Archinect - News

Quilian Riano named dean of Pratt School of Architecture

2023-05-08T20:47:00-04:00

The Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture has just announced the appointment of urban designer and academic Quilian Riano as its new Dean.

Riano, who has been serving as the school’s Interim Dean since last August, will officially step into the role on May 8th. He joined Pratt’s faculty as an Assistant Dean in 2021 after previous teaching positions at Kent State University, Columbia, Syracuse, and Boston’s Wentworth Institute of Technology, among other campuses. Riano is also a board member of the Architectural League of New York, and holds degrees in architecture from both the Harvard GSD and University of Florida.

An advocate for design equity, social justice, and fair labor practices within the architecture industry, Riano was an active writer, collaborator, and former senior editor for Archinect in its early days. Some of his writings include his popular blog post "Design and Agency" and his 2016 feature "Gaming the System: role-playing spatial and political change," among ...

First architecture union formed by workers at New York firm Bernheimer Architecture

2022-09-01T10:40:00-04:00

Workers at New York firm Bernheimer Architecture have formed the first functioning union at a private-sector architecture firm in the United States. The workers group, collectively known as BA Union, will join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), as first reported by The New York Times.

The firm, led by Andrew Bernheimer, has chosen to recognize the union voluntarily, which avoided the need for a secret ballot election to be held in coordination with the NLRB, a procedure which we explained in our recent feature article on the subject. Bernheimer has also been publicly supportive of the union’s formation at his 22-person firm.

"We know that architecture is a discipline and profession that has a legacy of exploitation," Bernheimer told The New York Times. "I am of the opinion that one possible way for things to improve is for educators and professionals to show that they value the people who make all of our architecture happen."

Related on Arch...

SHoP staffers announce unionization as the industry continues to shift away from traditional firm models

2021-12-21T20:24:00-05:00

On Tuesday, employees at the well-regarded firm SHoP Architects said that they were seeking to change the formula of long hours for middling pay by taking a step that is nearly unheard-of in their field. They are seeking to unionize.

The labor organizers at SHoP Architects, which recently became employee-owned, are proposing to join ranks with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Architecture, in general, is behind the rest of the economy in terms of similar efforts that could become more and more common now with the public backing of industry groups like The Architecture Lobby, which recently threw its support behind employees at the firm.

“The Architecture Lobby stands in solidarity with Architectural Workers United at SHoP Architects and unequivocally supports their efforts to form a union in their workplace,” the group's Statement of Support reads. “As an organization of architectural workers, we call on the firm’s principals to voluntarily recognize the union and engage in good faith negotiations with the collective bargaining unit.”

“We’re very innovative in a lot of our office work,” SHoP employee and unionization backer Danielle Tellez told the NY Times. “This feels like an...

Pratt School of Architecture announces Quilian Riano as its new Assistant Dean

2021-07-07T19:12:00-04:00

Pratt Institute has announced the appointment of its new Assistant Dean Quilian Riano. As an architect, urban designer, researcher, and writer, his work explores architecture's relationship to design justice, anti-racist pedagogy, and urban design strategies that address socio-political issues. Riano’s decade in academia as a teacher in graduate and undergraduate studies in architecture, urban design, and interdisciplinary design has aided in the development of leading studios and design collectives that interrogate architecture and its current pedagogy.

Architecture Lobby members Quilian Riano and Peggy Deamer stage a performance of the organization’s 10-point manifesto at the 2014 AIA National Convention. Courtesy Quilian Riano 2016.

As the Assistant Dean, Riano will be working closely with Pratt School of Architecture Dean Dr. Harriet Harriss. His focus will be on "all four of the school's departments to help develop and amplify the research-driven, spatial outcomes with real-wor...

The Architecture Lobby launches a virtual summer program tackling capitalism, labor, and practice within architecture

2021-04-27T13:23:00-04:00

Advocates of social and structural change within architecture and professional practice, the Architecture Lobby has announced the launch of a new online summer program that will address three themes: capitalism, labor, and collective practice.

