Depending on who you are, the first of May can mean dancing around a pole bedecked in colorful fabric or taking to the streets in pursuit of better working conditions. The version involving a day of protest has long been lackluster in America despite its origin in an 1886 labor uprising in Chicago. However, that's starting to change, and the first of May is increasingly met with large numbers taking to the streets in the U.S., just as it is abroad. At Archinect, we try to cover a range of issues pertaining to the conditions of the field. Below is a round-up of some content to commemorate International Workers' Day.

A great place to start, when it comes to questions about labor in architecture, is the Architecture Lobby, "an organization of architectural workers advocating for the value of architecture in the general public and for architecture work within the discipline." We've talked with them several times about their efforts to change the often exploitative character of the profession and even collaborated on a salary poll. You can check out our coverage of the organization here, here, here, and here.

The internship test or: why even become an architect at all?

"Despite appeals to certain practicalities – on both sides – the debate has remained largely framed in ethical terms. In the process, this ideological division remains in a deadlock. But while the conversation about internships in architecture has stayed pretty much the same since it was discussed in 2004 on Archinect, the world in which a young architect becomes educated and enters the profession has greatly changed, with housing costs rising dramatically alongside living costs, tuition, average debt, and all sorts of less-quantifiable-but-real expenses like expectations of tech-ownership."

Architecture after capitalism, in a world without work.

"In our book, we present the future as one involving the end of work—but by this, we don’t mean the complete abolition of work. Rather there would be a progressive decrease in the amount of work we have to do for a boss, and a subsequent expansion in our abilities to do self-directed work. This could involve a whole range of activities—more education, care for families, and of course, creative work. The idea is that automation liberates us from the coercion of wage labour, but we need to put the proper social systems in place first."

Is Twitter the architectural intern's unofficial labor union? Exposing the reality behind unpaid internships across borders and industries

"Social media may be the ideal method with which to address labor issues in such a globalized profession. As Alexandra Lange stated in a memorable op-ed, 'Architects need to start thinking of social media as the first draft of history.' I would venture that no one is keen to create a history that reflects indifference at best and exploitation at worst. Social media can serve as a much needed virtual instigator for real-world reform, regardless of the latitude or language. Perhaps the labor slogan for the 21st century shall become: I tweet, therefore I am (entitled to fair pay)."

Student Works: Designing a Union for Freelancers

"When thinking about the future of spaces of labor and work in general, it is interesting to consider how our way of work is becoming increasingly individualized, from the fact that one can work from home and set their own timetable but that they also have to pay their own health insurance, pension scheme and cover all costs their type of work requires. Freelancing, as appealing as it appears, also entails many dangers since it cuts one off from the larger framework, the collective support system and community that traditional workspaces used to create."

Sustainability of Workers' Rights

"A truly sustainable building practice should — for its own interests, financial, ethical and otherwise — harbor good will, maintain a mutually financially lucrative relationship with its workers, and be able continue fiscally, socially, and culturally, as well as ecologically. Workers rights and safety should be a pivotal point for any sustainability discussion: the environment is not just the air, ground, and water, but the people with whom we work and live."

Who Builds Your Architecture? A Critical Field Guide

"The Critical Field Guide employs the representational tools and techniques of architecture along with critical analysis to explain and make legible architecture’s entanglements with the vast geopolitical and economic structures of contemporary building construction. The WBYA? Critical Field Guide offers proposals for best practices, ideas for action, and resources for more in-depth study on the many issues and challenges affecting workers worldwide."

Can Skwerl Bring Architecture into the "On-Demand" Economy?

"As we look at architecture—and certainly during the downturn of 2008—there has been a lot of change in the way that the industry is shaped. A lot of people have left the architecture field because of the downturn in the economy and in construction. And there’s a lot of need for students, for instance, to obtain licensing hours. At this point, there’s a shortage of talent in architecture, a lot of people are looking for others to help them with some of their project work."

Falling through the sharing economy's looking glass—and into an ocean of unpaid, gendered, domestic labor

"But today, while 'home', as a practice, undergoes radical revisions, 'home', as an ideal, enjoys more popularity than ever. Indeed, the introduction of new technologies that disrupt prior models of domesticity and habitation coincides with the emergence of vast visual repositories of idealized homes. The influence of Pinterest, in particular, far exceeds the reach of Architectural Digest."

Can Trump's anti-immigrant border wall be built without labor?

"But what’s especially ironic about the border wall proposed by Donald Trump is that it will probably not be able to be built in Trump’s ideal budgetary range without the immigrant labor its backers are so desperate to circumvent. For one thing, the legal licensing requirements add considerable time and expense to the work of assembling a crew for the proposed 40-foot high, 2000-mile long project."

For a special bonus, here's an episode of Archinect Sessions about efforts to unionize at GSAPP.

GSAPP United: how student unions affect architectural labor, ft. A.L. Hu, GSAPP MArch student and organizer with Graduate Workers of Columbia, on Archinect Sessions #81

"In a landmark decision last month, Columbia University graduate students won the right to unionize in a case filed against the National Labor Relations Board. As a result, graduate students in private universities across the U.S. no have the right to collectively bargain. What effect does this have on architecture student labor, and the valuation of architecture overall?"

And here's one where we talk with the Architecture Lobby.

The Peaks and Valleys of Architecture Value, on Archinect Sessions #7

"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."