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Governance

The General Assembly is the supreme body of the ACE. It formulates and adopts the ACE policy in all matters arising from its objectives. It elects the President of the organisation as well as five members of the Executive Board. The General Assembly is composed of a delegation for each Member Organisation and meets twice a year. The Executive Board manages and administers the ordinary business of the ACE and implements policies established by the General Assembly. It is assisted in its missions by the General Secretariat based in Brussels.

The Executive Board of the Architects’ Council of Europe consists of 11 members, six of whom are elected and five of whom are nominated on a rotational basis, in accordance with the rotation of the Presidency of the EU. Among the six elected members is the President of the ACE who chairs meetings of the General Assembly and of the Executive Board and who acts independently of all national concerns. All Board Members serve a two-year term.

The Executive Board manages and administers the day-to-day affairs of the ACE and pursues the policies set out by the General Assembly.

ACE Executive Board for 2022-2023:
Ruth Schagemann (Germany) / President
Fulgencio Avilés Inglés (Spain)/ Vice President
Dubravko Bacic (Croatia)
Carl Bäckstrand (Sweden)
Christos Christodoulou (Cyprus)
Borys Czarakcziew (Poland)
Daniel Fügenschuh (Austria)
Selma Harrington (Ireland)
Paul Jeppesen (Denmark)
Ruta Leitanaite (Lithuania)
Diego Zoppi (Italy)
Read more here.

Ruth SCHAGEMANN, ACE President

Ruth Schagemann, (b. 1974) is an architect who studied architecture at the University of Braunschweig and at the University of Stuttgart in Germany. In 2006 she founded the Architect’s office VICEVERSA Architektur + Medien together with her husband. She was elected member of the executive board of the Architects` Council of Europe (ACE) from 2016 until 2021, Coordinator of the European Network of Architects` Competent Authorities (ENACA), member of the Coordination Group Europe of the Federal Chamber of German Architects and is head of department of national and international professional policy at the Chamber of Baden-Württemberg. 
In 2022, Ruth Schagemann was elected President of the Architects’ Council of Europe for a two-year term. Since January 2023, she is also serving as the Managing Director of the Brussels Office of the Federal Chamber of German Architects (BAK). She represents ACE in the 2023 Davos Baukultur Alliance Steering Committee.

Fulgencio AVILES INGLES, ACE Vice-President

Born in Cartagena, Spain.
Architect title: Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM), Universidad Politécnica, Specialties: Planning and Building. July 24th, 1979. PhD in Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Department of Building Structures (ETSAM). March 21st, 2014.
Own practice since 1979, he has developed various types of building: residential, educational, research center, shopping malls and heritage rehabilitation. Awards in Architecture: two first prizes for University buildings in Murcia (Spain). Architecture Regional Prize for Antigones Quarter rehabilitation in the XIV edition, 2007. Prize in the VII edition of Quality Awards in Building, Other Uses, as Designer and Work Director of "Palacio Viuda de Molina "rehabilitation" , Cartagena (Murcia, Spain), 2017. ASEMAS, Spanish Mutual Insurance Company for Architects, President and member of the Board of Directors : July 7th, 1999 - present. President of GEAAC (Groupement Europeen pour l'Assurance d´Architectes et des Concepteurs) 2011-2017, based in Paris. EUROMA, S.A. Member of the Board of Directors: 2001 - present. Visiting Professor in Architecture Schools: ETSAM, CEU Madrid, Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, Alicante, Coruña, Málaga, Cartagena.
Professor of Legal Architecture in Escuela de Arquitectura e Ingeniería de Edificación UCAM, Murcia (Spain). He has lectured in Consejo General del Poder Judicial-Consejo Superior de Colegios de Arquitectos meetings and in many conferences on construction damage and professional liability.

Dubravko BACIC

Dubravko Bacic is a registered architect (sole practitioner) and Assistant Professor at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Architecture. He was educated at the University of Zagreb School of Architecture and Harvard University Graduate School of Design. His professional practice entails mostly small-scale housing, conservation and preservation projects of listed buildings, adaptive re-use projects and heritage consultancy.

He has participated in many design workshops, seminars, research projects, exhibitions and conferences, and has served on several steering and evaluation committees and architectural competition juries in Croatia. He frequently publishes articles and essays in architectural journals and magazines.