The Architecture Beyond Capitalism (ABC School), invites students, faculty, practitioners, and members of various publics in all parts of the world to "interrogate the structures and systems of power." Starting on Saturday, June 19, 2021, each theme will be discussed and broken down into a 2-hr live session every Saturday for six weeks. The Architecture Lobby adds, "each theme has two components: debates stimulated by lessons from people whose work is central to the week's theme and salons for discussing the outcomes of design assignments pertinent to that theme."

Image courtesy of The Architecture Lobby

During a time of much-needed reform and the dismantling of inequitable work ethics, the Architecture Lobby has been champions of change withi...

A New Advocacy Group, "Architecture is Free," is Pushing for Reforms as Architecture Continues to Feel Pressure from Within and Without

2021-04-14T13:23:00-04:00

With the advent of the "new normal" beginning to see its effects in the Architecture world, one newly formed industry non-profit is seeking to capitalize on this transition in order to enact a slate of changes it hopes will impact the design community for years to come.

Under the monicker "Architecture is Free" the 40-member group offers a host of initiatives aimed at students and younger professionals it views as part of a growing cadre of people within the industry who have been systemically undercut in their efforts to join ranks with professionals a generation or two their senior whose success and accomplishments, they feel, are unattainable under the current "clubbish" atmosphere that plagues the field.

Many prominent names in the field have spoken out about necessary reforms over the past decade or so, including Denise Scott Brown, who serves as one of AIF's board members.

Learning from 'Learning from Las Vegas' with Denise Scott Brown, a 3-part interview series previously pub...

"Hygiene ventilation" and the case for Green Stimulus

2020-05-04T13:29:00-04:00

As society plans its transition out of the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic response and into a new era of social distanced, post-quarantine life, the gradual re-inhabitation of existing buildings will necessitate that many aspects of daily life be re-examined, both in terms of social custom and functional layout.

Lecture halls and performance spaces that once held hundreds will now accommodate dozens; High-rise office buildings will see their capacities drastically reduced, as well; Grocery aisles will be redesigned to allow for more space between shoppers; Restaurants could see their dining rooms transported outdoors; Banks, post offices, government buildings, and all sorts of commercial, cultural, and entertainment facilities will likely, either periodically or for a period of time moving forward, will be impacted by this shift.

Previously on Archinect: "MASS Design Group brings pandemic design expertise to American hospital wards." A diagram showing interventions that the ...

The Architecture Lobby endorses Bernie Sanders ahead of Super Tuesday election

2020-03-02T18:55:00-05:00

The Architecture Lobby (TAL) is endorsing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic Party primary contest.

In a statement published to the group's website, TAL writes, "With this endorsement, we invite architectural workers to rise in the vision of a movement."

Previously on Archinect: "The Architecture Lobby decries 'a blatant attempt to leverage aesthetics in the service of white supremacy'." Image courtesy of Flickr user Jorge Láscar.

The statement adds, "Whether you are a graduate student balancing work in school with work as a TA and watching your student debt climb, a junior architect anxious over climate impact but powerless to make your supervisor act, a business development professional enraged by an RFP for an immigrant concentration camp, or a firm partner watching healthcare costs balloon every year, there is a place for you in this movement. We see a profession capable of change. With that vision in mind, The Architecture Lobby officially endorses Senator Be...

The Architecture Lobby decries “a blatant attempt to leverage aesthetics in the service of white supremacy”

2020-02-10T12:40:00-05:00

The Architecture Lobby (TAL) has published a letter arguing against a proposed executive order from President Donald Trump that would mandate classical architectural stylings for America's federal buildings.

The group became the latest major architecture and built environment-related advocacy group to voice fierce opposition to the "Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" initiative following in the footsteps of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) , the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH), and Docomomo US, and the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

As news of the potential executive order spread throughout the profession, the AIA also issued a pointed letter directly to President Trump arguing against the measure.

Previously on Archinect: "The National Trust for Historic Preservation, NOMA, and ASLA officially oppose oppose Trump's efforts to "censor...

