As the RIAI prepares an introductory course for architects from abroad, Emma Cullinan talks to four foreign architects about their careers here.

Martina Milarch, Germany: Martina Milach and her Irish husband Pauric, an engineer, left Berlin in 1998 when the economy experienced a downturn.

"Many architects were employed on an hourly basis on fixed-term projects, unless you were working for one of the big firms, perhaps on one of the Potsdamer Platz buildings," says Martina. After arriving in Ireland the couple had their first child and then Martina began working at Shaffrey Associates a year later.

"I hadn't heard much about architecture in Ireland before I came, except for a couple of historical buildings in tourist guides," says Martina who began to check out projects by the likes of Scott Tallon Walker and the Temple Bar architects (Group 91) soon after arriving.

"But coincidentally modern architecture really took off in Ireland after I came here, so now a lot more people in Germany are aware of contemporary Irish architecture." A main difference between working methods in the two countries is over financial control, says Martina. "There are no QSs (quantity surveyors) in Germany so the architect looks after their own project financially. It makes you a lot more aware of the money side of things and it does give you more power, but it can also restrict you.

"There is a freedom in Ireland because you don't worry so much about money but in Germany you do become very conscious of where money can be saved. Here I think some architects can become too dependent on their QS." Building control is different in Ireland too (where the architect is responsible for making sure that buildings comply with building regulations), says Martina.

"In Germany, once a building is finished a local authority inspector visits and checks that everything has been built in accordance with building regulations and that it meets all of the planning conditions. If it hasn't, and if the problems aren't rectified, you can be refused access to the national grid and you aren't allowed to occupy the building."

Drawings are very detailed in Germany, says Martina. "All construction drawings have an enormous amount of detail in them. Having said that, there are very well educated craftspeople in Germany who may work on details on site, and some of the large building contractors with have their own draughtspeople on site.

"In some cases there are very strict design guidelines in Germany on details, with, say, a window having to be so specifically designed that the architect won't have much scope. There is more freedom in Ireland when it comes to detailing."

Planning conditions are also stricter in Germany. "If you want to build a house in a certain area of town you will be given a very detailed area plan: with stipulations over height, orientation, roof pitch and materials. This restricts the freedom of an architect but, at least if there isn't an architect involved in the project, it prevents developers from building homes that are out of sympathy with the surrounding buildings." Many people in Germany are just as conservative about design as they are in Ireland, says Martina. "There are all the same discussions about, for instance, flat roofs."