Many national governments and states have a

public official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their s ...

titled the state architect or government architect. The specific duties and areas of responsibility of state architects vary, but they generally involve responsibility for the design and/or construction of public buildings in the state. The state architect and subordinates typically form an organizational unit variously named the Division of the State Architect, Office of the State Architect, or similar.

Functions

Specific functions vary from state to state, but may include: * Preparing designs and

specifications A specification often refers to a set of documented requirements to be satisfied by a material, design, product, or service. A specification is often a type of technical standard. There are different types of technical or engineering specificati ...

for small and moderate-sized state-owned

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...

projects * Selecting and overseeing the work of

architectural firm In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countri ...

s contracted by the state to prepare designs and specifications for larger state-owned building projects * Reviewing and approving designs prepared by private-sector architects for "critical" buildings owned by political subdivisions of the state such as

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

police stations The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

fire stations __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire ho ...

, and/or

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

s * Participating in the development of state

building codes A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permission ...

and

regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...

* Developing and managing

capital budget Capital budgeting in corporate finance is the planning process used to determine whether an organization's long term capital investments such as new machinery, replacement of machinery, new plants, new products, and research development project ...

s for state building

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

programs * Providing or coordinating

inspection An inspection is, most generally, an organized examination or formal evaluation exercise. In engineering activities inspection involves the measurements, tests, and gauges applied to certain characteristics in regard to an object or activity. ...

programs for state building projects The Division of the State Architect is typically separate from the

licensing A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

board that examines and licenses practicing architects in the state.

History

United States

Isaac G. Perry Isaac Gale Perry (1822–1904), was a prolific New York State architect and builder. His works include New York State Inebriate Asylum, Monday Afternoon Club, Phelps Mansion and the First National Bank of Oxford. Life and career Bo ...

is considered to have been the first state architect in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In 1883, governor

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

appointed Perry to oversee construction activities at the state capitol. Although his official title was "Capitol Commissioner", by the mid- to late 1880s Perry had oversight responsibility for all state government building programs and he was commonly referred to as the "State Architect". The state legislature officially created the Office of the State Architect in 1899, and after Perry retired that same year, governor

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

appointed

George L. Heins Heins & LaFarge was a New York-based architectural firm composed of the Philadelphia-born architect George Lewis Heins (1860–1907) and Christopher Grant LaFarge (1862–1938), the eldest son of the artist John La Farge. They were respons ...

to fill the position. Heins served until his death in 1907, and was succeeded by

Franklin B. Ware Franklin B. Ware (1873–May 3, 1945) was an American architect, best known for serving as the state architect of New York (state), New York from 1907 to 1912. He was born in New York City in 1873, and received a degree in architecture from ...

. Ware held the position until 1912, when he was removed from office and replaced by

Herman Hoefer Herman may refer to: People * Herman (name), list of people with this name * Saint Herman (disambiguation) * Peter Noone (born 1947), known by the mononym Herman Places in the United States * Herman, Arkansas * Herman, Michigan * Herman, Min ...

Lewis Pilcher Lewis F. Pilcher, AIA (1871–1941), was an American academic and architect active in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century New York City. With William G. Tachau, he was a partner of Pilcher and Tachau, the predecessor firm of ...

was appointed to replace Hoefer in 1913, and held the position until 1923. New York created an official Department of Architecture in 1914, during Pilcher's service. In

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, the Office of the State Architect (now Division of the State Architect) was created by the

Field Act The Field Act was one of the first pieces of legislation that mandated earthquake-resistant construction (specifically for schools in California) in the United States. The Field Act had its genesis in the 6.4 magnitude 1933 Long Beach earthquake w ...

, which authorized the new office to develop design standards and quality control procedures for architectural work. George Sellon was the first State Architect for California

Chester (Chet) A. Widom was the last state architect but retired in early 2019, and the current acting state architect is Ida Clair

Australia

Currently there is a government architect in each Australian state, with the exception of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Although their role differs from state to state, it generally includes the general objective to improve the design of public buildings and spaces and to enhance the quality of the built environment. Since 1832 in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

there was a position of Colonial Architect responsible for public works. In 1890 it was renamed to Government Architect. The

Queensland Colonial Architect The Queensland Government Architect is a position within the public service of Queensland, Australia with responsibility for the design of government buildings in Queensland. It was formerly known as the Queensland Colonial Architect. The position ...

position was established in 1859. A government architect position named Principal Architect was created in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in 1891. The Northern Territory Government Architect role was first established in 2004, while in Victoria the role was first established in 2005."Profile: Geoffrey London"
in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 3 December 2008

Requirements

Requirements vary from state to state, but usually state architects are required to be

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to practice the profession of architecture in the state in question and to be a legal resident of that state. Because the job often involves managing large staffs, projects, and budgets, state architects are usually senior members of the architectural profession.

References

External links

State Architect of Ohio

Tennessee State Architect
{{DEFAULTSORT:State Architect Architecture in the United States Architecture occupations State agencies of the United States Government occupations