Architecture: Professional calling or exploitative trap?

2019-08-19T18:30:00-04:00

The myth of the calling obscures the role of architectural support staff and encourages architects to surrender their workers’ rights. It stands in the way of solidarity between all architectural workers.

Writing in Failed Architecture, Marisa Cortright unpacks how the sense of unwavering duty implied by the architecture profession’s persistent reliance on hero myths and the idea of architecture as a calling undermines both the individual and collective interests of architectural workers, including those of non-architects like the administrative, finance, legal, public relations and business development professionals often employed by architecture firms.

The Architecture Lobby: Boycott the design of immigration detention and deterrence infrastructure

2019-07-31T13:44:00-04:00

The Architecture Lobby and ADPSR call on all design professionals to refuse to participate in the design and construction of any immigration detention and deterrence infrastructure, including but not limited to walls, Border Patrol Stations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices, detention facilities, or juvenile holding centers.

The Architecture Lobby (TAL) and Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) are calling on designers to boycott any efforts to design and construct infrastructure related to the immigration detention and deterrence.

In a statement announcing their efforts, the two organizations write, "[TAL and ADPSR] continue to condemn the current administration’s assault on immigrant rights. These violent and racist policies are designed to cause fear and chaos; target those seeking asylum and refuge; and weaponize the built environment against immigrants."

Instead of helping design detention centers and border walls, the groups call on individual designers, groups of architectural workers, design students, and entire firms to organize against the unjust policies and practices they are being asked to support and perpetuate through their work. That includes speaking out against cruel immigration policies directly to local representatives, refusing to participate in the desig...

The case for a trade union for architects

2019-07-18T18:22:00-04:00

Faced with this level of acquiescence, the case for unionising the profession becomes compelling. As a regulator of working conditions and a protective body for workers, a trade union would force the industry to adapt to healthier working conditions; without these decisions being left to the leading staff and management who are themselves usually under pressure to attain expected productivity levels.

While Eleanor Hill's Failed Architecture piece looks specifically at the missed opportunity of British architects to formally unionize, the argument for organized representation could be applied to the profession on a broader global level.

"The specialisation of labour and consequent creation of more hierarchies in the workplace has also led to an increasingly fragmented and divided workforce," Hill writes.

"Architecture offices today have a myriad of individual workers in different roles: the design-team alone can have five different kinds of architectural professional working on one project, and that’s without considering the many other support staff, such as marketing, human resources, front of house and any premises workers, who contribute to the business. While interpersonal divisions are a bad reason to accept poor working conditions, this extreme fragmentation between different roles may well be one of the factors preventing architecture workers from standing united in their...

The Architecture Lobby puts forth Green New Deal vision

2019-06-19T14:49:00-04:00

The Architecture Lobby (TAL) has put forth a set of guiding principles for architects to follow as debate over a potential Green New Deal takes shape across the industry.

According to a recently-published memo, TAL is pursuing a four-pronged approach for envisioning how architects can contribute to the decarbonization of the built environment while also instilling socially-just practices across the profession. While noting the incredible financial and professional opportunity architects can expect from the transformative set of public works that will be required to achieve decarbonization, the organization warns, "architectural work for the Green New Deal must not become another conduit for accumulating wealth at the top."

Instead, TAL argues, architects should "embrace decarbonization as a social justice issue that calls for a reconstruction of our way of life," adding, "We must redefine sustainability to acknowledge the economic, social, racial, and class-based dimensions of the ...

Former Internment Camp becomes Immigrant Shelter

2019-06-12T14:11:00-04:00

The Trump Administration has opted to use an Army base in Oklahoma to hold growing numbers of immigrant children in its custody after running out of room at government shelters. Fort Sill, an 150-year-old installation once used as an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II, has been selected to detain 1,400 children until they can be given to an adult relative, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

As of April 30, 2019, the department of Health and Human Services has taken 40,900 children seeking asylum into custody along the southern border, a 57% increase from 2018, according to Time.

