Scrapping Erasmus is a tragedy for the next generation of architects – Building Design

By Oliver Bayliss 2021-01-07T07:00:00

Britains exit from the exchange programme has needlessly destroyed something of enormous value, writes Oliver Bayliss

As we enter a new year we do so outside of the European Union. During the final throes of the tit-for-tat negotiations between government and EU chiefs when fishing quotas and level playing fields grabbed the limelight it was the abolition of the Erasmus+ scheme that stands out as one of the more depressing acts of self-sabotage. The scheme enabled participants seeking higher education, work placements and training exchanges to spend up to a year in other member states universities; providing an opportunity to expand horizons, learn languages and experience different cultures. In 2019 alone nearly 55,000 young people benefited from the scheme, funded by grants totalling 144.7m.

Now, after 33 years and hundreds of thousands of UK participants, that door is closed.

I was one of those students. In 2005 I spent a year in Barcelona at the polytechnic school of architecture. It was daunting at first; studying in another language (Catalan mostly rather than Castilian Spanish which I learned the bones of before going). What struck me was the emphasis on the technical aspects of architectural education. Afternoons were spent calculating the size of radiators. Exams resembled A-levels; rows of desks, a scale ruler and pencil, 90 minutes to draw a stack of window details.

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Scrapping Erasmus is a tragedy for the next generation of architects - Building Design