Professions

Urban planning, procurement and architecture law: the priorities of the new National Council

Alessandro Panci, who has been president of the National Council of Architects for a few days, identifies the fronts on which to start a dialogue with government and parliament

by Giuseppe Latour

8 May 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

"We hope that design competitions and a greater focus on planning will also characterise the new House Plan. This is an intervention that we welcome, especially in the part that strengthens the involvement of privates. But tightening the timeframe too much is never good for quality'. Alessandro Panci, who has been president of the National Council of Architects for the past few days, indicates a recipe for the House Plan that will have to characterise, to some extent, all the fronts on which his category will be engaged in the coming years, taking an active part in the debate: from the urban planning law to urban regeneration, passing through fair compensation, the objective is to put architecture at the centre of the debate.

Let's start with your general objectives.

"Our main objective is to make people understand what we are both as a national council and as a professional body. The creation ofprofessional orders and registers was done to give a guarantee to the community, to the citizen: this is an aspect that unfortunately is not always so correctly understood. Then, secondly, there is the professional aspect: we have to make people understand that we affect people's lives, because we think and design works that are daily living spaces. Having quality works is decisive, because we Italians are used to living buildings that are centuries old. Doing it wrong means that we will not live properly for a long time'.

This in practice will result in more dialogue on many measures under discussion today. Which ones in particular?

"I make a premise. Although improvements on some bills are desirable, we appreciate the willingness of the government and parliament to address many issues of interest to us. That said, we have certainly been hoping for years that there would be a law on architecture, understood as a law that would allow us to understand the importance of our building heritage. A heritage that we must not only defend but manage, utilise, having the utmost understanding of it. There are two proposals under discussion from which to start. Although it must be emphasised that it is not the architect's law, but a law for everyone. But there are also other aspects'.

Which ones?

"There is the reform of the organisation of the professions, on which we will have to reflect. We must begin to realise that the complexity of our activities has increased. In particular, all the work on the transition between university and the professional world is fundamental for us. But there is also the law on urban regeneration which, in its latest version, confronts us with the problem of contrasting with the many regional laws on the subject. Although it is a law that we hope will go through'.

What do you think of the Single Text for Construction?

It is a unique text that must deal organically with a complete overhaul. The Salva casa had the merit of intervening on some issues but did not do so organically. That is why we are still talking about interpretations of individual aspects. We do not want this to happen again'.

What is the position on the town planning law?

"This is a norm drawn up in 1942, which today clashes with a different reality. Today we work on the built, on the existing, the spaces are reduced, it is no longer possible to start from a law that has expansion as its prerogative. A new thinking should be put at the centre'.

There are also issues more closely related to professional activity.

"Certainly. There is the issue of executive technical advisers, on this aspect there are proposals presented by Mr Marco Silvestroni. They all highlight one aspect: we are still stuck with derisory fees. Then we have to think about safety, building sites are one of the most delicate workplaces, a building site changes day by day. The safety coordinator should not be asked for discounts when there is a tender. And there is the subject of equal compensation, another central issue'.

Let's turn to the Procurement Code...

"We must go back to work on design competitions: today in the Contracts Code we have different forms of competition that look at the economic side or at economic data. However, the design competition, the statistics say, shortens the timescale and this happens also thanks to the work that professionals and orders have done to facilitate it. On this and other aspects we would like to see a profound revision of the Code: the integrated contract today puts professionals in difficulty".