The surge in detainees has overwhelmed existing and new temporary detention facilities in southern border states, so the department has had to make use of a variety of improvised facilities as it undertakes the lengthy, disorganized, and laborious process of reuniting these children with their family members.

That includes holding children in a repurposed former Walmart superstore in Brownsville, Texas, detaining asylum-seeking families in a makeshift, dirt-floored outdoor camp located underneath a highway overpass in El Paso, Texas, holding 1,500 migrants in a private prison in Louisiana known for documented cases of inmate abuse and medical neglect, and now, shuttling temporary detainees to Fort Sill, a military base in Oklahoma that was used during World War II as an internment camp for Ja...

Transparent Value; A Conversation with Architecture Lobby's Peggy Deamer and Shota Vashakmadze

2018-08-17T18:30:00-04:00

On this latest issue of the Archinect Sessions podcast Ken, Paul and Donna talk with Peggy Deamer and Shota Vashakmadze, from the Architecture Lobby. For those of you unfamiliar, the Architecture Lobby is a non-profit organization run by and for architectural workers that advocate for the value of architecture to the public, and for the value of architectural work within the industry. The Lobby is rooted in a 10-point manifesto:

Enforce labor laws that prohibit unpaid internships, unpaid overtime; refuse unpaid competitions.
Reject fees based on percentage of construction or hourly fees and instead calculate value based on the money we save our clients or gain them.
Stop peddling a product–buildings–and focus on the unique value architects help realize through spatial services.
Enforce wage transparency across the discipline.
Establish a union for architects, designers, academics, and interns in architecture and design.
Demystify the architect as solo creative genius; no honors for ...

The Architecture Lobby and ADPSR take a stand against Justice Department's zero-tolerance policy, pressuring the AIA to do the same

2018-06-20T20:33:00-04:00

The Architecture Lobby and Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility have issued a joint statement condemning the Justice Department's widely criticized zero-tolerance immigration enforcement policy that has led to the separation of thousands of children from their parents as families seek asylum at the border.

"It is immoral and inhumane to separate children from their parents, and to use family separation to deter people seeking refuge or asylum. The United States must uphold international and U.S. laws protecting people fleeing violence and persecution," the statement reads.

The two organizations, which work to advance architecture by advocating for social justice reform within the field, are calling on architects, designers, planners and allied professionals to boycott any design work relating to these policies. This includes, as the statement says, walls, checkpoints, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices, detention facilities, processing centers, and ...

The Architecture Lobby's statement on #metoo in architecture

2018-03-26T18:28:00-04:00

The Architecture Lobby released the following statement with regards to the #metoo movement in architecture. The organization invites firms to join their Solidarity Network in support of those who speak up against sexual harassment or abuse.

"We, The Architecture Lobby, stand with victims of sexual harassment and assault in school and in the workplace. We decry in no uncertain terms the use of positions of power to perpetuate abominable conduct. We ask all members of the architectural community to join us, and the many victims of harassment, in calling for fundamental change of our culture.

The issue of harassment in the workplace is not limited to any gender, employment status, or age. It has its roots in the relationship between workers and their bosses, as well as teachers and their students, in the power differential created by that relationship that allows harassment and abuse to go unchecked. For too long we have allowed the architecture profession to structurally elevate me...

Happy with your employer's architecture labor practices? Nominate your firm in the JustDesign.Us initiative

2017-05-05T15:44:00-04:00

Working toward fairer professional architectural practice is an ongoing uphill climb in the industry, but which practices are already getting it right? The Architecture Lobby recently co-launched an initiative called JustDesign.Us, a certification process to distinguish architecture firms with exemplary labor practices, including fair pay, family-friendly policies, diversity, transparency, and agency.

Certification is a two-stage process. In Stage I, employees who want to nominate their firm will answer an online questionnaire — which The Architecture Lobby, the Yale School of Architecture’s Equity in Design, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Women in Design developed. Submissions will remain anonymous.

Image via justdesign.us.