In addition to his academic and professional experience, Dubravko has been active in various professional associations in Croatia, most notably the Croatian Chamber of Architects, Croatian Architects' Association and ICOMOS Croatia. Since 2011, he has been on the International Relations Board of the Croatian Chamber of Architects, closely following the ACE activities in Access to the Profession area (education, PQD issues, accreditation and validation, registration, licensing and CPD).

He has been an active contributor to the work of ACE for almost a decade. He was elected to the ACE Executive Board for three consecutive terms (2014-2019), and was in charge of the ACE Schools Program (2014-17), Area 1 coordinator (2016-17), and, most recently, Area 2 coordinator (2018-19).

Carl BACKSTRAND

Carl Bäckstrand is an architect and deputy CEO of White Arkitekter. White is most recognised for visionary examples of sustainable architecture facing the challenges with Climate change, rapid urbanisation and social injustices, such as True Blue in Bergen, Norway and the 100-year Masterplan for the relocation of the City of Kiruna in Sweden's Arctic north. Carl is since many years focusing on urban issues with a MA in Architecture at Lund University followed by studies in Landscape architecture at Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen and then Urban Design as a Visiting Scholar at MIT Cambridge MA. Carl's engagement reaches from masterplans and housing developments to university schemes and cultural center in Sweden, Denmark, UK, Canada and East Africa. As a Board member of ARQ foundation and Co-Chair of van Alen Council NYC Carl contributes to bringing the business closer to science and building new strategic partnerships and as a speaker at internationally conferences such as Greenbuild and at universities such as Stuttgart School of Architecture.

Christos CHRISTODOULOU

Arch. Christos Christodoulou is currently the President of Cyprus Architects Association, Board Member of Cyprus Land Development Corporation (CLDC), Board Member of Cyprus Forest Industries (CFI), Treasurer of the Board of Directors of ETEK (Technical Chamber of Cyprus), member of RIBA, ARB, and founding partner and director at Simpraxis Architects.

 

 

 

 

Borysław CZARAKCZIEW

Borys Czarakcziew – IARP architect, Graduated at Technical University of Kraków Faculty of Architecture (1987), he has the Architecture and Civil Engineer State Licence since 1993. He is the author of over 400 architectural designs of various scales and topics - residential buildings, public spaces, public buildings and offices. Borys Czarakcziew worked as a designer assistant in Cologne (Germany), as an assistant at the Faculty of Architecture of the Cracow University of Technology, he managed Miastoprojekt-Kraków as the President of the Board. In 2005, he founded a GPP Project Group. This team is the winner of many architectural competitions, including international ones (renovation of the former Nazi camp in Krakow-Płaszów, Convention Center in Katowice, development of areas in the center of Krakow). In 2018, GPP Grupa Projektowa received the SARP Award of the Year for the project in the residential housing category.  In 2002, Borys Czarakcziew was elected the first President of the Malopolska Chamber of Architects. From 2014, he became a member of the National Council of the Chamber of Architects, and from 2018 he is the Vice President of the IARP responsible for international affairs. He is an advisor to the Ministry of Regional Development in the field of architecture (recognition of professional qualifications and validation of architecture faculties). After IARP left ACE, he actively worked to return to this organization. From 2017 he is the head of the Polish delegation in the ACE.  Since 2009, he is deeply involved in European and international affairs for architecture profession. He represents Poland in the ACE Work Groups considered with access to the profession, school validation and recognition of professional qualifications. He represents IARP in ENACA (the European Network of Architects Competent Authorities). He represents Poland at the meetings of the CCA (the Central European Chambers Initiative) and organizes regular international conferences related to the execution of the architect’s profession in this part of Europe. He is a member of the Association of Polish Architects, in 1994-2002 member of the board of the Association in Cracow. Member of the Polish Architecture Council, whose goal is to create a Polish Architectural Policy.

Daniel FÜGENSCHUH

In 2004 Architekt Daniel Fügenschuh ZT GmbH- www.fuegenschuh.at has been established in Innsbruck where is operating from since. Originally in 2000 the architect's studio has been founded in London. In 1996 a first house has been realized right after graduating setting the foundation for all following steps.

Since 2010 he has actively been involved in the work of the architects' professional representation after chairing an architecture center in Innsbruck for 4 years.

He further improved his practical experience in political strategies and lobbying for architectural policies on EU level during the infringement procedure against the Austrian national professional law. The Austrian Chamber and himself as President of the Architects' Section of BKZT were very involved in the negotiation process following the judgement in 2019.

