Architect or geometra?

Most people don’t know the difference and they are not to blame, really. There is generally a ‘deliberate’ confusion in Italy about who does what and who is entitled to do it. As Europe is pressing Italy to re-define and reduce the roles of ‘geometri‘ (surveyors) in the building industry, some Italian MPs had the brilliant idea of proposing to extend (instead of reduce) the field in which they can operate! Unbelievable!

Maybe this will help to explain something about these two very distinct professions: “architect or geometra?”. But it will not help us to understand why Italy wants to go backwards.