It has been more than 10 years now… and yet, not all the students starting architecture are aware. They do not all know that in France, to put up a bronze plate and open an office they need have the “HMO”. The HMONP accreditation for architects practicing in their own name – mostly known as HMO – dates back to 2005. At the time, the aim was to harmonise architecture studies with the European three-level Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and PhD (LMD – Licence-Master-Doctorat) model, the first section of which, Bachelor’s + Master’s, corresponds to what is known in France as a Baccalaureate +5 (Bac+5). Since 2005 and the implementation of the HMO, (short for HMONP, the french accreditation for architects practicing under their own name); every year, only 30% of french offices- the largest ones- take on these semi-student/professional architects, who are expected to complete their training and tart working all at once. Considering how the profession is organized, and since most architects work alone or with fewer than two employees, this observation urges us to consider whether this training is appropriate.

An article by Catherine Sabbah

Read the full article in AA’s issue 420, September 2017.