In the second stage, JustDesign.Us will ask the nominated firms corresponding questions that may lead to certification (endorsed by the JustDesign.Us partners and affiliated organizations like SEED, ArchiteXX, and the American Colleges and Schools ...

The Architecture Lobby calls on architects + engineers to protest border wall on March 10 day of action

2017-03-01T18:25:00-05:00

As the Department of Homeland Security prepares to officially launch the RFP for Trump's proposed border wall on March 6, the Architecture Lobby is calling on all architects and engineers across the U.S. to participate in a national day of action to boycott the project on Friday, March 10 — the same day that the first round of submissions in the RFP are due.

Starting at 4 p.m. EST, the 45-minute united action calls for participants to leave their desks and walk out “to make clear not only to the current and future administrations, but also to themselves and each other, that their agency will not be exploited in the service of xenophobia, discrimination and racism”, the Lobby says.

The Architecture Lobby is hoping the March 10 boycott will build solidarity amongst architects and engineers and inspire an ongoing grassroots resistance. After the day of action, the Architecture Lobby encourages participants to send their photos, reports, statements of support, successes, failures, poten...

Dispatch from the Venice Biennale: a healthy dose of dissent from Detroit Resists, The Architecture Lobby and more

2016-06-06T18:14:00-04:00

The criticisms generated by productions as significant as the Venice Biennale reveal just as much—if not more—about the central ecology of the event as its official material. Evidenced by the gradient of oppositions representing the national pavilions (and even a handful of Aravena’s curated projects), the inclusive nature of the “Reporting from the Front” agenda manages, intentionally or not, to filter in detractors and cultivate an atmosphere of issue-airing.

The assembly of sometimes wildly disparate perspectives and approaches that comprise this year’s Biennale sets up the conditions for the calling out and, hopefully, working through of the architecture discipline’s contemporary conflicts and quandaries. Several counter movements worked their way into the exhibition—stirrings, perhaps, that are indicative of interests to which the Arsenale and Giardini will give form or ground (again) next time.

At the outset, Alejandro Aravena’s opening panel, “Meetings on Architecture: Infrastr...

Cutting across the Chicago Architecture Biennial: the Architecture Lobby's uninvited installation takes aim at the field's labor issues

2015-10-22T13:53:00-04:00

Join us for an uninvited Chicago Biennial installation consisting of scenarios depicting the absurdities of architectural practice/labor/work. We seek to expand the current conversation about architecture to include an actionable critique of the real, often tragic circumstances that precarious creative workers face on a daily basis.

Alongside the official installations and programmed events, a host of uninvited and unofficial events have coalesced around the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the first major architecture biennial in the United States. One of the most promising comes from the Architecture Lobby, "an organization of architectural workers advocating for the value of architecture in the general public and for architectural work within the discipline."

After a reception from 6 to 11 pm next Friday, October 30, the Architecture Lobby will put on the installation (re)Working Architectur e, including a series of performances aimed at generating "new perspectives and possibilities for action on topics ranging from unpaid internships, the mystification of the role of the architect, and how we conceive of the value of our work."

The event also will include an architecture-themed "Beaux-Arts Ball" starting at 8 pm. Architecture Lobby encourages you to bring your dancing shows and a costume. The next morning, join...

Hot Work in the Summertime: From Helsinki to London to NYC, Archinect Sessions #35

2015-06-25T17:20:00-04:00

Lots of summer blockbuster news to discuss on this week's podcast. The winner of the Helsinki Guggenheim competition was announced (a young husband-wife firm from Paris took the cake), SelgasCano's "psychedelic chrysalis" Serpentine Pavilion opened, and Andres Jaque's COSMO for MoMA PS1's "Warm Up" began its water cycle. And while not quite blockbusting, in what could easily be the premise for a Vincent Price flick, residents of the blighted Robin Hood Gardens dared Lord Rogers to spend a night in their quarters.