Selma HARRINGTON

Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Selma Harrington graduated at the School of Architecture and Urbanism and subsequently obtained a Master’s Degree. Having worked on various environmental, architectural and industrial design projects for two large Bosnian manufacturing conglomerates, she engaged as a consultant in Finland, Italy, Malaysia and Zimbabwe. After moving to Ireland, Selma expanded her expertise as Project Architect and Team Leader, working on school and pre-school projects, healthcare, residential, hospitality and office projects, integrating the principles of conservation, retrofit and sustainable reuse of historic buildings. As Programme Director, she contributed to the curricula development of the Design Studio, Conservation & Sustainability and Design Theory modules at Post-graduate level. She holds an MPhil in European Studies from Trinity College Dublin and has completed a PhD research at the University of Strathclyde, with focus on modernist architectural heritage and politics of heritage preservation. Through her leading roles in the national and international professional bodies (RIAI, IDI, ECIA, ACE), Selma is engaged in advocacy for the adequate positioning of architects in the planning, procurement and construction processes, advancing also the knowledge exchange and access to research on the built environment and its social role.

 

 

Paul JEPPESEN

Paul Jeppesen has been working for the Association of Danish Architectural Firms since 1985 . He has worked with a wide range of especially legal, economic, and political tasks with significance for the architectural profession and the architectural firms. The tasks have especially included national and international cooperation, meeting and negotiation activities, project management, analysis work, advising members and training of architects and client staff.

From 1991-1998 and again from 2014, Paul Jeppesen has actively participated in ACE's General Assembly meetings, Coordination meetings and many working groups in ACE. He is currently a member of the Practice Committee, the RQI Work Group and the Finance Committee.

Privately, Paul Jeppesen as local chairman of the very pro-European Danish Social Liberal Party, is engaged in politics at both national, international, and local level, and has many contacts among Danish politicians in both the EU and the Danish political system. In addition, he has been a member and chairman of several other boards nationally and internationally in other areas.

Ruta LEITANAITE

Ruta Leitanaite is an architect, architecture critic, writer, lecturer and curator of architectural events and projects.

She has an experience of 14 years of working for non-profit, non-governmental national architectural association Architects Association of Lithuania. During her work at AAL, she is working as an Architecture policy maker at national level (consultancies, participation in working groups, preparation of legal documents for ministries of Environment, Culture, the Government); organizer of various architectural cultural and educational events: curator of architecture exhibitions, author and/or organizer of various lectures, workshops, seminars, also supervisor and coordinator of many national and international architectural competitions (e.g. UIA endorsed international competition for National Concert Hall in Vilnius (2019). She has been a curator of the official website of AAL (architektusajunga.lt) and an initiator and coordinator of numerous international and national cultural, educational projects supported by Lithuanian Cultural foundation (e.g., co-curator of BAUA's pavilion at the World Congress of UIA in: Torino (Italy, 2008), Tokyo (Japan, 2011), Durban (Republic of South Africa, 2014), Seoul (S. Korea, 2017), Rio de Janeiro (Brasil, 2020).

Diego ZOPPI

Diego Zoppi, architect (honours graduate in 1987 -Faculty of Architecture of Genoa)  He deals with Planning, Urban Design, Urban regeneration, Restoration and architecture. He signed City frameworks, the project for the National Rowing Center, selected for the 2006 Venice Architecture Biennale, squares, waterfronts and landscape of public spaces sited in Italy, in the Middle East, in the Far East.  Co-founder of AR&P Architecture with other colleagues, he successfully participates in various Design competitions (Redevelopment of the Genoa-Voltri urban waterfront coming from industrial area – realized, new parking and connection to the Historic city of the Republic of San Marino, numerous New towns around Shanghai (China), restoration of the citadel of Nanjing (China), new Tourist Center in the historic city of Jiu Ji Jiao (China) and projects as Swimming Stadium in Hanoi and Waterfront of Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Redevelopment of the center District in Ryadh (Saudi Arabia), Innovation Center Solar Park (Dubai).  Various projects have been published on specialized Magazines (Casabella, Domus ...). He was member of the Board (since 2015 President) in the Provincial Council of Architects of Genoa. Since 2016 he is member of the Italian National Council of Architects, Landscapers, Planners, Conservatories where he coordinates the Department for Urban Planning Reserch & Development. Since November 2019 he is member of Executive Board of European Council of Architecs He is currently adjunct Professor in Urban Planning at the University of Genoa.

 

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