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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 2024-2025:
Ruth Schagemann (Germany) / President
Daniel Fügenschuh (Austria)
Dubravko Bačić (Croatia)
Borys Czarakcziew (Poland)
Carla Lima Vieira (Portugal), Carl Bäckstrand (Sweden)
Anda Kursisa (Latvia)
Diego Zoppi (Italy)
Andre Pizzuto (Malta)
Kornel Kobák (Slovakia)
Reto Gmür (Switzerland)

Ruth SCHAGEMANN, ACE President

Ruth Schagemann 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) and represents ACE in the  Davos Baukultur Alliance Steering Committee.
On 23 November 2023, Ruth Schagemann (BAK Germany) was unanimously re-elected President of the organisation for a two-year term starting on 1 January 2024. This will be her second presidential term.

Kornel KOBÁK

Kornel Kobák is an authorized architect with 34 years of professional practice in the field of architecture and urban planning. During his professional career, he worked on a number of different private and public projects and received recognition in several competitions and prizes. He is a member of the Board of the Slovak Chamber of Architects in his fourth electoral term, in third term as its 1st Vice-President. Since 2015, he is the delegate of the Chamber in ACE, active in the Practice Committee. His main areas of interest are issues of understanding the complexity of the recent changes in the architectural profession with regard to their influence on the scope of services and fair remuneration. His strengths are analytical thinking and expert opinion backed up with experience. Since 2024, he is Member of the ACE Executive Board and has been appointed as the ACE Treasurer.

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 (2016-19), and, most recently, Area 4 coordinator.

Carl BACKSTRAND, ACE Vice-President

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.

André PIZZUTO

André Pizzuto graduated in engineering and architecture at the University of Malta in 2002, and was granted a professional warrant to practise as an architect and civil engineer in Malta in 2004. He successfully read for a master’s degree in Planning Policy & Practice at London South Bank University in 2011. In 2016, he was conferred an MBA in Real Estate and Construction Management at the University College of Estate Management, Reading, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Pizzuto is the Managing Director of Design Principle, an architecture firm he set up in 2004 based in Valletta. He was also Executive Head of the Property Services Department at the Housing Authority of Malta between 2011 and 2013. He was elected as Council Member since December 2014, occupying the post of Vice-President and Treasurer of the Kamra tal-Periti in between January 2019 and December 2020. He has occupied the post of President since December 2020. He is also a Council delegate on Building Regulation in Malta since 2017 and represented the Chamber on the Building Industry Consultative Council (BICC) on matters related to building regulation and on the Architects' Council of Europe. In 2017, he was also appointed Chairperson of the Chamber’s Building Regulation Working Group tasked with the formulation and development of a position paper on a comprehensive building regulation regime for Malta which was published in May 2019.

Anda KURSISA

Since 1999, Anda Kursisa is a member of the Latvian Association of Architects (LAA). Since 2022, she is a member of the Board, responsible for architectural practice and education, and better public procurement for architectural services.
Her competence is based on strengthening architect’s role in national legislation to the level of EU policies, and rebuilding the status of independent professionals. In Latvia, Anda works with all the ministries and bodies involved and have experience in recommendations for existing and new legislation since 2009. Anda has a MBA level knowledge of Marketing and Sales, practical marketing experience both in her practice and LAA.
From 2023 in LAA, Anda developped PR strategies for better public procurement and rebuilding Architect’s role in society.
In 2024, Anda joined the ACE Executive Board as member of the blue box.

 

 

 

 

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. Since 2024, he is the ACE Area coordinator of the ACE Area 3 'Achieving Quality in Architecture'.

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.

Since 2022 he is Member of the ACE Executive Board and actively involved in the ACE 'blue box' think thank and the EU-funded project ARCH-E.

Carla LIMA VIEIRA

Carla Lima Vieira graduated in Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon (FAUL), Portugal, in 2002. She collaborates with Goncalo Byrne Arquitectos since 2002, an international Architecture Studio based in Lisbon, Portugal, with an extensive body of work in Portugal, Italy, Belgium, etc. The studio approaches a generalist, multidisciplinary, and convergent architecture, developing an enriching dialogue between new interventions and existing environments. Its practice implies a complex knowledge of different fields beyond architecture, from engineering to landscaping, sustainability, archaeology, among others.  In the studio - her main reference for a cross disciplinary and collaborative practice - she develops studies and projects in the areas of architecture and urbanism, approaching diversified scales and uses, within the scope of public and private commissions. 
Between 2015 and 2017, she became an external rapporteur for the Southern Regional Disciplinary Board of the Portuguese Architects' Order (OA), and was responsible for disciplinary proceedings.  In 2017, she was elected as a member of the Southern Regional Disciplinary Board for the 2017-2019 term, carrying out disciplinary and deontological duties, as well as developing articles and lectures on Good Practices and Professional Deontology. She also collaborated on the proposal to revise the current Rules of Ethics and Disciplinary Proceedings and developed and delivered training and lectures on Disciplinary Proceedings.  She was a member of the National Directors Board of the OA for the term 2020-2022  assuming the position of Secretary General as well as overseeing all matters and procedures related to qualifications, access to the profession and the legal framework of the profession and architecture. She also was responsible for OA's positions on draft legislation and legislative amendments of interest to the architectural profession.  She was Chair of the ACE Regulatory Questions and Issues Workgroup (RQI WG) from 2022 to 2023, advocating to optimise the regulatory environment.
Also participated in ACE's Professional Qualifications Directive, Traineeship (Professional Practice Experience) and Continuing Professional Development Workgroup (PQD-CPD WG) and is a member of UMAR's (Union of Mediterranean Architects) Council. Since 2022, she is a member of the Portuguese Advisory Committee for Procurement of Works of Art in Public Buildings. 
Since 2024, she is Member of the ACE Executive Board and she coordinates the Thematic Area 1 'Access to the Profession'.

 

 

Reto GMUR

Reto is a committed Swiss architect who runs his own practice in Basel. The size of the office is limited by the demand for quality they try to reach. It has its focus on healthcare design, but is also active in the field of public buildings and housing design, transformations and cultural heritage.
Reto has experience as a participant and/or jury member in Architectural Design Competitions, as a participant and/or jury member. and experience in promoting high quality of architecture in competitions.
Since 2024, he is Member of ACE Executive Board Member and member of the blue box think thank.

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 Research & Development. Since November 2019, he is member of ACE Executive Board and coordinator of the ACE Area 2 'Practice of the Profession'.

 

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