Anton Draye Appointed New President of the Order of Architects
Publication date: 05.09.2025
Anton Draye has been elected as the new president of both the National Council and the Flemish Council of the Orde van Architecten. He also becomes the youngest president ever. His appointment marks the end of the administrative deadlock in which the Flemish Council of the Orde van Architecten had found itself in recent times.
Born in 1985, Anton Draye is a civil engineer-architect and board member at an architectural firm in Leuven. From 2021 to 2023, he served as secretary of the Provincial Council of Flemish Brabant and Brussels-Capital. In 2024, he was elected president of that council.
Within the Flemish Council, Ronny Custermans (vice president, representative of the Provincial Council of Limburg) and Catherine De Bie (secretary, representative of the Provincial Council of Antwerp) will continue in their functions. Together with Anton Draye, they form the bureau of the Flemish Council, which is responsible for day-to-day management. In addition, Thibault Ryckebosch, president of the Provincial Council of East Flanders, will attend the bureau in an advisory role as representative of the College of Presidents.
“With this well-balanced composition, we aim to join forces for a smooth restart,” says president Anton Draye. “There is a lot of work ahead of us. We cannot achieve everything immediately, but we are clearly committed to making progress. Soon, we will communicate more about our ambitions for the future. For now, we look forward to the results of the study on the business model and job quality of architects, as well as to the conference we are organizing on this topic on October 23. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to all staff members for their continued commitment to the Orde van Architecten and its members.”
About Orde van Architecten
Orde van Architecten was established by law in 1963 and currently has nearly 16,000 members. It sets the professional code of conduct for architects and monitors compliance with it. All architects active in Belgium are legally required to be registered with the Orde van Architecten. It provides objective information to the general public about working with an architect and advises public authorities on legal and administrative measures that affect the profession.