Special guests Quilian Riano and Peggy Deamer of The Architecture Lobby join our news discussion this week, dropping their excellent and incisive commentary on ethical practice into every topic. We are collaborating with the Lobby to measure satisfaction with work-life balance in architecture – take the 3-question survey here.

Listen to episode thirty-five of Archinect Sessions, "Hot Work in the Summertime":

iTunes: Click here to listen, and click the "Subscribe" button bel...

Archinect & The Architecture Lobby wants to know how satisfied you are with your job

2015-06-19T13:51:00-04:00

While the employment market is very ripe for job-seeking architects at the moment, there’s no guarantee that some of those opportunities won’t turn out rotten. The architecture profession is infamous for its highly skewed work-life balance, emphasis on the work, and office culture may not offer much relief. Impossibly long hours, low pay grades and demanding principals are almost seen as badges of honor. There are of course the golden eggs, the ideal employers who respect their employee’s life outside the office, and produce better work because of it.

But much of the work-life balance conversation in architecture is very cloak and dagger: no one wants to badmouth an employer, or limit their chances of gaining a high-profile position, and sometimes, it can be hard to distinguish ethical treatment from cultural convention. Now that the market has improved, and employees can afford to be a bit pickier, work-life balance will play a pivotal role in the distribution of architectural talen...

Celebrate with THE ARCHITECTURE LOBBY at their 2015 New Years Resolutions Party + Benefit tomorrow!

2015-01-08T19:26:00-05:00

In need of some weekend plans? The Architecture Lobby will be hosting their 2015 New Years Resolutions Party + Benefit tomorrow night, January 9, at 60 Lispenard St. in New York, NY.

Dance the night away or enjoy drinks at the open bar all while supporting The Architecture Lobby's fighting mission to end unethical architectural practices.

Attire: All black or all white. Bring your dancing shoes!

Purchase your tickets (or donate) here.

Listen to Archinect's discussion with Quilian Riano about the Architecture Lobby from the Archinect Sessions podcast episode #7:

Listen to Episode 7 of Archinect Sessions, "The Peaks and Valleys of Architectural Value", out now!

2014-11-20T14:01:00-05:00

This week on the podcast: continuing our earlier discussion on student debt, special guest (and fellow Archinector) Quilian Riano joins Paul, Amelia, Donna and Ken to discuss the Architecture Lobby's advocacy for increasing the value of architecture, both monetarily and in the public eye. We also cover Karim Rashid's recent inflammatory New York Times interview.

Listen to episode seven of the Archinect Sessions podcast, "The Ups and Downs of Architectural Value":

iTunes: Click here to subscribe, and click the "Subscribe" button below the logo to automatically download new episodes.
Apple Podcast App (iOS): click here to subscribe
Stitcher: click here to listen
SoundCloud: click here to follow Archinect
RSS: subscribe with any of your favorite podcasting apps via our RSS feed: http://archinect.libsyn.com/rss
Download: this episode

As always, you can tweet questions/comments about podcast topics to #archinectsessions, or leave a message for us at (213) 784-7421. Our next episode could feature...

Architecture Lobby survey takes a hard look at the state of the profession

2013-12-06T13:46:00-05:00

The Architecture Lobby is an organization of architectural workers advocating for the value of architecture in the general public and for architectural work within the discipline. […] The Architecture Lobby survey that is being distributed here gathers information that provides evidence for ourselves and for the public about the nature of our work and where we do and do not place value; where we could and should demand respect.

UPDATE: Please take the Archinect/Architecture Lobby survey on job satisfaction here.

---

Frustrated by a lack of professional agency and fair compensation, an organization of architectural workers known as the Architecture Lobby are vying for a renewed critical appreciation of the architecture profession, from both the architectural community and the general public. To make their appeal, the Lobby is gathering data from architectural workers (architects, designers, administrators) and their firms through a 70 question survey.

In a similar effort to increase transparency and accountability within the profession, Archinect launched the Architecture Salary Poll in April of 2013. You can anonymously submit your employment information in an ongoing effort to generate real data on the profession over time.

Contribute to the Architecture Salary Poll.