.

This has carried to a process of reconversion generalised, since the learning of the architect allows his orientation to new fields of professional exercise, in business management and of processes, in the industry and the administration, in the power and the transport, in the mobility, the universal accessibility and the labour hygiene, that had been abandoned. But besides the incorporation to new geographic fields, supposes the exodus of a lot of architects and companies, with the wear that supposes prescindir of talent and experience.

In the survey realised between architects of Madrid, at the beginning of year, the data of descent of activity and income are very striking, and incidentally have desmoronado business structures with the disappearance of 40% of the studies, reducing the size of the remaining, and remaining a lot of professionals in unemployment without coverage any. However the schools of architecture follow collecting to the best students, offering an integral learning in technical and humanistic disciplines, that prepares excellent professionals with capacities to develop activity in numerous fields and forms of exercise.

The challenges are not of future, but already of present, and are all those that have to see with the quality of life, the responsibility with our surroundings, and the environingingmental sustainability, social and economic.

In Spain will not go back indexes of construction resembled the ones of 2003-2007, now is time to fix things, of rehabilitation of the heritage edificado, and the recovery and regeneration of urban areas, so much in the historical centre as in peripheral fields degraded.

The rehabilitation has to be a field prioritario of professional exercise. In Spain there is 6.000.000 of houses of more than 50 years. The intervention in 5% annual would suppose 300.000 houses, and the intervention has to be complete, architectural, in conditions of habitabilidad, constructive and of energetic efficiency.

From the approaches of quality, sustainability and efficiency, the reflection that all have to do is on the need to review normative and legislation, that facilitate and viabilicen the interventions and the professional criteria.

The architects, open us to other fields of professional exercise, where can apply and develop capacities of our learning in the surroundings of the affine sectors, in the industry, in the power and the transport, the mobility, the universal accessibility, in the labour hygiene, in the facility, construct and asset management, in the international cooperation etc. And a lot of this, of some form, can and has to have presence in the International Week of the Construction.

The R&D is present in the sector of the construction and all the industries and affine services, and have to do partícipe to the society of our commitment. The administrations can not follow turning away to a sector that has been fundamental in the national economy, creator of development and activity, and base of the international presence of Spain, with prestige so much economic like social and cultural.